In 1963 the final footage

of CLEOPATRA – then the most expensive

movie ever made with its casts, locations,

and special effects – was completed

at the Cinecittà studios, Rome.

 

The two stars of what would become the then

most profitable blockbuster ever screened,

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton –

daughter of an American art dealer

and son of a Welsh miner, creations,

creatures of Hollywood – flew to Sicily,

to continue their affaire. They stayed

at the San Domenico Palace,

a luxury hotel in Taormina.

 

Two of the highest paid movie actors,

and both married with children, they were grist

to gossip columnists and public

moralists alike. Much was made of their roles

as Cleopatra and Mark Antony.

 

The San Domenico Palace Hotel

was originally a monastery.

Built on the top of a cliff high above

the Roman Sea it has had many

notorious celebrity guests,

among them emperors from the New World –

George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump.

 

In 1967 the movies stars

returned to the hotel. Showbiz legend

has Elizabeth Taylor, on the terrace

of the bridal suite, break either an

acoustic guitar or a mandolin

over Richard Burton’s head or back.

As Martha said in Edward Albee’s

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

‘Truth or illusion, George, you don’t know

the difference.’ To which George replied,

‘No, but we must carry on as though we did’.