The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1965)

I wanted to but couldn't!

best movie i've ever seen.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The Yellow Rolls Royce is a sort of a cinematic epiphany. I had seen a few parts of it in the past but recently thanks to TCM I was able to see the entire movie. The movie is broken up into three stories. Rex Harrison's story, with French actress Jeanne Moreau, begins the movie and immediately you are given one of life's most, if not THE most, important lessons.You have a proud rich married man with everything he wants. He gets the ball rolling with the yellow Rolls Royce by purchasing it brand new for his wife(Moreau) as an anniversary present. Harrison is confident, classy, debonair and charming. He knows what he wants and he gets it.But when he catches his wife cheating on him..we see a man utterly destroyed. There are a lot of fine examples in movies of what love can do to a person. Harrison's performance, as subtle and subdued as it is, is staggering. It's like cutting a man in two and seeing his innards in all their glory. In a ways it's profound, as if a new truth were revealed and a new reaction resulted.I've seen a few of Harrison's performances in various films and I've had respect for him. With The Yellow Rolls Royce, Harrison turns in an extremely moving and touching performance with what little screen time he has due to the length of his respective story. The tortured look on Harrison's face as he makes his way to his beloved yellow Rolls Royce and his beloved wife is worth seeing this movie alone. When he hangs his head low next to his gold cup winning horse, you see a side of a man that probably never existed before that moment. As someone calls to him, he straightens himself, adjusts, turns around..and we see a man forever changed. Very few movies can get something like that across in such an effective way.So what is one of, if not THE, most important lessons of life learned through Harrison's rich tale? You can seemingly have it all and in reality have nothing. Amidst his riches and ever-growing cache of prizes, we see a man terribly humbled and changed by the discovery of his wife's cheating ways. Towards the end of his story when he proclaims that he will hate living from now on, you believe it and you can sympathize with him and his broken heart because we've all been through it. Love changes you, especially when it damages you.~ When the next story begins with George C. Scott, Art Carney and Shirley McClaine we are ready for something lighter, funnier and we get it. But there's still plenty of angst to go around, whether in the heart or the back seat of the yellow Rolls Royce.There's a wonderful moment in an Italian showroom when the salesman briefly explains how the car got 20,000 miles on its odometer. He mentions a maharajah or something like that losing the car while gambling. It makes you want to see what happened in the interim between the first and second story in the movie! The second story of a mobster, his moll and their keeper/buddy/Art Carney is a good one. Light-hearted, but as I said, it still has some weight to it because it's still dealing with matters of love.This segment is wonderful, the only detracting thing is the horrible makeup job they did to poor Alain Delon! I realize he's supposed to be Italian(Delon is French) but they didn't have to apply the tan makeup so heavy. It's not a terribly distracting thing, although it makes you want to see what Delon really looks like without the brownie batter. The guys handsome with or without it and he emits a charismatic and dare I say "amoral" charm. As a matter of fact, this second story can be titled "Amoral Amore". See the movie, you'll know why.Oh and also, forget domani! ~ Now the third and last act is a special one. It stars Ingrid Bergman as a politico/ambassador and Omar Sharif as a Yugoslavian revolutionary. Some people may see the parallels between Sharif's role here and his 14 hour opus mega epic Doctor Zhivago.I recently saw Dr. Z in its entirety for the first time and I was completely underwhelmed.In my humble opinion, Omar Sharif does more here with his roll in The Yellow Rolls Royce and by turn is GIVEN more to do in his 30 plus minutes segment than all of the illustriously overrated Doctor Zhivago. Hell, they guy sounded infinitely more poetic than his supposed poetic character in Dr. Z!Ingrid Bergman: an absolute hoot. There are a lot of transformations in this movie. You can see characters actually change, transform and evolve, the yellow Rolls Royce being one of them! It goes from riches to revolutionary rages. Bergman's Miss Millett role is perhaps the character in the movie that goes through the most drastic transformation.At first she is frigid, uncompassionate, uncaring and selfish. She wants to eat, not be bothered and you better get her her martini. She cares little for people or warnings of invasions. Omar Sharif charms his way into her life and as a result, she changes. She becomes a different person. She becomes caring, compassionate and selfless. It's a remarkable role and I'm not about to compare it to any of her other roles because I haven't seen a lot of Ingrid Bergman's movies.There's a moment at the end of the movie in which she reflects upon her adventures, turns around to look at the yellow Rolls Royce and she steps back out of frame so we see only the car.It's quite a moment when a legendary actress gets out of her way for us to look upon a car.But oh what a car it is.

