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The Yellow Rolls-Royce

Movie · 1964 · 15 people

Anthony Asquith directed the 1964 British anthology drama The Yellow Rolls-Royce. Made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it tells three separate stories strung around one car. Terence Rattigan wrote it and Anatole de Grunwald produced it, the same team behind The V.I.P.s the year before, and the film was assembled with a similar star-packed cast. It runs about 122 minutes.

The common thread is a yellow-and-black Rolls-Royce Phantom II. The car's owners are an English aristocrat, a Miami gangster and a wealthy American widow. The events fall in the years leading to the Second World War and its start. Rex Harrison, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley MacLaine, Jeanne Moreau, Omar Sharif, George C. Scott and Alain Delon are among the stars, each appearing in just one episode; Scott, MacLaine and Delon share the same one. Art Carney, Edmund Purdom and Moira Lister are in the cast too.

The film appears to adapt an idea from Helmut Käutner's 1947 German drama In jenen Tagen. Riz Ortolani's song "Forget Domani" won Best Original Song at the 23rd Golden Globe Awards, and another tune, "Mae", written for the Scott-MacLaine-Delon episode, was also released in several versions.

DirectorAnthony Asquith
Production companyMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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Cast

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Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau Film actor · died at 89 Edmund Purdom Edmund Purdom Film actor · 1924 – 2009 Rex Harrison Ingrid Bergman Shirley MacLaine George C. Scott Ömer Şerif Alain Delon Art Carney Michael Hordern Riccardo Garrone Carlo Croccolo Roland Culver Moira Lister Isa Miranda

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

The anthology format is both the film's strength and its weakness. Rattigan's script ties three stories together through one car, but the link often feels more like an elegant pretext than a dramatic necessity; as the car changes hands, tone and pace shift with it, and the episodes are noticeably uneven. Asquith's direction is clean, courteous and a little too safe. Because each star appears in only one episode, the film becomes a showcase for actors and leaves the characters little time to deepen. You can sense the comfort of repeating the formula of The V.I.P.s. Still, it is an instructive example for anyone curious about the polish of big-studio filmmaking of the period.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

What makes the film interesting is the social range it draws through the car's owners: an English aristocrat, a Miami gangster and a wealthy American widow. The Rolls-Royce travels across class lines as a status symbol; the luxury object stays the same while the worlds carrying it change. Setting the events in the years leading to the Second World War and at its start lets a shadow fall over these privileged lives. In my view the film never exploits that tension fully, and the war often stays a backdrop; even so, it opens a meaningful window on the moneyed classes of those years.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

This is a drama aimed mostly at adults. There are three separate stories, one of them built around a gangster, and the events reach into the war years. I don't think it will hold small children's attention. It suits teenagers and grown-ups better. Older family members may enjoy seeing classic stars like Omar Sharif and Ingrid Bergman together. A good pick for a quiet evening.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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