Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

MartinHafer rare to hear Rod Taylor with his actual Aussie accent soapyWhile 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.

mifunesamurai I had to watch this again because I just read Sammy Davis Jr's Hollywood In A Suitcase. In the book he describes some wild nights with Burton & Taylor, and I think it also occurred in England, maybe during the making of this film. So since this movie was on television, I thought it would be fun just to watch Burton & Taylor in action pre-Virginia Wolf. And how campy were they? Taylor did her usual Hollywood camp trademark of acting while Burton camp it up theatrical style. I'm sure they were laughing it up during the making of the movie (possibly between drinks with Sammy). What really got my interest was the story involving Rod Taylor and the young beautiful Maggie Smith. Rod plays an Australian entrepreneur and he gets it right with the larrikin accent and mannerisms. How a petite English secretary falls for him is understandable because what you see is what you get, and that is a rough Aussie bronze male who shows his true emotions. I'd wish they had shown more of that story than the melodramatic one of Burton & Taylor.For extra pleasure there is the little side story of The Duchess of Brighton, played by the delightful Margaret Rutherford. This eccentric character spends her time popping pills to either stay awake or put her to sleep. There is no other real purpose for this side story beside tying up with the other small story involving the homosexual film producer played with humor by Orson Welles. The stories of these two characters is superficial but total fun compare to the soap opera of Burton & wife.Watching this in widescreen on a pristine print also makes a big difference, because I saw this thirty years ago on a small television and thought it was total rubbish. This time around I enjoyed it more and appreciate the little subtleties that make it all worth the while.

qormi Elizabeth Taylor is having an affair with Louis Jourdan, a gigolo who has bedded around 500 women. Yet they never did it. She's running off with a professional gigolo and he hasn't managed to get her in the sack yet. Elizabeth Taylor. This gigolo must really be slipping. Richard Burton, as usual, reads names out of the phone book as if he's on the stage doing "Hamlet". Rod Taylor plays a businessman with a flashy wife who seems ready to dump him and a doe-eyed, matronly Girl Friday who saves his butt. I have to tip my hat to Rod Taylor - excellent Aussie accent. Orson Welles, who looked like a walking Burger King franchise, was very funny as the airhead Elsa Martinelli's companion. Then there was the frumpy old British dame with her own theme song and a chin that makes Jay Leno look like Beau Bridges. The movie had its strange moments. Elizabeth Taylor argues with Burton's character and he slams her hand against a glass closet door, cutting her. Instead of throwing a shoe at him and screaming, this somehow bonds her to him and they're on the road to reconciliation. But it takes Paul (Burton) to threaten suicide for her to finally go back to him before the plane takes off.

wes-connors British Heathrow Airport's jet set have various reasons for high-tailing it to New York, but "The V.I.P.s" are grounded by London's notorious fog. The prospective travelers are first offered a free meal, then are put up in a hotel for the evening. Everything looks first class for the era, which benefits beautifully-wigged star Elizabeth Taylor (as Frances), who is leaving husband Richard Burton (as Paul Andros) for handsome Louis Jourdan (as Marc Champselle). They are the main story in the "Grand Hotel" (1932)-styled ensemble. Of the others, you'll have no trouble enjoying Margaret Rutherford steal not only her scenes, but the entire movie. Orson Welles never stood a chance. With less fanfare (than Liz and Dick), Rod Taylor and Maggie Smith have a good subplot.****** The V.I.P.s (9/1/63) Anthony Asquith ~ Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Margaret Rutherford, Louis Jourdan