The V.I.P.s (1963) User Reviews

Sometimes compelling, sometimes silly

[FilmOtaku · 7/10 · 26 June 2005]

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

lush production

[ryancm · 5/10 · 19 December 2006]

Nothing has been spared, production wise, with THE V I P'S. They sure don't make them like this anymore. While the story is a bit of a soap opera, some of the acting is quite good for a film of this ilk. Elizabeth Talor and Richard Burton are so-so, as is Orson Welles and Louis Jourdon. Less of them would have made a better film. The Airport in London is fogged in and the story focuses on a few of the V I P'S. Love triangles prevail as well as money issues for most of the people. It's kind of a ala GRAND HOTEL of sorts. The best thing about the movie is Maggie Smith (a jewel of a performance) and the lush music. How nice to hear a reacurring theme which is no longer used in todays films. The DVD transfer is super and while I wouldn't want to own the film, it's a great rental.

glossy soap opera of the beautiful people

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 5 June 2005]

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.

Delicious Moments

[lights-5 · 10 March 2003]

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.

Look for Maggie Smith and Rod Taylor

[marcosaguado · 7/10 · 13 March 2004]

A product! That's what this is. Beautifully wrapped but inside, a potential for heartburn. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor at the height of their popularity then, are hopelessly dated now. But, the Maggie Smith and Rod Taylor story is just great. Moving and funny. Orson Welles in another piece of self indulgence and self parody is priceless and so is the Academy Award winner Margaret Rutherford. Louis Jourdan, poor thing, as a gigolò - still, he spends the entire film, thinking that he'll be able to take Elizabeth Taylor away from Richard Burton - All that makes the film, almost sink. But put up with them to enjoy the rewards of Rod, Maggie, Orson and Margaret dealing with Terence Rattigan's enjoyable dialogue.

At heart, it's a soap opera...albeit a very stylish one.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 19 November 2012]

Rare to hear Rod Taylor with his actual Aussie accent soapy

While this movie has a big-name cast (including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) and it quite nicely made, at heart it's very much a soap opera. The story consists of the lives of several passengers who are awaiting the departure of a British Air flight overseas. However, because of fog, the flight is delayed and various subplots involving the passengers are played out during this time. One involves a woman (Taylor) who is leaving her husband (Burton) for a gigolo (Louis Jourdan). Another, a daffy old duchess (Margaret Rutherford) whose secret is only revealed near the end of the film. And another, a businessman (Rod Taylor) who is on the edge of complete ruin and his secretary who secretly loves him (Maggie Smith).

In many ways, this film plays like a well made episode of "Love Boat" or "Hotel" or an old flick like "Grand Hotel". This is not meant disparagingly--just a way to describe the way the plots are all interconnected and work through the course of the film. Well written (if a bit broad) and enjoyable. Not a brilliant film but one that you can't help but be pulled into as it unfolds.

A true curiosity...

[wisewebwoman · 7/10 · 22 February 2003]

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.

Margaret Rutherford

[amcdonnell08 · 5/10 · 2 February 2020]

Although Burton and Taylor were supposedly the stars of this film. Margaret Rutherford, as the Duchess of Brighton and Maggie Smith as the tractor guy's secretary really stole the film for me.

Wildly entertaining, and stolen by the two Maggies

[marcslope · 8/10 · 17 March 2017]

