Reception
According to Melvyn Bragg's 1988 biography Richard Burton: A Life, the film was a terrible flop and helped erode Burton's status as a box office star. Two years before Villain, Burton had played a homosexual hairdresser in the comedy Staircase, which had proved a huge bust at the box office despite the talents of co-star Rex Harrison and director Stanley Donen. A gay love scene between Burton and co-star Ian McShane was cut from Villain, possibly as it was felt it wouldn't boost ticket sales, as cinema audiences already had not accepted Burton, one of the cinema's most notorious Don Juans, as a homosexual.
However, Alexander Walker, in his book about the 70s British film industry, National Heroes, says the film was "outstandingly successful at the British box office." And British exhibitors voted him the most popular star at the local box office in 1971, although Villain was not listed among the top ten most popular movies.
Coincidentally, Burton was mentioned in James Barlow's 1968 novel, The Burden Of Proof, upon which the film was based. In the book, the prosecutor asks a female witnesses if she "likes the actor Richard Burton".
The film received bad reviews, and Burton—whose acting style was predicated upon the precise use of his mellifluous voice—was particularly savaged for his attempt at a Cockney accent.
The film coined a popular phrase used regularly and adapted accordingly of "Don't be a berk all your life; take a day off!"
Read more about this topic: Villain (1971 Film)
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