BUtterfield 8 (1960)

The reason BUtterfield 8 is so famous is two-fold: Elizabeth Taylor and the Hays Code. Before the fall of the Hays Code, a movie like this could never be made, so in 1960, Hollywood was thrilled to make a film about a call-girl. Since the call-girl was played by someone so beautiful and scantily clad, audiences were thrilled to see it. When they flocked to the theaters upon its release, they were greeted by life size cardboard cutouts of Elizabeth Taylor (I know movie theaters today are always decorated like that, but in 1960 it was new) and phone booths in which you could dial the phone number BUtterfield 8 and listen to a prerecorded message from the star. What a publicity campaign! Elizabeth Taylor won an Oscar during the 1961 ceremony, but it was clear even at the time that she didn't really win for her performance. She'd recovered from a nearly fatal bout of pneumonia near the voting period, and since she'd recently made her way back into America's good graces after being branded as a homewrecker, the Academy rewarded her.Liz herself notoriously dissed the film, and I can't say I blame her. The film isn't that great, and it's also pretty dated, since countless movies about prostitutes have been made since. The shock value isn't there anymore. If you want to see Elizabeth Taylor in a negligee and you can't find Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I guess you can sit through this one. But try and find something else; there are so many other movies that show off her beauty.

The romantic life of a fashionable Manhattan beauty (Elizabeth Taylor) who is part model, part call-girl, and all man-trap.According to MGM records, the film made $6.8 million in the US and Canada and $3.2 million in other countries, resulting in a profit to the studio of $1,857,000 - making it MGM's biggest hit of the year. This is hardly surprising, given the subject matter. It is very much in the vein of "Breakfast at Tiffany's", though far more open about its main character. (One could watch "Breakfast" and never realize what Hepburn was if they weren't paying attention.) Elizabeth Taylor won a best actress Oscar, which is probably well-deserved. Maybe not her best-known role in retrospect (few today have probably heard of this film), but certainly a nice showcase of her talents.

This really is the definition of a "guilty pleasure". It is also sort of symbolic of Hollywood in the late 50's/early 60's and an ironic one in the career of Elizabeth Taylor's. Who would believe that two years after one of Hollywood's biggest scandals (with Taylor as the "other woman") she would play "the other woman" in a melodramatic soap opera? Nobody will ever accuse Laurence Harvey of being Eddie Fisher or Dina Merrill of being Debbie Reynolds, although the later is closer as her character is as noble on screen as the press made Debbie out to be in real life. Perhaps this is one of the reasons Taylor hated the film so much because it was a bit of a parallel, and maybe she was sick of the subject....But, I digress. Looking much like Maggie in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in the opening scene wearing nothing but a slip, her character of Gloria is a slightly aging New York party girl. They say when Broadway babies say goodnight, it's early in the morning, and when Taylor wakes up, she finds everything around her in a shambles. Her dress is destroyed, she can't find a cigarette she likes, and Harvey has left her money, she later finds out, to replace the dress. Several years before the code changed, this opening scene is still pretty racy. So with no other way to get home, Taylor simply "borrows" a mink coat from Harvey's closet which is later revealed to belong to his wife Dina Merrill. Taylor is livid by the "insult". It is obvious that Taylor is not a prostitute, but she's not Donna Reed, either. (Unless it's Reed in "From Here to Eternity"!) You know right from the start that Taylor is one complex, neurotic woman. She obviously has a job (it seems wearing her outfits from some design firm around town to get them seen it appears), but for the women who know her (with the exception of naive mother Mildred Dunnock), Taylor isn't someone you leave alone with your husband. Susan Oliver is one of those women, the girlfriend of Taylor's pal, Eddie Fisher. In the early 30's, pre-code films like this were "warnings" to young ladies heading to the big city, but by 1960, the world was wise enough not to cry "danger, danger!" when showing us Gloria's plight. Taylor really isn't doing anything here she hadn't done in her recent successes, but her one key scene (unleashing her soul to Eddie Fisher about her past) is magnificent and perhaps what voters remembered when they voted her the Oscar. There is no doubt how this will end, but the lavish filming makes this truly fun to watch.I don't see this film being done in Louis B. Mayer's day at MGM, but with the permissiveness of this era, "BUtterfield 8" is not at all shocking. Harvey does what he can to make the louse of a husband likable. Some people may find Dina Merrill's wealthy socialite too good for words, but I truly empathized with her. She could have used her financial standing to be more controlling, but then she'd be labeled just another "rich bitch", which she certainly was not. I find this made her the most likable character in the film, although Kay Medford's brief scenes as the owner of the cheap road motel were filled with heart, humor and wisdom as well. Dunnock, too, was excellent as the close-eyed mother, and Betty Fields offers some amusing moments as her witty friend who pretends to hate Taylor but you know instantly actually can't help but like her. This is one of those lavish soap operas (much like "A Summer Place" and "From the Terrace") that you can't help but enjoy in spite of its triteness.

Reluctant prostitute Elizabeth Taylor (as Gloria Wandrous) wakes up beautifully naked in her trick's bed. After scrounging around for a cigarette and scotch, she dons a slinky slip and brushes her teeth. When she finds $250 for services rendered, Ms. Taylor gets disgusted and saunters off in the mink coat belonging to the wife of wealthy bed-mate Laurence Harvey (as Weston Liggett). "I borrowed something spiteful and elegant," Taylor tells platonic pal Eddie Fisher (as Steve Carpenter). Mr. Fisher worries Taylor has become "boozed up and burned out." Fisher tinkers on the piano, but doesn't get a song to sing.A self-admitted "slut of all time," Taylor is sick of being mistaken for one. She calls herself a model, and really wants to settle down with someone like Mr. Harvey. "I've been with a man - a whole week," she excitedly tells mother Mildred Dunnock. Harvey is married, however, unhappily to beautiful country club blonde Dina Merrill (as Emily). Ms. Merrill (later Mrs. Robertson) never handled golf clubs at the "Maidstone Club" the way she wields her rifle in "Butterfield 8". Taylor (then Mrs. Fisher) was a triple crown movie queen when this film was released - with big celebrity, box office, and critical acclaim.Everyone, including the star, felt Taylor won the 1960 "Academy Award" for "Best Actress" because she nearly died during a health crisis. But, Taylor is undeniably excellent in this film. She also won the year's "Film Daily" award, and was nominated or mentioned by many critics and organizations, before her near-death experience. With Taylor's beautiful bust filling the screen, "Butterfield 8" is unabashedly trashy, but the star and production values are strong. This was the last in a string of consistently fine performances from Taylor. Her long-awaited next outing, "Cleopatra" (1963), initiated a series of ups and downs.******* Butterfield 8 (11/4/60) Daniel Mann ~ Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill