At 2 a.m. on the campus of a New England college, a middle-aged professor of history and his wife return home from a party. Their life together, after 20 years of marriage, is dominated by violent arguments tempered by occasional moments of tenderness. George, the husband, is a victim of lost idealism--a fact that his wife, Martha, eagerly points out by constantly comparing him to her father, the president of the college. Martha conceals her own vulnerability and frustration behind a show of loud vulgarity. She has created an imaginary son, and George has indulged her in the pretense, partially for his own sake as well. Earlier in the evening, Martha invited a faculty couple, Nick and Honey, to drop by for a drink; as soon as they arrive, Martha begins making flagrant advances toward the younger man. Honey, embarrassed by Martha's behavior and unaccustomed to so much liquor, becomes ill. Intoxicated, Nick confides to George that he married Honey because she falsely told him that she was pregnant. The long night of drinking and quarreling wears on, and Martha eventually lures the opportunistic and drunken Nick to her bedroom upstairs, while George watches their shadows from the yard below. When he learns that Martha has told Honey about their son, George brutally destroys his wife's fantasy by announcing that the son is dead. He then reduces her to hysteria by conducting a mock funeral service in Latin. With the coming of dawn, the guests depart. Physically and emotionally exhausted, George and Martha share a moment of silence.

Director:
Mike Nichols	Director
Bud Grace	Assistant Director
David Hall	Assistant Director
Michael Daves	Assistant Director
Cast:
Elizabeth Taylor	as Martha
Richard Burton	as George
George Segal	as Nick
Sandy Dennis	as Honey
Cinematography:
Haskell Wexler	Director of Photography
Harry Stradling	Dir photog (see note)
Writer:
Ernest Lehman	Screenwriter
Producer:
Ernest Lehman	Producer
Editing:
Sam O'Steen	Film Editor
Music:
Alex North	Mus comp & cond
Art Director:
Richard Sylbert	Production Design
Make-Up:
Gordon Bau	Miss taylor's makeup
Ron Berkeley	Mr. burton's makeup
Sydney Guilaroff	Hairstyles for miss taylor
Jean Burt Reilly	Supv hairstylist
Costume-Wardrobe:
Irene Sharaff	Costume Design
Art Department:
George James Hopkins	Set Decoration
Sound:
M. A. Merrick	Sound
Film Production - Main:
Hal Polaire	Asst to the prod
Meta Rebner	Script Supervisor
Doane Harrison	Prod adv

Location scenes filmed in Northampton, Massachusetts. Stradling was replaced during production by Wexler.

Elizabeth Taylor was Voted Best Actress (tie with Lynn Redgrave) of the Year by the 1966 New York Film Critics Association.

Taylor voted Best Actress and film One of the Year's Ten Best by the 1966 National Board of Review.

Voted one of the Year's Ten Best Films by the 1966 New York Times Film Critics Association.

Released in United States October 2, 1995

Released in United States Summer July 2, 1966

Shown at the Museum of Modern Art (Screen Plays: From Broadway to Hollywood, 1920-1966) in New York City on October 2, 1995.

Haskell Wexler replaced Harry Stradling as director of photography during production of the film. Ernest Lehman has a bit part as the man in a black overcoat leaving a party.

Released in United States Summer July 2, 1966

Released in United States October 2, 1995 (Shown at the Museum of Modern Art (Screen Plays: From Broadway to Hollywood, 1920-1966) in New York City on October 2, 1995.)

Based on the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee (New York, 13 Oct 1962).

Richard Burton  won  AA-Best Actor in 1966

Elizabeth Taylor  won  AA-Best Actress in 1966

Richard Sylbert  won  AA-Best Art Direction in 1966

AA-Best Cinematography in 1966

Irene Sharaff  won  AA-Best Costume Design in 1966

Mike Nichols  won  AA-Best Director in 1966

Sam O'Steen  won  AA-Best Editing in 1966

AA-Best Picture in 1966

AA-Best Score in 1966

AA-Best Sound in 1966

George Segal  won  AA-Best Supporting Actor in 1966

Sandy Dennis  won  AA-Best Supporting Actress in 1966

AA-Best Writing, Screenplay in 1967