[.ca] Butterfield 8 (Widescreen/Full Screen)

Amazon.com Essential Video:
"I was the slut of all time!" declares Elizabeth Taylor in the role for which she won her first Academy Award®. Taylor plays Gloria, a model of loose morals who discovers a last chance at love and redemption when she spends a week with Weston Ligget (Laurence Harvey), a man who married into money and hates himself for it. They fall in love, but before they can find happiness they have to overcome their own worst natures. BUtterfield 8 (named after Gloria's answering service) is a big boozy melodrama, full of gorgeous clothes, catty comments, and emotional showdowns--but along the way it plumbs some genuine sadness. No one can be simultaneously overblown and utterly sincere like Elizabeth Taylor; the movie is mired in the morality of the time, but her performance makes Gloria's mixture of grief and anger seem immediate and genuine. --Bret Fetzer

Tragic:
This is a tale of a good girl gone bad. Men are *toys* to her until she meets Weston Ligette (Laurence Harvey). Falling in love, she is determined to turn her life around. A compulsive decision she makes early in the relationship results in tragic consequences. Never dull and the dialogue is brilliant. Elizabeth Taylor is at her best in this film.

Excelent script:
Butterfield 8 was a disturbing film in its age. Elizabeth Taylor won an Academy award for this film. The picture was supported by a fine dialogue. Once more Hiccock was right when he stated that the three most important fundamentals aspects for making a good film were ; first a good script , second a good script and third a good script . Laurence Harvey is the lucky guy who commits adultery with that night butterfly , who later will fall in love with him . That perspective , however becomes in a complex device to explore the intimate world of all those people who live around them ; the fantasy world of Gloria, her glamorous desire to become a great lady , with an overshelter mother, a friend who makes the role of the brother she never had (Fisher is a mess as actor in this movie , maybe its only fault). In the other side of the coin , Harvey is a married man who lives in a boring house with a unbearable wife , with nothing to say and nothing to give . So this marriage is just only a status convenience. He rebeals against this state of things but he is uncapable of break his marriage. This situation is obviously hazardous for Gloria's growing expectations , who deeply in her mind still believes he'll divorce. Powerful dramatis personae with an unexpected twist of fate. Taylor in the peak of her cosmical beauty , but showing us also her powerful skill gifts acting. Good transfer on DVD. The picture may be today a bit old fashioned , but the visible analogies in that age with notable personalities of different worlds are obviously reflected. The Profumo case for instance, was still fresh in the mind of the social pages and some other celebrities . A good film to watch over and over.

