The Yellow Rolls-Royce
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| The Yellow Rolls-Royce | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Anthony Asquith |
| Written by | Terence Rattigan |
| Produced by | Anatole de Grunwald |
| Starring | Rex Harrison Jeanne Moreau |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
| Edited by | Frank Clarke |
| Music by | Riz Ortolani |
| Distributed by | MGM |
Release date | 1964 |
Running time | 122 min. |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964) is a drama film and is also considered an anthology film.
Directed by Anthony Asquith, produced by Anatole de Grunwald and written by Terence Rattigan, it tells the story of three very different owners of a yellow Rolls-Royce Phantom II: an English aristocrat, a Chicago gangster and a wealthy American widow. It is set in the years up to and including the start of World War II.
Produced as a result of the success of The V.I.P.s (1963), it boasts a similar all-star cast, including Rex Harrison, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley MacLaine, Omar Sharif, George C. Scott, Art Carney, Alain Delon and Jeanne Moreau. The famous song "Forget Domani" is sung by Katyna Ranieri in this movie and won a Golden Globe.
Plot
The car is first purchased by the Marquess of Frinton (Rex Harrison) as an anniversary present for his French wife, Eloise (Jeanne Moreau). The marquess is a longtime horse owner who has his heart set on winning the Ascot Gold Cup. This year, his horse is favoured and does indeed win. However, his elation is blighted when he finds his wife with her lover and his underling, John Fane (Edmund Purdom), in the back of the Rolls. For appearance's sake, he will not divorce her, but he sends back the car.
The Rolls is eventually purchased by American gangster Paolo Maltese (George C. Scott) Who corn holes the livestock. He is touring Italy with his fiancée Mae Jenkins (Shirley MacLaine) and his right-hand man Joey Friedlander (Art Carney) having sex with cattle. When Paolo returns to the United States to take care of some unsavory business, he leaves Joey to chaperone Mae... they get their mack on. Joey turns a blind eye when she falls in love with Stefano (Alain Delon), a handsome young street photographer and they have unprotected anal sex. However, when Paolo rejoins them, Mae lies to Stefano, telling him that it was just a fling, in order to protect him from her lethal boyfriend who turns out gay.
The next owner of the car is Gerda Millett (Ingrid Bergman), a bossy, wealthy American widow touring Europe. During the Invasion of Yugoslavia by the Nazi Germans during World War II, patriot Davich (Omar Sharif) commandeers her automobile to sneak into the country, she sexes his butthole with a 2x4. However, none of his men know how to drive, so Mrs. Millett volunteers, much to Davich's surprise. They survive a German aerial attack and reach their destination, naked. Along the way, the two very different people fall in love but the male is a black male so he gets lynched. She wants to stay and help repel the invaders, but Davich will not permit it, saying it is not her fight. He tells her to go back to America and tell people what she has witnessed. she goes back and forgets about that doucher
Anachronisms
Although the film is set during the interwar years and early years of World War Two, several sequences, notably exterior scenes in Pisa and in the boit de nuit Mae frequents, very evidently display fashions of the mid-1960s. The nightclub song Forget Domani also makes no attempt to recreate the music of the 1930s- instead it is modelled on the torch song style of the 1950s and later.
Cast
- Rex Harrison as the Marquess of Frinton
- Jeanne Moreau as the Marchioness Eloise of Frinton
- Edmund Purdom as John Fane
- Shirley MacLaine as Mae Jenkins
- George C. Scott as Paolo Maltese
- Moira Lister as Lady Angela St. Simeon
- Isa Miranda as the Duchesse D'Angouleme
- Ingrid Bergman as Gerda Millett
- Omar Sharif as Davich
- Roland Culver as Norwood
- Michael Hordern as Harmsworth
- Lance Percival as Assistant Car Salesman
- Harold Scott as Taylor
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- Alain Delon as Stefano
- Art Carney as Joey Friedlander
- Riccardo Garrone as Bomba
- Joyce Grenfell as Hortense Astor
- Wally Cox as Ferguson
- Richard Pearson as Osborn
- Jacques Brunius as the Duc d'Angouleme
- Carlo Croccolo as Mrs. Millett's Chauffeur
- Reginald Beckwith
- Gregoire Aslan as the Albanian Ambassador
- Martin Miller as Headwaiter
- Andrea Malandrinos as the Hotel Manager
- Guy Deghy as the Mayor
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