There have, of course, been many writer-director teams in cinema, some - Jacques Prevert-Marcel-Carne - verging on the immortal, some Robert Riskin-Frank Capra - honorable mentions, and some - Dudley Nichols-John Ford - ho hum but among the most distinguished were Terence Rattigan and Puffin Asquith who peaked with one of the finest British films ever made, The Browning Version which Rattigan adapted from his own one-act play; their partnership was also punctuated by the superb The Way To The Stars, The Winslow Boy, and culminated with two Original Screenplays by Rattigan both, as it happened, our old friend the portmanteau movie, first spotted in the 30s (Duvivier's Un Carnet de bal) and enjoying a vogue in the 40s (Quartet, Trio, Encore, Easy Money). First up was The V.I.Ps. and then, in 1964 what was to become Puffin's swansong, The Yellow Rolls Royce. Fittingly the first of the three episodes featured Rex Harrison who enjoyed his first major success on stage in Rattigan's French Without Tears in 1936. Alas, his wife was the badly miscast Jeanne Moreau then flavour-of-the-month and she herself saddled with the wooden Edmund Purdom as her love interest. Even more bizarre casting followed in the second segment in which four distinct acting styles - Alain Delon, Art Carney, George C. Scott and Shirley MacLaine clashed resoundingly. The class was reserved for the final segment in the form of the luminescent Ingrid Bergman offset by a cameo by Joyce Grenfell. Despite these caveats there is much to enjoy here and a reminded of two of the finest filmmakers in England.

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.

This is a slow moving but entertaining movie. The three stories are romantic and charming. The cast is outstanding. Ingrid Bergman, Omar Shariff, George C. Scott, Art Carney, and Shirley McLaine to mention a few. Chances are of you enjoy movies from the 1960s you may like it. This type of movie was common then, but many have not fared well in getting to video. This has never been a hit but always enjoyed by many. Unfortunately it is not available on DVD or even VHS. If you have seen it and enjoyed it you may want to see "The Red Violin" with Samuel Jackson. Several stories that tie together with a red violin. The only common thread in "The Yellow Rolls-Royce" is the car. One of those if such-and-such could talk stories. It has been years since I have seen it telecast on TV. Good luck trying to see it.

I was a young girl when my mother took me to Radio City Music Hall to see this wonderful movie. It's about the travels of this Yellow Rolls Royce from owner to owner. Each owner has their own adventures with this car, but it is life changing for each of them. Each owner is so different in their character from the one before. I enjoyed the scenery, it was beautiful, acting was great, and the story is wonderful. This movie is filled with some of the greatest stars of that time period. A must for the older films viewer and the young ones too. I don't think you can buy it on VHS or DVD. I've tried to find it but I can't. Hope to be able to buy it one day!