The Yellow Rolls Royce is a class act from the opening credits to the last shot. A pure example of the silver age of Hollywood doing what it does best. Great screenplay by Terrance Rattigan, gorgeous cinematography, engaging score, and impeccable direction by Anthony Asquith add up to a glittering fun and at times truly touching film experience. Interestingly enough both Asquith and Rattigan teamed up before for a similar all star romp with the Taylor-Burton film "The VIPS" another story of intersecting lives brought together by a mode of transportation. In "The VIPS" it was airplanes and here in this charming film it is a resplendent canary yellow automobile. To add to this heady cocktail the director has blended in a glittering all star cast of first rate talent from the early 1960's. This is a truly international roster of superstars each of which brings their unique talents and charms to bear on this film. The story is in three acts encompassing events some years apart all involving the Rolls and how it came into and changed the lives of its various owners. In act one Rex Harrison is superb as being well, nothing less than Rex Harrison. The glamorous Jeanne Moreau shows her depth and considerable strengths as his wandering but loving wife. They sparkle and spark as an aristocratic English couple facing a major turning point in their marriage. Act two really pops with comic genius flavored with a moving drama as Gangster George C. Scott takes his wisecracking Moll, Shirley MacLaine on a tour of Italy. Scott is revelatory in his roll and is complemented by Art Carney as his loyal and street wise right hand man. MacLaine channels a sharp, witty comic performance that stands with her best of the period. And as the amoral gigolo Stefano who opens her heart to real love and a love of life Alain Delon shines. They make a stunningly beautiful screen couple and by the end of the act they pluck the strings of star crossed romance beautifully. The luminous Ingrid Bergman teams up with Omar Sharif in a romantic tale set at the outbreak of the invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II. Bergman brings to the film a beauty that is timeless and her star persona which is legendary. She is brittle, vain at first, and funny. But with the aid of freedom fighter Sharif she comes to a new understanding of sacrifice and true humanity amidst the tragedy of war. And all throughout the films we are treated with spectacular vistas and sights of Europe in a travelogue of breathtaking cinemascope grandeur. The excitement of he Ascot races, the lush seductive beauty of Italy and the rough magnificence of the mountains of Yugoslavia. "The Yellow Rolls Royce" is much more than a star vehicle, it is the distillation of great film-making in a long gone era that both entertains and inspires the heart of all true romantics.

The idea of a film made up of three short films that are all connected through the ownership of a car sounds interesting and because of the great cast I gave the movie a look. However, despite sounding wonderful, the final product is a lot like a meal made up entirely of toast. Sure, it's filling but also very bland and unsatisfying. It just should have been a lot better.The first segment is extremely maudlin. Rex Harrison plays a rather out of touch but decent guy who buys the car for his wife (Jeanne Moreau). However, though he loves her dearly, she is having an affair. When he eventually discovers this, the segment soon ends--and ends amazingly abruptly. Too bad, as this segment alone could have made for a decent film had it been hashed out more.The second was intended as a comedic and romantic piece and it starred George C. Scott as a gangster, Art Carney as his sidekick, Shirley MacLaine as Scott's fiancé and Alain Delon as an Italian photographer (why they chose a French guy for this role is odd). It's a rather disjointed segment because it appears like two different films merged together. While occasionally a tad funny, the romance later in the film seemed forced and unrealistic. Not a bad effort, but rather forgettable.As for the final segment which starred Ingrid Bergman and Omar Sharif, it was very odd. Bergman played one of the most annoying and selfish characters I have ever seen. Yet, midway through this segment, she has a HUGE turnabout and shows herself to be brave and kind--a complete 180 degree shift. Such changes are seen in film but never in real life, so it was rather fun to see but also pretty vapid and silly.Overall, it's a time-passer and not much more. None of the three segments were especially compelling and I was left wanting so much more.

IMDb has it listed as a goof that: In the first segment Rex Harrison asks that the phone be moved to the left side of the back seat, but in subsequent segments the phone is still on the right side...POSSIBLE SPOILER BUT Rex Harrison only owns the car for two days! When he asks that the phone be moved (and some other request) the Rolls Royce man tells him that it will take a week. But Rex needs it that very day as an anniversary present because the following day is the big horse race. They don't have time to move the phone before he takes delivery of the car. When the car arrives he remarks to his wife that he will have the phone moved. But the very next day he sends the car back.So why does IMDb list as a goof the fact that the car is still on the left side?!