The V.I.P.s (1963)

Fog delays a group of travelers headed for New York. They wait at the V.I.P. lounge of London Airport, each at a moment of crisis in his or her life.

Director:

Anthony Asquith

Writer:

Terence Rattigan

Stars:

Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Frances Andros
Richard Burton	...	Paul Andros
Louis Jourdan	...	Marc Champselle
Elsa Martinelli	...	Gloria Gritti
Margaret Rutherford	...	The Duchess of Brighton
Maggie Smith	...	Miss Mead
Rod Taylor	...	Les Mangrum
Orson Welles	...	Max Buda
Linda Christian	...	Miriam Marshall
Dennis Price	...	Cmdr. Millbank
Richard Wattis	...	Sanders
Ronald Fraser	...	Joslin
David Frost	...	Reporter
Robert Coote	...	John Coburn
Joan Benham	...	Miss Potter

Storyline

Awaiting at London Airport for a flight to New York, Frances Andros, seen off by her tycoon husband, Paul Andros, plans to leave her spouse for the arms of an aging international playboy, Marc Champselle. Les Mangrum, a self-made Australian businessman traveling with his loyal secretary, Miss Mead, must be in New York the following day to arrange the loan that will help him repel a hostile takeover of his tractor company. Max Buba, a film mogul traveling with starlet Gloria Gritti, must get out of England immediately or face ruinous British income tax. The Duchess of Brighton has taken a job as a hostess at an American holiday resort, thinking she will be able to keep her family estate on her new income. Fog descends and blurs the future for them all, forced now to wait in the airport hotel for morning and fair weather.

---

Plot Keywords:

airport | secretary | businessman | fog | tycoon | 

---

Taglines:

A Modern Love Story

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

International Affair

Filming Locations:

London Heathrow Airport, London Borough of Hillingdon, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), De Grunwald Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First of 16 Richard Burton film or TV productions that Brook Williams would feature in.

---

Quotes

The Duchess of Brighton: 200 pounds a day. I can keep my home now.
Sanders: Your plane, your grace.
The Duchess of Brighton: Tell it it can go without me.

---

Connections

Referenced in Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood (2001)

User Reviews

A true curiosity...

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.