Elizabeth Taylor's Controversial Oscar Winning Performance:
Despite the thoughts of some critics and indeed Elizabeth Taylor herself at times about this film, I've always admired it and firmly believe it is an unfairly maligned production with many interesting elements. It really represents the last breath of old style Hollywood moviemaking at MGM, a studio famed for displaying its female stars to best advantage in glossy productions. In my belief Elizabeth Taylor delivers good work as high class call girl Gloria Wanderous who despite being in her own words "The slut of all time", actually reeks sophistication and a rare beauty not seen in movies nowadays. Even in decline MGM was still capable of surrounding their star with the best in supporting players, costumes and opulent settings,which helped make "Butterfield 8", their biggest grossing film for 1960. "Butterfield 8" stands for the telephone answering service used by Gloria's "customers" when they want her services. Supposedly working as a model and "hostess", or so her trusting mother (Mildred Dunnock) would like to believe, Gloria is actually a high class prostitute catering to bored and wealthy married men. One such man Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey) comes into her life and for the first time Gloria finds herself falling in love with a client who previously would have been one of the faceless men she encounters in her work. Liggett has married into an old money background and Gloria is made very aware of her real status when after an all night lovemaking session Weston leaves her money for her "troubles" beginning for Gloria a downward spiral to a tragic ending. Along the way we see the other parts of Gloria's shabby life from best friend Steve (Taylor's real life husband Eddie Fisher), who is like an older protective brother and who has a disapproving girlfriend Norma (Susan Oliver). Norma resents Gloria's continued intrusions into their lives and sees her as a threat to their future happiness together. Gloria travels a rocky road in her relationship with Weston as he married his aristocratic wife Emily (Dina Merrill) solely for the money and position that came with it. Emily plays the patient wife who looks the other way in regard to his infidelities and she realises that Weston is having an affair when one of her Mink Coats is taken by Gloria after she spends a night in the apartment with Weston. Seeing that Weston will never be able to break away from the grip of Emily's family and his ties to her money, Gloria tries to break off the romance and leaves to begin a new life in Boston. Weston however finds he cannot overcome his passion for her and goes off in pursuit where after an aborted chase Gloria wrecks her car and is killed on an unmade freeway. Weston then returns to his dull life that he knew before the excitment of the girl at "Butterfield 8". Passed off as sensationalist magazine fiction, "Butterfield 8", was in fact based on a novel by John O'Hara that created a few sparks itself due to it's "illicit" subject matter. Elizabeth Taylor was highly resistant to playing the role of Gloria despite it being the last film in her long running contract with MGM. It was responsible for holding her up from accepting the lead role in "Cleopatra" being planned by Twentieth Century Fox for which she was being paid a record One Million dollars. Also she felt that the studio was unfairly trying to cash in on her recent notoriety surrounding her controversial marriage to Eddie Fisher. Despite her clashes with director Daniel Mann Elizabeth I believe has rarely been more exciting on screen and turns in a multi layered performance that has elements of glamour, tragedy and passion. Rarely has she looked more beautiful in a film and the often elaborate settings play up the glamourous side of the story that reeks old Hollywood. Laurence Harvey registers well as the bored man facing the crisis of his life over whether to follow his heart or stay in his "safe" zone. He has a great chemistry with Elizabeth Taylor and would be reteam with her 13 years later in the excellent, seldom seen thriller "Night Watch". Eddie Fisher is the one weak link in the story as Gloria's friend Steve. In a role originally intended for David Janssen, Fisher reveals his lack of real acting talent however Susan Oliver as girlfriend Norma excels in her few scenes, in particular in her catty exchanges with Gloria which are among the most meaty in the story. Another standout is Kay Medford in a heartbreaking performance as the sad "seen it all" owner of the seedy motel where Weston and Gloria often have their rendezvous. "Butterfield 8", is real old style filmmaking with a production full of beautiful clothes, lush settings with well heeled people emeshed in heartbreaking situations. The moralistic tone of the early sixties demanded that "bad girl", Gloria ultimately pay for her sins but this doesn't detract from the films great entertainment value. Should Elizabeth Taylor have won the 1960 Best Actress Oscar? It's open to debate however I for one admire her performance here greatly and it undoubtedly shows Taylor in all her movie queen splendour. Beginning a decade where her main leading man would repeatedly be Richard Burton, her teaming with Laurence Harvey is an interesting one that works well. Enjoy Elizabeth Taylor in her hotly debated Oscar win in John O'Hara's "Butterfield 8".

Decent film with a few shortcomings:
Of course Elizabeth Taylor delivers a stellar performance in this film, one of the best in her career. The viewer feels that she IS Gloria, not merely portraying the part. However, I was sorely disappointed in the acting by Laurence Harvey. I found his performance to be sorely lacking, his emotions forced and faked, and his overall acting style stiff and unbelievable. Sounds harsh, I know, but I wish the producer/director had found a better actor to fill this role, and then the film would have been much better. On a final note, this is one of the best films I've ever seen about a prostitute. We can't mince words; that's exactly what Gloria is, although she tries to gloss it over. In addition, the final scene between Liggett and his wife is fairly decent, leaving the viewers to surmise the outcome of their marriage with their own imaginations, even though his wife is EXTREMELY underdeveloped and has a too-good-to-be-true attitude about the entire situation.

A Surprise Oscar for Elizabeth Taylor:
BUTTERFIELD 8 is a screen adaptation of John O'Hara's earlier novel made to look modern for a 1960's audience. Elizabeth Taylor plays a promiscuous girl who wants to settle down with a respectable Laurence Harvey. Unfortunately Harvey is already married to a wealthy woman (Dina Merrill). Taylor's friend Eddie Fisher mostly just watches the inevitable tragedy unfold. The rest of the cast includes Mildred Dunnock, Betty Field and Susan Oliver. The movie drags in spots and many of the characters lack depth. Elizabeth Taylor received an unexpected Academy Award for her role and the film was also nominated for Best Color Cinematography. The main competition for Oscars in 1960 came from ELMER GANTRY and THE APARTMENT.