La Rolls-Royce jaune

This is a slow moving but entertaining movie. The three stories are romantic and charming. The cast is outstanding. Ingrid Bergman, Omar Shariff, George C. Scott, Art Carney, and Shirley McLaine to mention a few. Chances are of you enjoy movies from the 1960s you may like it. This type of movie was common then, but many have not fared well in getting to video. This has never been a hit but always enjoyed by many. Unfortunately it is not available on DVD or even VHS. If you have seen it and enjoyed it you may want to see "The Red Violin" with Samuel Jackson. Several stories that tie together with a red violin. The only common thread in "The Yellow Rolls-Royce" is the car. One of those if such-and-such could talk stories. It has been years since I have seen it telecast on TV. Good luck trying to see it.

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.

After the success of "The V.I.P.s" the year before, Anthony Asquith and Terence Rattigan are at it again with uneven results. The excuse this time is a Rolls Royce that passes hands from star to star. It is a formula used before many times, most successfully in Julian Duvivier's "Tales of Manhattan" in which a dinner jacket plays an important part in the destinies of Edward G Robinson, Charles Laughton, Henry Fonda and Paul Robson among others. More recently the formula was used by John Badham in his "The Gun" and then Martin Donovan in the lyrically powerful "Seeds of Tragedy" in which the Rolls Royce there is cocaine. Terence Rattigan was master at dialogue and his characters tended to move in confined spaces, take "Separated Tables" for instance. In "The Yellow Rolls Royce" we travel from England to Italy to Eastern Europe and the only confinement Rattigan finds for his characters is the interior of the luxury car. On the first segment, Rex Harrison and Jeanne Moreau show Rattigan at his best, they are great fun to watch. Harrison, playing a big shot at the foreign office, does wonderful things with Rattigan's words. On the second episode Shirley MacLaine and Art Cartney are lovely as a gangster's moll and her minder but the Italo-American gangster, as played by George C Scott, is so over the top that, practically, sinks the whole little segment. French star Alain Delon plays an Italian gigolo of sorts. He is beautiful to look at but hopeless at delivering Rattigan's lines. On the third episode Ingrid Bergman plays Ingrid Bergman, beautifully and Omar Shariff plays Omar Shariff, just as beautifully. Joyce Grenfell plays a cameo as Bergman's companion, as usually, when she's on, she steals the scene. As you may have gathered, this is the kind of picture that one would enjoy the most on a rainy Sunday afternoon. That in itself is a recommendation.

This movie presents three stories one after the other, as we follow the fortunes of the first and subsequent owners of the yellow Rolls of the title. First, Rex Harrison buys it as a present for his erring wife, Jeanne Moreau. She uses an anniversary party to flaunt her boyfriend, Edmund Purdom. The car then makes its way into the hands of Mafiosi George C Scott and his moll Shirley MacLaine. She falls for French photographer Alain Delon (and who can blame her?). Finally, the car plays its part in international politics when Ingrid Bergman and Omar Sharif take it on a rescue mission.

Anthony Asquith's film survives because of its construction, using the car as a lynchpin for three very different stories, character combinations, and situations. The car remains the star (perhaps because of its colour) but there are enjoyable performances here too. It isn't a challenging or particularly exciting film, but helps to pass the time. Personally I find it a better British film centring on a car than the earlier Genevieve, but that might just be my own taste.

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!