The V.I.P.s

If you are thinking this may be a disaster movie such as the (1972) The Poseidon Adventure, (1974) The Towering Inferno, and/or (1997) The Titanic, you would be wrong. The V.I.P.s is a soap opera that outlines four (4) vignettes that take place at a London airport that has these interesting passengers grounded unexpectedly as follows:

1. Love Triangle Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Louis Jourdan are the three (3) figures with Richard Burton being the wealthy tycoon who ignores his wife Elizabeth Taylor so she falls "out of love" with Richard and into the charming hands by default of the addicted gambler and male gigolo Louis Jourdan with the end of their respective relationships being delivered via the exchange of two (2) letters.

2. Save my corporation Rod Taylor and Maggie Smith are in a desperate battle to save Rod's tractor manufacturing corporation from an imminent takeover bid. Maggie who plays Rod's able executive assistant though is more interested in saving Rod's heart than his bank account.

3. Save my estate Margaret Rutherford (best known for her role as Agatha Christie's female sleuth Miss Jane Marple) is attempting to board her flight from London to Florida to take a meaningless job in an effort to save her families estate and especially her gaudy and outdated castle.

4. Save my film production company Orson Welles and his latest film star Elsa Martinelli seem to have nothing going for them but smoke and mirrors as the famed film director and wannabe film star respectively. So Orson has to be out of London and in Switzerland to avoid the taxman, but since their flight is delayed he and his accountant come up with an alternative plan once again to save his film production company.

Although this will never be a film classic the all star cast will keep you interested in their separate stories and more importantly how their stories end. I give the film a decent 6 out of 10 rating. No harm, no foul.

The beautiful people, the jet set, or let's just call them by their names - Liz and Dick. They are the cornerstone of this luscious, glamorous cream puff about the elite stranded at an airport. There's Liz, the unhappy wife of the filthy rich Burton, getting ready to run away with playboy Louis Jourdan; Margaret Rutherford, on her way to work in Florida so she can keep her estate afloat; Orson Welles as a filmmaker, who has to leave London by midnight or be stuck with $1 million in taxes; Elsa Martinelli as his bratty star; Rod Taylor as man about to lose his business; Maggie Smith as his secretary suffering from unrequited love for her boss.

It doesn't get much better than this in terms of star power. Taylor is gorgeous with a wardrobe to match, Rutherford delightful, and Burton, Jourdan, and Rod Taylor all at their handsome bests. Maggie Smith gives a lovely, very touching performance, adding reality to this superficial story.

This is a marvelously entertaining film, done back in the days when a film budget went for a star cast and wardrobe and not special effects. The original star with Burton was to be Sophia Loren, but Taylor piped up and said she'd do it. It was made rather quickly to beat "Cleopatra" to the box office and cash in on Burton and Taylor's hot love affair.

Terrence Rattigan based his story on a true account of Vivien Leigh running away with Peter Finch and Olivier managing to stop them because their flight was delayed.

The setting is London, and Frances Andros (Taylor), the wife of shipping magnate Paul Andros (Burton) says goodbye to her husband at the airport, where he thinks she is bound for Jamaica. After he leaves, it is revealed that she is meeting her new love Marc Champselle (Jourdan), a notorious international playboy who has fallen head over heels in love with her. Both are going to eschew their old lives and fly to New York, but are dismayed to discover that their plane is grounded due to heavy fog. Unfortunately, Frances has chosen to let Paul know about her plans via a "Dear John" note that she leaves at their house, and of course, Paul (influential in both money and power) comes back to the airport to demand his wife's return. Also inconvenienced by the fog is Les Mangrum (Taylor), an Australian businessman who has been fighting with a larger company for months to avoid a corporate takeover, and finally has the number of shares needed; until one of his associates turns against him and sells him out to the new company, forcing Mangrum to write a bad check on the share price difference. Thinking he can have another associate cover his check before the act becomes a bona fide felony, Mangrum knows that if he can get to New York in time for the board meeting everything will be okay, but the plane delay quashes all hope for this. Mangrum decides to spend one last night in London drinking champagne and living the high life with his trusty, loyal and prim secretary Miss Mead (Smith), who is secretly in love with him. Two other story arcs that aren't as prominent involve Max Buda (Welles), an acclaimed film director traveling with starlet Gloria Gritti (Martinelli) who finds himself forced into the position of marrying her, despite his obvious contempt, in order to save millions in taxes. And finally there is The Duchess of Brighton (Rutherford) an elderly eccentric who is flying to Miami in order to work on a project that will pay her enough to keep her large castle, despite the fact that she doesn't want to leave London. All of the above players are first ensconced in the airport's VIP lounge, and later, an airport hotel, where their personal dramas (and foibles) all play out and work themselves out, one way or another.