Seven years before "Airport," there was this similarly laid out, lush MGM soap, which wasn't produced by Ross Hunter but looks like it could have been. The stars, the fashions, the mid-century-modern sets, the Miklos Rosza themes grinding and repeating in the background, all speak to a more innocent, more optimistic time. And best of all, while Hunter had only Perlberg and Seaton to bring Arthur Hailey's novel to the screen, MGM had the super-literate, super-crafty Terrence Rattigan to provide his own original story, expertly plotted out to afford a plethora of wide-screen star-gazing. Elizabeth Taylor, resplendent in St. Laurent, is about to leave Richard Burton for lounge lizard Louis Jourdan, but their plane is fogged in at Heathrow and Burton catches up to them, allowing for some civilized sniping between the two men, neither of whom seems good enough for her. Meantime, Dino di Laurentiis-like producer Orson Welles has to be out of Britain by midnight to escape some tax burdens; duchess Margaret Rutherford is headed unhappily to a new job in Florida to pay expenses for her Brighton mansion; and tractor maker Rod Taylor, subject to a hostile takeover, needs 150,000 pounds to cover a bad check, in which he's ably assisted by his plain-Jane secretary, Maggie Smith (all Janes should be this plain). Rattigan's epigrammatic screenplay darts dazzlingly between the four story lines, and he's instinctively fair-minded; nobody's all good or all bad, and even Linda Christian, as Rod Taylor's shallow girlfriend, isn't entirely reprehensible. Everybody's great fun to watch, and interesting people like Michael Hordern and Robert Coote and David Frost can be glimpsed in supporting roles, but the movie really belongs to the two Maggies. Rutherford picked up a supporting Oscar for playing essentially what she'd been playing for the previous 25 years, but who deserved it more, and she's not only pricelessly funny but unexpectedly touching. And Smith, silently loving her boss Rod Taylor (and who wouldn't), effortlessly steals a particularly good scene from Burton, bringing on the third act and walking off with the rest of the movie. Deep it isn't, and Rosza's themes feel a little obvious (I grew to hate that cutesy-English strain underlying every Rutherford scene), but what a luxuriously entertaining ride. That the prime storyline is based on Rattigan's own observation of the Vivien Leigh-Laurence Olivier-Peter Finch triangle being played out at the airport a few years before only adds to our sumptuous enjoyment.

A handful of characters study set at Heathrow Airport

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 18 January 2009]

Much of the action focused on a romantic triangle involving a pampered wife, a wealthy husband, and a penniless playboy lover…

Liz once again is the neglected wife, comforting herself with a lover (Jordan)… When the destitute husband is threatened by his wife's departure who has given her diamonds instead of affection, Burton shows he cares… Liz, unyielding however; wants him to suffer…

Taylor's performance is cool and serene… Her face undisturbed by normal human expression… Playing an instigator of male insecurity, she is, for a change, altogether lovely to look at…

Maggie Smith plays the trusty secretary in love with her Australian boss Rod Taylor… Orson Welles's arrogant character provides the comic relief… Margaret Rutherford won a Best Supporting Oscar for her delightful role as the eccentric elderly duchess

Star-Studded Junk!

[shepardjessica-1 · 4/10 · 11 May 2005]

Except for Margaret Rutherford's wonderful performance (Oscar-winning), this bloated star fest is horrible, especially Elizabeth Taylor (in her worst performance), Rod Taylor, and Elsa Martinelli. Burton is acceptable and Welles is amusing, but what a script! A 4 out of 10. Best performance - Richard Burton. They made a lot of these character epics in the 60's and this one is the worst of the melodramatic lot; even the music sounds like it's from Ben-Hur. What a misguided waste of costumes and airport sets. I'm sure everyone was paid for a fortune for this mess and it's disgraceful. Maggie Smith is lovely as R. Taylor's loyal and loving secretary.

Reaping the Advantages from the Cleopatra publicity

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 30 March 2006]

When I was in my teens I well remember all the publicity surrounding Elizabeth Taylor, from her serious illness, to her Oscar for Butterfield 8, to the various problems with Cleopatra and finally all the kanoodling with Richard Burton. No film star before or since had the media attention the way Ms. Taylor did.

When Cleopatra was in its editing stages and there sure was a lot of footage to edit, the publicity was too good to take advantage. Taylor had been off the screen since 1960. I'm sure that Anthony Asquith the director had this project that became The VIPS in mind for some time while Cleopatra was still being shot.

It was all shot at Heathrow Airport so there were no sets to build so the money was spent on getting a top rate cast. Orson Welles, Elsa Martinelli, Dennis Price, Robert Coote, Michael Hordern, Rod Taylor, Maggie Smith, Linda Christian, Louis Jourdan and the Best Supporting Actress of 1963 Margaret Rutherford join Liz and Dick.

