Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Running time: 119 minutes
The V.I.P.s (1963)
“For elite passengers awaiting London-to-U.S. flights, takeoff can’t occur soon enough. But then fog rolls in, grounding air traffic. Over the next fateful night, the jet-setters must face problems and not flee them. First-class stars book passage for romantic melodrama mixed with wry comic flourishes in The V.I.P.s. Frances (Elizabeth Taylor) is running from her neglectful tycoon husband (Richard Burton) into the arms of suave Marc (Louis Jourdan). Filmmaker Max (Orson Welles) is dodging the taxman. Harried entrepreneur Les (Rod Taylor) is blind to the romantic devotion of his secretary (Maggie Smith). And a dotty duchess (Margaret Rutherford, who won an Oscar, Golden Globe and a National Board of Review Award for her delightful performance) is determined to save her ancestral manor.” [From the DVD]
Cast
Frances Andros: Elizabeth Taylor
Paul Andros: Richard Burton
Marc Champselle: Louis Jourdan
Gloria Gritti: Elsa Martinelli
The Duchess: Margaret Rutherford
Miss Mead: Maggie Smith
Les Mangram: Rod Taylor
Miriam Marshall: Linda Christian
Max Buda: Orson Welles
Coburn: Robert Coote
Sanders: Richard Wattis
Commander Millbank: Dennis Price
Joslin: Ronald Fraser
Mr. Damer: Peter Illing
Airport Director: Michael Hordern
Waiter: Stringer Davis
First Reporter: Brook Williams
Second Reporter: Alan Howard
Third Reporter: Lewis Fiander
Fourth Reporter: Barry Steele
Miss Potter: Joan Benham
Bar Steward: Arthur Howard
Doctor: Peter Sallis
Mrs. Damer: Joyce Carey
Porter: Griffiths Davis
Waitress: Maggie McGrath
Assistant to Airport Director: Frank Williams
Meteorological Man: Angus Lennie
Rolls Chauffeur: Ray Austin
Airport Announcers: Rosemary Dorken and Pamela Buckley
Hotel Receptionist: Duncan Lewis
Met. Official: Richard Briers
Young Reporter: David Frost
Dr. Schwutzbacher: Martin Miller
Airport Official: Lance Percival
Captain: Terrence Alexander
Air Hostess: Jill Carson
Hotel Representative: Richard Caldicott
Lady Reporter: Ann Castle
Mr. Rivers (Hotel Manager): Clifford Mollison
Official: Gordon Sterne
Head Waiter: Reginald Beckwith
Barman: John Blyhe
Visitors (Knebworth House): Virginia Bedard and Cal McCord
Air Hostess: Moyra Fraser
Jamaican Gentleman: Clifton Jones
Crew
Director: Anthony Asquith
Producer: Anatole de Grunwald
Screenwriter: Terence Rattigan
Cinematographer: Jack Hildyard
Art Director: William Kellner
Set Decorator: Pamela Cornell
Musical Score: Miklos Rozsa
Editor: Frank Clarke
Miss Taylor’s Clothes: Hubert de Givenchy
Miss Martinelli’s Clothes: Pierre Cardin
Wardrobe Supervisor: Felix Evans
Miss Taylor’s Hairstyles: Vivienne Walker Zavitz
Did You Know?
According to Elizabeth, “Richard had already been asked to do The V.I.P.s, and I made a joke about, ‘Why don’t I do it, too?’ The producer grabbed onto it. It really was just an excuse to be together.”
The love triangle in the film between the characters of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Louis Jourdan was said to be inspired by fog’s fateful intervention in Vivien Leigh’s plans to leave husband Laurence Olivier for Peter Finch. Leigh and Finch were set to fly out of London Airport, but by the time the fog lifted, Leigh had resolved to stay with Olivier.
Elizabeth’s wardrobe in The V.I.P.s was designed by Hubert de Givenchy. She would wear one of her costumes, seen in the film’s uber glamorous opening credits, to the Paris premiere of Lawrence of Arabia, on March 15, 1963, one of her most spectacular public appearances.
On the set of The V.I.Ps, Elizabeth “dislocated a cartilage in her left knee,” necessitating surgery to reset the knee.
Richard’s youngest brother, Graham Jenkins, was his stand-in on The V.I.P.s.
Released while Cleopatra (1963) was still playing roadshow engagements in large cities, The V.I.P.s was many filmgoers’ first chance to see Elizabeth and Richard together on the silver screen.