Still counting the profits from Anthony Asquith’s The V.I.P.’s (1963), MGM reunited the director with screenwriter Terrance Rattigan for The Yellow Rolls Royce (1965); a memorable excursion, following at least part of the life cycle of that famed luxury automobile as it passes between various owners en route to the inevitable scrap yard.Since the early 1930s, MGM had been one of a few studios to successfully carry off ensemble motion pictures – jam packing somewhat conventional and recycled plots with a blinding array of star personalities. In the early ‘30s Grand Hotel and Dinner At Eight set the tone.
However, conventional wisdom and tepid audience response to such extravagances as Weekend At The Waldorf (1945) quashed further mining of the studio’s treasure trove and, by 1959 – with the disbanding of the star system – it seemed that no further ensemble movies were possible. Refreshingly, Asquith resurrected the genre with The V.I.P.’s; a rather lugubrious melodrama set in London’s Heathrow airport and capitalizing on the public’s fascination with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
Although the order of the day for previous ensemble movies had been one narrative involving all of the star personalities, Terrance Rattigan’s screenplay for The Yellow Rolls-Royce chose instead to focus not on any one person, but rather the automobile in question; thereby freeing up the film’s running time with an ever changing cavalcade of episodic back stories.
The first involves Lord Charles Frinton (Rex Harrison), a Marquess handling London’s foreign affair office. Frinton buys the yellow Rolls-Royce as a 10th wedding anniversary present for his wife, Lady Eloise (Jeanne Moreau); unaware that she is having an affair with his aid, Fane (Edmund Purdon). On the eve prior to Fane being sent to the Far East, Charles unveils the luxury vehicle to his wife at a lavish house party. The next day he plans to watch his race horse ride to victory for the Gold Cup.
In the meantime, Eloise and Fane plot a lover’s rendezvous, unintentionally thwarted by Charles when Eloise announces that she has a headache and the ever dutiful Charles follows her to bed. The next afternoon, however, Charles is given an earful as to his wife’s whereabouts from the playfully wicked, Hortense Astor (Joyce Grenfell).
Disbelieving Hortense, Charles leaves his box at the races moments before his horse is set to run and discovers Eloise in Fane’s arms inside the yellow Rolls-Royce. The horse wins the race, but Charles has been cut to the quick. He begrudgingly accepts the Gold Cup – returning home with Eloise, but instructing his chauffeur to return the car to the showroom because it ‘displeases’ him.
From here the story jumps to Naples, Italy where Mafioso right arm to Al Capone, Paolo Maltese (George C. Scott) is entertaining his fiancée, Mae Jenkins (Shirley MacLaine) and hired gun, Joey Friedlander (Art Carney). Mae is uncultured, though she takes an immediate liking to the yellow Rolls-Royce; currently parked in an Italian showroom.
Paolo strong arms the salesman into selling him the car – then learns of a gangland coup back in America that demands his immediate attention. In the meantime, Mae has decided to take up with gigolo, Stefano (Alain Delon) whom the trio first met while taking tourist photos at Pisa. Stefano seduces Mae by offering her a romance unobstructed by crime. But their chance at happiness ends with Paolo’s return and Mae resolves to wed Paolo in America as quickly as possible.
As Mae and Paolo drive away the narrative jumps ahead to Trieste, circa 1941 on the eve that Hitler is planning his military push into the Balkans. The Rolls-Royce is seen beat up and on blocks at a Yugoslav garage. It is refurbished for wealthy American Gerda Millett (Ingrid Bergman); a frivolous creature carting around a nattering Pekinese. Bribed by Yugoslav patriot, Zoran Davich (Omar Shariff) to smuggle him back into the country, Gerda first resists; then reluctantly acquiesces and finds herself at the center of a freedom fight at the start of WWII.
An unlikely romance blossoms between Zoran and Gerda as they rescue beleaguered townsfolk and band together a troop of freedom fighters to stand guard in the mountains against the advancing German army. The romance ends prematurely when Zoran informs his love that the best way she can help him help others is to return to America and persuade F.D.R. to enter the fight against Fascism. The last shot in the movie illustrates the battered, but still in tact, yellow Rolls-Royce being loaded off ship in America; its future uncertain, but ongoing.
The Yellow Rolls-Royce is not perfect entertainment. The events depicted are episodic at best; their only thread and cohesion being the automobile itself. Furthermore, while the first and last act of this three part series are played more or less seriously, the middle portion involving Paolo, Mae and Stefano tends to unfold like a classic screwball comedy.
Of the acting performances scattered throughout, Rex Harrison’s is probably the most convincing. Bergman and Shariff do their best in the latter story, but there is no spark in on screen romantic chemistry to fuel their improbable romance or translate the effects of war tearing them apart into a bittersweet tableau. Still, so much of the film is good and engaging that it is most certainly worthy of a second glimpse on DVD.
Warner Home Video’s anamorphic widescreen transfer is generally a delight. Despite the fact that several sequences suffer from slight color fading, image quality throughout is more often sharp, bright and full of richly saturated colors. Flesh tones tend to appear slightly pasty, but fine detail is nicely realized, as are contrast levels. The audio is regrettably mono and, at times, quite strident. (It would have been nice to have at least Riz Ortolani’s buoyant main title score represented in stereo.) Apart from a well worn theatrical trailer, there are NO extra features. Recommended.
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
3.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
3.5
EXTRAS
0
0 comments:
Post a Comment