Der gelbe Rolls-Royce

The Yellow Rolls-Royce follows three sets of car owners and how the title car influences their slice of life. With an all-star cast and short stories that are easy to follow, these types of movies are always popular and usually include something or someone to love.

The first vignette actually makes you feel sorry for Rex Harrison, which is a miracle in itself. He's a wealthy diplomat with an unfaithful wife, Jeanne Moreau, and his story is rather sad. Everyone will get a laugh, however, when Jeanne requests, "Be a darling, will you, and fetch me my slippers?" Take that, Professor Higgins!

In order to make up for the sadness of the first vignette, the second starts off a little silly. Italian mobster George C. Scott and his low-class American fiancé Shirley MacLaine buy the car. Between her gum-chewing and his pseudo-Italian accent, you think you're in for a ridiculous third of the movie. It does get better, though, when George leaves for business and leaves Shirley alone with the car. . . and the ridiculously cute Alain Delon.

By the time the third vignette rolls around, you've had time to realize this is a bittersweet movie. Ingrid Bergman and Omar Sharif join forces in the last act, using the car to help the resistance before WWII breaks out. It's an interesting ending to the film, since all three vignettes aren't really stories to write home about but are entertaining at the time.

What a visual treat to see the scenery of Europe, along with the acting talents of some of my very favorite performers! Three couples own a fabulous car over a period of years, each with a story worth telling. Rex Harrison presents a touching, surprisingly sympathetic husband who loves his wife too much. Jeanne Moreau is the cheating wife, probably the weakest female of the three. In act two, Shirley MacLaine shines as the gangster moll with a heart, who falls in love with the impossibly gorgeous Alain Delon. George C. Scott plays a part totally unlike any of his others, and Art Carney is a sweet cameo.I especially loved the final act of the trio, when aristocratic Ingrid Bergman, in a multi-layered performance, helps resistance fighter Omar Sharif (I could watch him brush his teeth for two hours!) transport his colleagues to safety in Yugoslavia during WWII. The car is almost a character in itself, as is Bergman's little dog, who plays her part with gusto. I especially loved the comedic moments so beautifully played by Ms. Bergman. She and Sharif make a gorgeous, sensitive couple, and are eye candy for those of us who love fanciful, impossible love affairs. A wonderful film for a rainy afternoon.

The Yellow Rolls Royce was one of French film star Alain Delon's American films. Unfortunately, like Dirk Bogarde, Horst Buchholtz, Jean Gabin, and other foreign threats to the U.S. stars, American success would not be his. Only the rest of the world, where he remains one cinema's greatest icons. Dirk Bogarde turned down Gigi to do a biopic about Liszt; Hollywood just did not put Delon in films that were directed at his audience (fainting women) or that showcased him.

A huge cast stars in The Yellow Rolls Royce, a 1964 film, and the production is truly sumptuous, with glorious European scenery. It is a series of three vignettes about people who have owned the car.

The first is set in England, and stars Rex Harrison, Jeanne Moreau, and Edmund Purdom. Harrison buys the car for his wife's (Moreau's) birthday; little does he know that she has a lover (Purdom). Frantic for a place to make love before Purdom leaves the country, they choose the car.

The second is set in Italy, and stars George C. Scott, Shirley Maclaine, Art Carney, and Alain Delon. Scott is an American mobster who brings his girlfriend (Maclaine) to Italy to introduce her to his family. She falls for an Italian photographer (Delon) while Scott is away taking care of some business in America. She and Delon's first tryst is in the yellow Rolls Royce. Delon is better-looking than the scenery despite a heavy coat of tan makeup, which was also done to him in Texas Across the River.

The third is set in Yugoslavia (actually filmed in Austria), where one Mrs. Millet (Ingrid Bergman) finds herself sneaking a rebel (Omar Shariff) into his country to fight the Germans. She takes him to the village where the rebels are gathering and sleeps in her car...until she is joined by a grateful Shariff.

The third episode of this film is the best and the most fun, with Bergman a determined woman who will stop at nothing to do just as she pleases, including pouring wine while the restaurant is being bombed around her. Bergman is truly wonderful in an exciting, warm, and moving story.

The other two parts of the film for me moved somewhat slowly, though they were well acted.

This is a good film. When you see the scenery, you'll wish you were there. And the exterior of the house where Rex Harrison and Jeanne Moreau live - unbelievable!

An impressive line up of noted international actors was accrued for this three part film, with the title car serving as the connective tissue between episodes (which occur several years apart.) Harrison leads with a tale involving the purchase of the vehicle for his wife as a belated anniversary gift. His character could almost be a cousin to Henry Higgins and is played in much the same manner, though with a slightly more serious and sentimental edge. The wife (Moreau, in a pretty wooden portrayal) turns out not to be so deserving of the Rolls. This sequence is lavishly appointed with impressive sets and costumes and that "veddy" British air, but winds up being pretty uneventful. Next up is Scott as a gangster touring Italy with his sidekick Carney and his moll MacLaine (who, in a blonde wig looks and acts alarmingly similar to Renee Zellweger in "Chicago"!) They purchase the car to get them to his home town. However, when Scott has to return to the U.S. to take out an enemy, MacLaine becomes enamored of a local gigolo (Delon) and pursues a tentative romance with him. Miscast Scott is aloof and hammy at the same time, but wears some nice suits. Carney does some nice, low key work. MacLaine (with her chewing gum, which should have gotten billing!) wears a bit thin with all the schtick and overacting, but she pulls off a few decent moments. The real highlight of this section (and of the entire film!) is the jaw-droppingly beautiful sight of the impossibly beautiful Alain Delon. Slathered in tan body make-up, his light blue eyes stand out like pools of spring water. His charm and lean good looks overwhelm even the striking location scenery. Finally, Bergman purchases the car to get her into Yugoslavia during WWII. Sharif bums a ride and eventually involves her in the transport of resistance fighters across rugged terrain. Bergman looks terrific in the early part of this story and creates an unusual and intriguing character, complete with a yapping Pekinese and a hilarious cohort (Grenhall, in a hilarious performance that is way too brief.) She and Sharif make an odd, but attractive pair. The film is beautiful to look at (even if the fabled title car looks like a rather unattractive taxi!) However, the stories just aren't memorable enough to make this film really matter. Very little occurs in them and there is precious little dramatic payoff in each one. The director had previously done the stiflingly static "The V.I.P.'s" and, though this film is far more opened up and varied, the overall layer of reserve is still in place. Still, it's great to see the various actors doing their thing, especially Delon and Bergman, and there are several beautiful scenic shots. In the end, it's a classy, sometimes stagnant, but always elegant film.

And also some ravishing scenery. This movie has three separate segments, all of them well done in spite of a pretty tepid script. The actors are magnificent but I would have to say that Shirley MacLaine was amazing as a gangster's moll who falls in love and then sacrifices that love to save his life. Beautifully acted. Omar and Ingrid also shine in the segment about fighting in the hills of Yugoslavia. Of course in all three of the stories the males are mere foils for the females and the car itself. This movie is definitely a "guilty pleasure." 7 out of 10.