A bunch of VIP passengers are stuck at the airport due to fog and we see their stories unfold in a Grand Hotel style plot. Orson Welles is an extravagant producer and I'm sure he borrowed bits from Alexander Korda, Dino DeLaurentis, and himself in a very outrageous portrayal of a man trying to leave Great Britain before the income tax nails him. His tempestuous Italian star Elsa Martinelli figures in the solution to his problem.

And Welles figures in the solution to Margaret Rutherford's problem. She's an impoverished and widowed Duchess who is leaving her home to settle in Florida. She's bright and funny and her portrayal is very much like Helen Hayes who won a second Academy Award for playing a little old eccentric lady in Airport.

Taylor and Burton oddly enough have the weakest story in the film. He's a billionaire tycoon who's wife Elizabeth Taylor is running off with a playboy gigolo portrayed by Louis Jourdan. Burton is as offended as Orson Welles was in Citizen Kane when Susan Alexander was running away from Charles Foster Kane. It's his pride more than anything else. It's a humbling experience.

My favorite story in The VIPS occurs with Aussie businessman Rod Taylor who is the victim of a cash flow problem as a result of beating back a hostile takeover. Linda Christian is his socialite jetsetting wife and Maggie Smith his loyal private secretary. It's one of the few times Rod Taylor has ever played someone from his native country on screen.

Though Margaret Rutherford got an Oscar, in my opinion the best portrayal in The VIPS goes hands down to Maggie Smith. She is so touching as the prim and proper Ms. Meade who is crushing out big time on her boss.

The Burton-Taylor story intersects with the Rod Taylor story when Smith spots Burton at the airport and corners him for help on behalf of her boss. She explains Rod Taylor's problems to Burton and of course she doesn't know of the personal crisis he's going through. Their scene is the highlight of the film.

Richard Burton was later reported to say that when he saw the finished film and saw Maggie Smith with him on the screen that she was guilty of grand larceny for her scene stealing. He said it with a smile and chuckle in admiration for her talent. I think you'll agree with him.

It's a good film, The VIPS, filled with characters you become involved with though they are hardly likely to be ones you come in contact with in your daily life.

A soap opera outlining four (4) vignettes all involving love and/or money

[Ed-Shullivan · 6/10 · 25 February 2018]

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.

of its time

[rupie · 4/10 · 24 February 2003]

[ *** SPOILERS *** ] The only way one can enjoy this movie is to totally ignore its awfulness and wallow in its prodigious campiness. I read here that the script is based on an observed, true incident, a story which requires more than a few grains of salt for me to swallow. This is one of those movies which treats four parallel but separate stories, in this case of people stuck overnight at a London airport due to fog. The highlighted story, of course, is that of the characters played by Dick and Liz, a phony and contrived tale (and this is supposed to be the "true" one!) which is not helped by laughable dialogue. Rod Stewart's Australian accent appears to have been purchased at a yard sale. Margaret Rutherford does well with the bit given her, but she must have grown weary by now of playing dotty English matrons (then again, her options were somewhat limited by physical traits, weren't they?). For my money, the best thing in the flick is Orson Welles' thoroughly delicious bit as the expatriate mittel-European movie director on the lam from the tax collector, a role he is clearly having a ball playing.

The biggest problem with the film is that it is totally formulaic and predictable. You don't get too far into the movie before you realize that everything is going to end happily for everyone, which includes Liz getting her man back and the Australian marrying his secretary. The whole silly package is, however, done up in very slick production values. All in all, a film very much of its time.

A "Grand Hotel" for the sixties.

[MOscarbradley · 7/10 · 4 October 2021]

'Grand Hotel' but set in the V. I. P lounge of Heathrow Airport where an all-star cast, (Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan, Orson Welles, Rod Taylor, Maggie Smith, Margaret Rutherford), are holed up waiting for a flight to New York that's been delayed by fog and each with their own reasons, (romantic, financial), for getting out of the U. K. as fast as possible. It was a prestige production and no mistake, directed by Anthony Asquith and with a (not that) original screenplay by Terence Rattigan and even when the material is weak the cast more than carry it.

