BUtterfield 8

When I started watching this film, I didn't know what to expect. At first it seemed like a slick, empty showcase for Elizabeth Taylor's beauty. However, it gradually turned into an involving (and extremely good-looking) little drama. You may have heard that it is campy; that's not true, although there is an unnecessary little speech by Harvey at the end. It's slickly produced, well-paced, entertaining and has an excellent cast.

Elizabeth Taylor hated making this movie (forced on her by MGM to fulfill the last part of her contract with the studio dating back to her days as a child star), and she hates it still. But whereas a lesser performer would have channeled that hatred into not trying at all on screen, La Liz instead channeled her hatred of the project by playing her part of call-girl Gloria Wandrous to the hilt, and in the process richly earned her first Academy Award (it is a far better performance than Shirley MacLaine's in "The Apartment", her chief competition that year). The story is cheap soap opera that really makes one snicker today when you see how they had to dance around the Production Code restraints of the day like never before, but watching La Liz in action is spellbinding. No other part reveals how in her prime she was the total picture of stunning beauty *and* a talented, gifted actress to boot.

Two beautiful unhappy people from opposite ends of Eisenhower era America are drawn together by an obsessive love that ends in tragic consequences. Elizabeth Taylor won a Best Actress Oscar (after much better performances in earlier pictures such as `Cat On A Hot Tin Roof') for her portrayal of (shock!) call-girl Gloria Wandrous. Laurence Harvey plays the john, Weston Liggett, trapped in a stale marriage with his stoic wife Emily (Dina Merrill, perfect as a blue-blooded blonde heiress).

Complementing the moody performances of Liz and Laurence Harvey are an excellent Eddie Fisher as Gloria's long-suffering best friend and greatest admirer Steve, Mildred Dunnock as poor Mrs. Wandrous, in complete denial of her daughter's easy virtue, Betty Field as nosy neighbor Mrs. Fanny Barber, and many others including Kay Medford as tragicomic motel matron, Happy.

Lurking behind the scenes of `Butterfield 8' are some very grown up issues (particularly for its day) about infidelity, high class prostitution, childhood sexual abuse, and the meaning of true commitment. The dialogue by John Michael Hayes (`Peyton Place,' `To Catch A Thief,' and `Rear Window", among many credits) and Charles Schnee, is punchy and quick, and the movie glows with luscious cinematography from Hollywood veteran Joseph Ruttenberg, who got an Academy Award nomination for his efforts (he had previously won four Oscars dating back to 1938).

Although somewhat dated, it remains a thoughtful film (if you pay attention) and a visual treat for any Liz fan. Worth watching!

As a lad I well remember in 1960 Elizabeth Taylor's struggle for her life with a deadly form of pneumonia. The news which usually when it talked about Liz Taylor it was usually about her various amours. this was different, the whole world was watching the bulletins as they came from London where she was in hospital. It was touch and go, but she made it.

Because she made it, she got an Oscar for Best Actress in 1960 for BUtterfield 8. It was not an award she highly prized. While she was filming BUtterfield 8 she cracked to the press loud and often about what a trashy film it was. She did it because she had only one more film to do on her commitment to MGM and MGM had this property kicking around for decades.

BUtterfield 8 was a novel by John O'Hara about a high priced call girl named Gloria Wandrous. It was based on the infamous Starr Faithful who was killed in 1931 and had a black book of some very influential clients.

Though it was written in 1935 the film is updated to the present. Taylor has a tempestuous relationship with her number one client played by Lawrence Harvey. He's the problem with the film. He's basically a cad, so much of one that one wonders what Taylor saw in him other than a successful social marriage. She certainly has some twisted values and finds that out too late.

Taylor got Eddie Fisher cast in the film as her friend. This was Fisher's second attempt at a movie career and there were no further offers from Hollywood for his services. As an actor he was a dud, Taylor says he doubled in that department as husband. She was quoted as saying that while she could think of good qualities in most of the men she was involved with, she couldn't for the life of her understand why she married Eddie Fisher.

But more than that, to me it was obvious that Fisher's character is gay, despite him having a girl friend played by Susan Oliver. Back then that was one area Hollywood didn't go into.

So Liz got her Oscar at last more for her courageous battle with pneumonia than her performance. She sure did better work. Her second Oscar for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf was one she really felt she earned. She was not on screen again until 1963 when Cleopatra was released. And that's a whole other chapter in the Elizabeth Taylor saga.

John O'Hara's novel was way ahead of its time. Daniel Mann's "Butterfield 8" was a film that capitalized on the lurid aspects of the book, but actually was turned into a soap opera. By today's standards it looks kind of ridiculous, but of course, it was meant to reflect the period of the late fifties in which the action is set.

Elizabeth Taylor was at the height of her beauty when the movie was shot. She comes out as the gorgeous creature she was in this vehicle that won her the Oscar that she should have received for other films, notably "Suddenly, Last Summer".

The film will entertain whoever hasn't seen it before. It's obvious Ms. Taylor and her co-star, Lawrence Harvey, had no chemistry whatsoever, as it shows in the film. What was shocking then wouldn't raise an eyebrow now. In the supporting cast, Mildred Dunnock, Betty Field, Dina Merrill give good performances.

Watch this film as curiosity piece to see some of the New York of that era.