Customer Reviews

The Yellow Rolls Royce

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At last, this superb film is on dvd. The three separate stories, linked by ownership of the titled Rolls Royce, star the most incredible cast, with standout performances by Rex Harrison as the husband deceived by a delicious Jeanne Moreau, mobster George C Scott and his bored floozie Shirley MacLaine who dallies with Alain Delon, and the final segment with Ingrid Bergman and Omar Sharif, where the Rolls is used for an unexpected purpose. The music and cinematography add to the magic of this film, which should not be missed.
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Few films embody the 60's trend in Hollywood for International Productions that could play in any European Market as well as the good old USofA more than this movie. It is an enchanting concept. The longevity and varied changing ownership of a hand tooled masterpiece of classic automotive technology. Oh....and the star power isn't too bad either. The cast has been mentioned by others. But the Rolls holds its own against the biggest of them and comes out the true central character it was meant to be. Quite an accomplishment with no dialogue. There is quite a bit of interaction with the actors themselves, yet the car never lets itself be upstaged. A finely tuned performance all the way. Today's cars should enroll in the Yellow Rolls Royce's acting class about class acting through every social strata in a feature film. I shall never understand why the Academy wasn't driven to nominate it that year.
You really can't go wrong being the next owner of The Yellow Rolls Royce.

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 filmmaking in a long gone era that both entertains and inspires the heart of all true romantics.

I have waited decades to own this movie and finally it is available on DVD.

I rate it 4 stars because in all honesty, 5 stars implies "as good as it gets" and while its wonderful, its obviously not a Citizen Kane or a Bicycle Thief, but that having been said, it was an absolute amust for my collection.

The movie takes you on a tour of europe, from the life of a British Aristocrat, to the italian vacation of an american gangster, to the mountains of WWII era yugoslavia, and its a really wonderful journey. Rex Harrison is simply superb, and british director Asquith's familiarity with Britain and the English aristocracy of the time and its ways, makes the British portion of the movie the most detailed, accurate and authentic, and will entertain anglophiles, but George C Scott, Shirley Maclain, and Ingrid Bergman carry off the rest of it to perfection. They, helped along by the wonderful camera work, the locations and the sensitive story line, really make make for pleasurable diverting entertainment.

I wish it had been released as a Blu-ray, but for now I am just happy that they finally released this disc.

Fans of Rex Harrison must see this! For everyone else, its a wonderful, lighthearted adventure movie that looks at early 20th century europe with actors who are a real pleasure to watch.

This is a movie of romantic stories that occur around the Yellow Rolls Royce of the title. In this way the style resembles TV shows like Love American Style which came later. This kind of evocation of romance in cinema really doesn't exist any more. The 60s was an era of romantic movies like no other decade. The use of big names in story vignettes is something that could only have been done well back then.

I was 13 when this movie was first released. I was very excited at the time, it seemed so sophisticated. Now after many years, it was a nice experience to see the film on DVD. Film making has changed dramatically and this film is a great example of the big films of the early 1960s which were filled to overflowing with big name stars in a highly accessible and understandable plot and script. Today the film may seem formulaic, predictable, and somewhat shallow - but it is still highly entertaining. The first part of this tri-part film stars Rex Harrison and Jeanne Moreau as Lord and Lady Frinton. Lord Frinton seems to have missed all the cues that his wife was no longer interested in him and had found a younger lover. Edmund Purdom plays the younger man. The third part of the film stars Ingrid Bergman and Omar Scharif as an American millionaires and a Yugoslavian rebel. This section is a bit far-fetched as this rich spoiled widow becomes a radiant freedom fighter using her yellow Rolls to carry rebels to fight the invading Italians in World War II. The second part of the film is actually the strongest. It is the story of a gangster returning to Italy with his Miami girlfriend, played by Shirley MacLain. She gradually falls for an extremely handsome and charming gigolo, played by Alain Delon. Art Carney is fantastic as the mobster's right-hand man. He is perfect and he, Delon, and MacLain give the best performances in the film. This is highly recommended, especially for younger folks who may have never heard of this old classic.

IN JAUNARY I GOT THE DVD OF THE YELLOW ROLLS ROYCE AND IT WAS JUST A GREAT AS IT WAS WHEN I SAW IT AT THE STUART THREATRE IN LINCOLN NE IN THE 60'S. IT WAS LONG OVER DUE AND I AM GLAD THAT IS IT OUT NOW FOR ALL TO HAVE. ALL THREE STORIES ARE JUST AS GREAT AS THEY WERE MANY YEARS AND AGO AND THE DVD TRANFER IS SUPERB. I RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYONE. A GREAT FILM

Loved the movie. Wonderful story about a really posh car. The excellent acting from vintage stars, to the magnificent scenery. A real entertainment.

The yellow Rolls Royce, a stunning Phantom 3 of the 1930's, provides the red thread for the three short stories of the movie. The purchase of the RR is a desperate attempt to save a marriage in the first one, a centre for a love affair in the second one, and a symbol of freedom and rebellion in the third one. Excellent actors throughout with, among others, Rex Harrison, Shirley MacLaine, Omar Sharif and, above all, Ingrid Bergman who plays an unforgettable part as the invincible Mrs Mitchell, susceptible to flattery but with a large generous heart. My husband and I have seen it at least 15 times, and now we have a copy of our own!

Following up his delicious, star-studded "The V.I.P.'s", screenwriter Terence Rattigan crafted another fun ensemble piece, THE YELLOW ROLLS-ROYCE (1964), which follows the adventures of said automobile as it travels through three sets of owners.

The story opens in London, where Lord Charles Frinton (Rex Harrison) buys the Rolls-Royce as a belated anniversary gift for his wife Eloise (Jeanne Moreau), but the car comes to symbolise much more, when Charles discovers Eloise cavorting in the backseat with an old colleague (Edmund Purdom) during the Ascot races.

We switch locations to Italy, where vacationing American gangster Paolo Maltese (George C. Scott) finds the car in an auto showroom. His bleach-blonde moll Mae (Shirley MacLaine) takes an instant liking to it, and when Paolo is called back to the States to attend to "business", Mae travels down to the Italian coast, where she has a passionate fling with gigolo Stefano (Alain Delon).

Finally, we meet up with eccentric socialite Gerda Millett (Ingrid Bergman), who is asked by penniless Yugoslavian partisan Davich (Omar Sharif), to be smuggled across the border. As Gerda and Davich dodge Nazi bullet-fire--with yapping lapdog Duchess in tow--could romance also bloom?

THE YELLOW ROLLS-ROYCE is a rollicking good time. I thoroughly every minute of it; though especially the exciting final story with Ingrid Bergman. Perhaps because I've developed a renewed fascination for her lately. She delivers a fun-loving performance, and looks to have had a ball filming her scenes.

There are sadly no extras, apart from the trailer. I would have loved the inclusion of the original promotional featurette ("The Car That Became a Star"), but just having the movie on DVD is cause for celebration. Recommended.