Welles is a hoot as a tax dodging movie producer. There's an excellent early performance from Maggie Smith as a secretary in love with her boss Rod Taylor but it's Margaret Rutherford who walks off with the picture and a richly deserved Oscar as the penurious Dutchess of Brighton. The central plot about Taylor leaving Burton for Jourdan is a bit of a bore but for the most part this is surprisingly good fun.

Beaten by a bloody fog!

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 12 May 2013]

The V.I.P.s is directed by Anthony Asquith and written by Terence Rattigan. It stars Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Louis Jordan, Rod Taylor, Maggie Smith, Orson Welles, Elsda Martinelli and Margaret Rutherford. Filmed in Panavision and Metrocolor, music is by Miklos Rozsa and cinematography by Jack Hildyard.

Terminal 2, London Heathrow Airport, and fog has grounded the flights of some very important people. Time, then, for truths to out and futures resolved...

Cheque book generosity.

Disliked by critics upon release but a hit at the box office, The V.I.P.s is a throwback to the days when ensemble star power could carry a melodrama through to its conclusion. The performances of the actors, playing well to do characters facing up to some tribulations in life, are most enjoyable (nice to see Rod Taylor actually being Australian, Smith owning the film and Rutherford being Rutherford) and even though there's some silly moments within Rattigan's screenplay, there's enough quality drama and warmth to make the near two hour running time bearable. Besisdes, I never thought the sight of Richard Burton signing a cheque could make me feel so happy! 7/10

Out of the Fog

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 17 January 2007]

(There are Spoilers) Stuck in the fogged in Heathrow Airport in London a number of very important people, V.I.P.s, are confronted with a major crisis in that if they don't leave Great Britian by midnight their lives will never be the same again. The movie centers mostly on British mega millionaire and ruthless businessman Paul Andros, Richard Burton, who achieved everything that he started out in life to do but is unknowingly throwing away the only thing that's really worth anything to him his beautiful and frustrated wife Frances, Elizabeth Taylor. Giving Frances everything in money and jewelry Paul has neglected to give her any true affection and love treating her like she's one of his prized possessions which lead Frances to secretly have an affair with that international jet-setting gigolo and all around moocher, of the rich and famous, Marc Champsella, Louis Jourdan.

Frances and Marc are planing to elope to New York and get married but their plans goes a bit sour when the flight their to take is fogged in and the note that Frances, a dear Paul letter, left at her and Paul's home to be opened when she and Marc were airborne and on their way to New York is discovered by Paul, while the two are still at Heathrow Airport. Paul then comes running, as well as to his senses, to the airport to confront Frances in her leaving him for the smooth talking and conniving con-artist Marc.

For the first time in his life Paul is left a broken and defeated man when Frances tells him in so many words to get lost. Later Paul does, mostly out of self-pity for himself, the most chartable things he ever did in his mostly selfish life. Paul writs out a blank check, that eventually amounted to 153,000 pound sterling, to a total stranger Australian tractor manufacture Les Mangrum, Rod Taylor, in order to save his company from being gobbled up in a corporate takeover. This act of charity not only changed Mangrum's life for the better but, not knowing this at the time,Pauls as well.

Paul was at the airport bar drowning his sorrows and slowly getting smashed when Mangrum's Girl Friday his private secretary Miss Mead, Maggy Smith, who recognized him as the big kahuna that he is approached Paul and begged him to save her boss from going bankrupt or even to jail, for passing a phony check. This act of kindness, which money wise was only a drop in the bucket for him, was something that Paul would have never done before he found that Frances left him. In the end it was this new understanding of his own short-comings, in his not being a kind feeling and giving human being, is what brought a tearful and forgiving Frances running back to him.

