BUTTERFIELD 8 is a favorite guilty pleasure of mine -Garish and hilarious, this "wondrous" film holds a prominent place in the book "Bad Movies We Love" by Edward Margulies & Stephen Rebello:
"Although "Trash Yourself Cinema" wasn't actually invented for Liz Taylor, one would be hard-pressed to name another star who made so much money so many times for wallowing so deep in this kind of plush, overproduced pigsty."
***I can think of at least one other: "La Lana!" Just check out Douglas Sirk's IMITATION OF LIFE and Pedro Almodovar's HIGH HEELS...
Margulies/Rebello continue: "Taylor was notorious at the time, as a 'brazen hussy' who 'stole' Eddie Fisher from wife Debbie Reynolds, which makes this movie's opening sequence irresistible... It's hard to fathom why Taylor won an Oscar for this performance, though there's a brief flash of real acting when her character claims that she's not interested in rich men: 'I've had more fun in the back of a '39 Ford than I could ever have in the vault of the Chase Manhattan Bank!' Oh sure. But catch Laurence Harvey as the married sicko who can't help lovin' dat Liz, no matter how badly she treats him (when she grinds her stiletto heel into his foot, it's clear he digs it)."
Camp value aside, there are a few problems with Liz' Oscar-winning opus: From Wikipedia:
"BUTTERFIELD 8 is a 1960 film about a promiscuous model (Elizabeth Taylor) who fears that she is on the verge of crossing the line from slutitude to prostitution, until she and one of her paramours (Laurence Harvey) fall in love. Their tumultuous relationship then threatens to engulf their loved ones--making eight characters in all. Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill, Susan Oliver, Betty Field, and Mildred Dunnock co-starred. The movie was adapted by John Michael Hayes and Charles Schnee from the 1935 novel by John O'Hara. It was directed by Daniel Mann. It won the Academy Award for Best Actress (Elizabeth Taylor) and was nominated for Best Cinematography, Color. The unusual spelling (capitalized "B" and "U") comes from the old way telephone numbers were listed in the United States - a modern number would use 2-8-8 rather than BUtterfield 8. The eight main characters were all part of this exchange."
John O'Hara's novel was already "dated" in 1935- He based it on the real-life Roaring Twenties NYC party-girl Starr Faithful ("Gloria Wandrous" Glorious Wonder?). Her tale is, above all else, of it's time -like F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby".
Another Manhattan socialite/author, Gloria Vanderbilt (!), kept the saga where it belongs -but apparently didn't do a very good job: "The Memory Book of Starr Faithful" by Gloria Vanderbilt From "Publishers Weekly"- "Starr Faithful was a reticent, studious and beautiful young woman whose death in 1931 at age 25 gave rise to rumors of sexual misconduct. Vanderbilt (Never Say Good-bye) makes a misguided attempt to recreate the mysterious Starr's diary, which she called her "Memory Book," and which disappeared shortly after her death. Beginning when she is 11, Starr writes to "Mem," chronicling her maturation as affected by the erotic obsession of her cousin Andrew J. Peters, Boston's Social Register mayor 34 years Starr's senior. His avuncular interest in her education veils years of damaging sexual exploitation before Starr's social-climbing mother learns the truth. Starr's breakdown and subsequent delusional relationship with a ship's surgeon bring the guilty party to light. The flavors and excesses of post-WWI society are captured dead on here-with appearances by personalities (Aimee Semple McPherson, Carl Jung), places (the Cotton Club) and even ships (the Carpathia, the Franconia)-but these historical details cannot compensate for the novel's mundane portrayals and ultimately static tone. Moreover, Vanderbilt's period accuracy includes the cloying lingo perhaps favored by flappers but apt to prove nauseating to the modern reader (the ether that Starr's cousin uses to sedate her is termed "creamy dreamy"). As a psychological profile, this is intriguing guesswork-though a trivial and disappointing read. Literary Guild selection."
From "Library Journal"- "Vanderbilt bases her second novel on the scandal surrounding the death of a beautiful young socialite in 1931."
