Made principally to cash in on the Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor romance – the movie raced Cleopatra into the cinemas – this is a glossy, but tedious drama set in the VIP lounge of the then London Airport.
A group of mismatched jet-setters simmer in an emotional pressure-cooker as fog and bad weather forces an unscheduled overnight stay.
Elizabeth Taylor is jilting billionaire husband Richard Burton for gigolo Louis Jourdan because he “needs” her and Burton apparently doesn’t.
Only Margaret Rutherford’s deliriously dotty, Oscar-winning duchess and Orson Welles’ movie mogul fleeing the taxman breathe life into the bottomless pit of clichés. Other celebrities on view include Maggie Smith and even David Frost.
The screenplay – which MGM originally called International Hotel – is by Terence Rattigan, perhaps the most prestigious British playwright since Noël Coward, whose later career was to suffer at the hands of John Osborne and other “angry young men” of the British theatre.
Frances Andros
Elizabeth Taylor Paul Andros
Richard Burton Marc Champselle
Louis Jourdan Gloria Gritti
Elsa Martinelli Duchess of Brighton
Margaret Rutherford Miss Mead
Maggie Smith Les Mangrum
Rod Taylor Miriam Marshall
Linda Christian Max Buda
Orson Welles Commander Millbank
Dennis Price Sanders
Richard Wattis Joslin
Ronald Fraser Reporter
David Frost
Director Anthony Asquith
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