There's also the story in the film of the Dutchess of Brighton, Margaret Rutherford, at the airport booked for a flight to Miami Florida. The Dutchess has, at her very advanced age, to go back to work as a hostess at a Miami hotel in order to earn enough money to pay for the taxes and upkeep of her family Brighton home. It just happened that also at the airport is world famous schlock director Max Buda, Orsen Wells, who has to leave the country by midnight or else the money that he made last year in Britain, over one million pound sterling, will be taxed at over 85%. Thus leaving him, with his expensive dining and drinking habits, almost penniless.

With the expert advice of his financial whiz and adviser Doctor Schartzbacher, Martin Miller,Buda marries his favorite actress, who's in all his art films, the dizzy and star struck Gloria Gritt, Elsa Martinelli,which in effect by him putting all his earnings in her name. That exempts Buda from paying the brutal British taxes. At the same time have him make a deal with the Duchess to film his next movie at her castle or ancestral home in Brighton paying her as much as 3,000 pound sterling per day, for six weeks. That will more then get the cash-strapped Dutchess out of the hole in losing her beloved and precious country estate.

Really an all-around feel-good movie more then anything else where everyone ends up on the winning side except that sneaky heel and low-life chiseling gigolo Marc Champselle who's left holding the bag. Thats when Frances finally realizes what a phony creep he is, like her husband Paul warned her, and what a fine and wonderful man even though sometimes a bit too serious about himself, and his status in the whole scheme of things, her Paul Andros is.

An average 60s soaper.

[fedor8 · 9 January 2007]

This is basically a soap-opera decorated like a Christmas tree with a prominent cast.

There are two plots and two non-plots. The non-plots, with Orson Wells and Rutherford, are uninteresting. From the two "plot-plots", the one with Rod Taylor and Maggie Smith is solid, though very predictable, and the one with the love triangle Burton-Taylor-Jourdan is soap-operatic though not tedious, as it may have easily turned out. The film is basically kept afloat - after a boring first 15-20 minutes - by R.Taylor, Smith, and Burton. Jourdan is average, and Elizabeth Taylor, though not bad, simply plays herself, and in the process does her distressed-rich-princess routine yet again.

If you want to read parodies/biographies of Welles, Taylor, and other Hollywood nitwits, contact me by e-mail.

On the dull side...but it has Elizabeth Taylor at her most beautiful

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 13 November 2005]

Fogged-in British airport is besieged with a collection of characters awaiting their respective flights. Not a good idea for a movie--not even for a soap opera--though it does give Supporting Oscar winner Margaret Rutherford a jaunty opportunity to kick up her heels as a befuddled Duchess, and Orson Welles nearly steals the show as an egotistical filmmaker. Reteaming of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton post-"Cleopatra" doesn't ignite sparks, but they are gorgeous together. Polished production does pick up after a slow start; it's professional but inert, and mostly unexciting. Directed by Anthony Asquith, who might've been dozing behind the camera. ** from ****

Great, tense disaster flick

[HotToastyRag · 9/10 · 12 February 2020]

What an interesting premise! The V.I.P.s starts out like every other disaster movie, with lots of big name stars arriving at the airport. Everyone has a very good reason for wanting to get on the plane, so naturally, you assume that the disaster will happen once everyone's in the air. Actually, the disaster happens before that: all flights are delayed to due weather! Since no one can get on the airplane, their plans are seriously derailed.

Real life spouses Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor play a married couple, but after he sees her off to her flight to Jamaica, we find out she's actually planning on flying to New York with Louis Jourdan and eloping with him! She's left Dick a note at home for him to find after she's gone, so with a flight delay, she gets understandably very nervous. Rod Taylor, with his natural Australian accent, is disturbed by a bad business deal, and he and his devoted secretary Maggie Smith have to try and fix it with long-distance phone-calls from the airport. Margaret Rutherford is mysterious and unusually attached to her luggage, and is in a great hurry to get in the air. . . And a flamboyant Orson Welles is anxious to fly to film his next motion picture with his leading lady Elsa Martinelli.

Louis Jourdan says, "I have a feeling the next hour is going to drag a bit. What are we going to do with it?" when there is almost exactly one hour left in the film. It's the little things in life that count! The V.I.P.s have a few cute sweet moments, but it's mostly a very tense drama that puts just as much strain on the audience's emotions as the characters. I highly recommend it!