I had read an article about this film in Vanity Fair a couple of years ago, and it detailed various behind-the-scenes facts about the film, namely the burgeoning romance between Burton and Taylor, who were the Jolie/Pitt of their day, only on an exponential scale. Their chemistry in this film is very pervasive, and really add depth to both of their characters. Surprisingly, I found that Taylor and Smith had an enormous amount of synergy, most of it due to Smith's portrayal of Miss Mead as mousy, yet practically bursting at the seams with respect and love for Mangrum. Margaret Rutherford, who is a revered British stage and screen actress, won an Academy Award for her funny, yet slightly heart-breaking portrayal of a woman with a title and not much else. The only story line that I found obnoxious was the Orson Welles/Elsa Martinelli one. It contained so little depth and such a minimal amount of compelling moments that I found myself getting annoyed whenever I had to waste precious viewing time watching their story arc rather than being able to watch more of the other well-written, well-acted ones contained in the film. Admittedly, Orson Welles is a long-time hero of mine, and there were times when his sarcastic portrayal of the pompous director made me chuckle, but those moments didn't save his scenes in the slightest.

"The V.I.P.s" is as lush and colorful as a Sirk film, and Taylor is decked out in glamorous gowns and furs, but I was shocked to find myself really becoming wrapped up in the story lines and the acting, whereas I had planned on watching a fluff piece that had a bunch of attractive people enacting what would essentially be a soap opera with a multi-million dollar budget. Critics in 1963 expected to marginalize the film the same way I did, and were surprised (and not always pleased) to find that "The V.I.P.s" is actually quite a good film. A lot of the stars of the film had already done some of their most recognizable and lauded work by the time this film had been released, Smith would achieve a great amount of recognition within a couple of years, and Rutherford was at the tail end of her life, but all of them (with the possible exception of Welles and Martinelli, though I believe a lot of it was the material they were given) pulled together to make a film that is surprisingly compelling, very well acted and unfortunately, mostly forgotten. 7/10 --Shelly

but a fascinating melodrama also. This was the first movie Liz Taylor and Richard Burton made as a married couple.

The story is by Terence Rattigan who apparently based it on a scene he observed in the VIP lounge of London Airport when Vivien Leigh made plans to run away with Peter Finch and was stopped by her husband, Laurence Olivier.

It is well filmed, way ahead of its time in certain segments where other minor characters are playing in the background of the scene, a continuum not employed in movies until the nineties (this was filmed in the early 60s).

Some of the script is a hoot, the fact that Liz and her lover are running away without ever having "made love". Richard and Liz both overact dramatically. But the cast make it well worth watching.

Maggie Smith is particularly vulnerable as a secretary, she is yet to find the acerbic edge that laces her subsequent movies. Margaret Rutherford is particularly good as a Duchess who has to go earn a living in America to save her stately home. More scenes with her would have been a treat.

7 out of 10, totally watchable and almost sinful in the enjoyment of same, it is just so deliciously shallow.

As another user has said, I love this movie. I too saw it multiple times in theatres (the first Dick/Liz film made it a must-see at the time) and have played the grooves off the laserdisc. DVD anyone????

In the classic "Grand Hotel" style, the film follows several A stories and several more B stories during one night, fogged in at Heathrow. Though the script has some dreadful stuff, there are moments throughout the movie which seem indelibly etched on my mind: Burton's face as he sits in the hotel lobby, every Smith/Taylor scene, every Rutherford scene, every Welles scene.

Am I the only one who enjoys good melodrama? This one is so rich with such beautiful people, gorgeous clothes and glorious character actors, it has to be fattening.

I love the score, the sets, the richness of the colors and the way so many of these actors are captured in their absolute prime. I don't remember any film that wasn't a costume drama that shows off Liz's beauty any better. Rod Taylor, always handsome, often underrated, has some marvelous moments. And despite some pretty maudlin scenes, you get some idea why Liz fell for Burton so hard.