Too bad the story and it's implications have never properly been put into perspective because there's far more to Starr Faithful (her real name) than O'Hara, Vanderbilt & "La Liz" mined from her sordid tale...
"Although "Trash Yourself Cinema" wasn't actually invented for Liz Taylor, one would be hard-pressed to name another star who made so much money so many times for wallowing so deep in this kind of plush, overproduced pigsty."
***I can think of at least one other: "La Lana!" Just check out Douglas Sirk's IMITATION OF LIFE and Pedro Almodovar's HIGH HEELS...
Margulies/Rebello continue: "Taylor was notorious at the time, as a 'brazen hussy' who 'stole' Eddie Fisher from wife Debbie Reynolds, which makes this movie's opening sequence irresistible... It's hard to fathom why Taylor won an Oscar for this performance, though there's a brief flash of real acting when her character claims that she's not interested in rich men: 'I've had more fun in the back of a '39 Ford than I could ever have in the vault of the Chase Manhattan Bank!' Oh sure. But catch Laurence Harvey as the married sicko who can't help lovin' dat Liz, no matter how badly she treats him (when she grinds her stiletto heel into his foot, it's clear he digs it)."
Camp value aside, there are a few problems with Liz' Oscar-winning opus: From Wikipedia:
"BUTTERFIELD 8 is a 1960 film about a promiscuous model (Elizabeth Taylor) who fears that she is on the verge of crossing the line from slutitude to prostitution, until she and one of her paramours (Laurence Harvey) fall in love. Their tumultuous relationship then threatens to engulf their loved ones--making eight characters in all. Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill, Susan Oliver, Betty Field, and Mildred Dunnock co-starred. The movie was adapted by John Michael Hayes and Charles Schnee from the 1935 novel by John O'Hara. It was directed by Daniel Mann. It won the Academy Award for Best Actress (Elizabeth Taylor) and was nominated for Best Cinematography, Color. The unusual spelling (capitalized "B" and "U") comes from the old way telephone numbers were listed in the United States - a modern number would use 2-8-8 rather than BUtterfield 8. The eight main characters were all part of this exchange."
John O'Hara's novel was already "dated" in 1935- He based it on the real-life Roaring Twenties NYC party-girl Starr Faithful ("Gloria Wandrous" Glorious Wonder?). Her tale is, above all else, of it's time -like F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby".
Another Manhattan socialite/author, Gloria Vanderbilt (!), kept the saga where it belongs -but apparently didn't do a very good job: "The Memory Book of Starr Faithful" by Gloria Vanderbilt From "Publishers Weekly"- "Starr Faithful was a reticent, studious and beautiful young woman whose death in 1931 at age 25 gave rise to rumors of sexual misconduct. Vanderbilt (Never Say Good-bye) makes a misguided attempt to recreate the mysterious Starr's diary, which she called her "Memory Book," and which disappeared shortly after her death. Beginning when she is 11, Starr writes to "Mem," chronicling her maturation as affected by the erotic obsession of her cousin Andrew J. Peters, Boston's Social Register mayor 34 years Starr's senior. His avuncular interest in her education veils years of damaging sexual exploitation before Starr's social-climbing mother learns the truth. Starr's breakdown and subsequent delusional relationship with a ship's surgeon bring the guilty party to light. The flavors and excesses of post-WWI society are captured dead on here-with appearances by personalities (Aimee Semple McPherson, Carl Jung), places (the Cotton Club) and even ships (the Carpathia, the Franconia)-but these historical details cannot compensate for the novel's mundane portrayals and ultimately static tone. Moreover, Vanderbilt's period accuracy includes the cloying lingo perhaps favored by flappers but apt to prove nauseating to the modern reader (the ether that Starr's cousin uses to sedate her is termed "creamy dreamy"). As a psychological profile, this is intriguing guesswork-though a trivial and disappointing read. Literary Guild selection."
From "Library Journal"- "Vanderbilt bases her second novel on the scandal surrounding the death of a beautiful young socialite in 1931."
Too bad the story and it's implications have never properly been put into perspective because there's far more to Starr Faithful (her real name) than O'Hara, Vanderbilt & "La Liz" mined from her sordid tale...