The personalities overshadow the characters

[eddax · 7/10 · 15 January 2010]

Though this movie is best know as a Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor vehicle, I wanted to watch it because it featured Margaret Rutherford's Oscar-winning role. I had previously seen the delightfully ditzy Dame (she really was a Dame) in Blithe Spirit and The Importance of Being Earnest, and she was fabulous in both, so I was eager to see her here. It was to my semi-disappointment that she was typecast for The V.I.P.s too, even if she excels at being scatterbrained. Hence her Oscar victory is more of a body of work thing, I reckon, 'coz she would've been just as deserving for the other two movies.

Anyway, the movie's reminiscent of Neil Simon's works because it's about a collection of stories about a bunch of people stuck in an airport (and subsequently the airport hotel) due to weather delays. I would have to say that the personalities overshadow the characters, what with stars like Burton, Taylor, Rutherford, and the hammy Orson Welles. It was also one of Maggie Smith's first movie roles, and already she had that... Maggie Smith-ness in her. Even if I didn't get much out of the movie plot, it was lovely to watch the collection of luminaries.

Glossy and superficial

[preppy-3 · 5/10 · 14 August 2000]

Soap opera set at a fog-bound London airport where various characters have to get out of the country soon or they'll be trouble. Nice to look at and a pretty good score...but that's about it. Some of the acting is very good (Smith, Taylor and Rutherford) but most of it is bad verging on terrible (Burton especially). The stories are predictable and the actors don't speak like normal human beings--also there are twists in the story that are beyond belief (witness the Smith/Taylor story). Passable time-filler but nothing more.

Trapped by the fog in fancy clothes

[jjnxn-1 · 9/10 · 13 May 2013]

Lush, plush, silly but fun. Everyone is terribly rich and terribly troubled but of course everything is happily resolved in just two hours, if you like that sort of thing this is for you. Liz and Dick are the featured couple of course but theirs really isn't the most compelling vignette. Still Elizabeth looks great and Burton is appropriately intense. Orson Welles is aboard in a plot that doesn't go anywhere until the end but he adds an amusing performance to the film so it isn't that much of an intrusion. The two best bits belong to Rod Taylor and a very young Maggie Smith, who is excellent-she gives the film's second best performance but the absolute standout is Margaret Rutherford in an Oscar winning part as a dotty but oddly touching Duchess who has to go to work to save her home. She's utterly brilliant, the very definition of what a supporting performance should add to a film.

Surprisingly engrossing with actors at their peak

[desrlmt · 7/10 · 27 December 2021]

This flick is most often characterized as a big screen soap opera-and that's true. But don't let it dissuade you, as the performances of all major characters are at worst pleasing and in fact superlative. In particular, Richard Burton yet again shines, reminding us of the injustice of his never winning a best actor Oscar-supporting or leading.

You're either lost or you've gone deep.

[Ben_Cheshire · 2/10 · 14 May 2015]

I have no idea how you came to The V.I.P.'s, whether it was following Margaret Rutherford or Orson Welles, both of who are funny in this, but I hope you didn't come for Liz and Dick, whose storyline most resembles a movie plot, but is a dull love triangle. The only value of this movie is in the generous time each of its cameo stars get. Orson Welles for instance has multiple scenes, maybe adding up to 15 minutes screen time, I'd be curious to calculate it. They are all little scenes, but add up to a decent amount of value for the Orson Welles completionist. He plays a probably gay film producer who talks like Akim Tamiroff and is having some kind of nebulous trouble with the film he's making. Margaret Rutherford is really fun. She has this kind of batty effortless humour to her. Louis Jordan is infuriating. Rod Taylor is a stereotypical aggressive Aussie, at least the accent is good, because its genuine! Check out Orson in The Southern Star (1969) for the worst Aussie accent I've ever heard. I could try and tell you The V.I.P.'s isn't that great of a movie, but you've clearly gone pretty deep in whatever it is you're interested in, you may as well check it out. For fans of Orson or Rutherford I'd say sure, add it to your collection.