Rating: 
Summary: Liz Luscious in Glossy, "Racy" Melodrama
Review: "Butterfield 8" is a much better picture than it's often given credit for, in spite of the excesses. In fact, its excesses are what make it fun. Elizabeth Taylor plays Gloria Wandrous, a model/partygirl who lives a fast, booze-soaked life without inhibitions (and with a pretty good sense of humor) but longs to be "respectable" and "normal" with the "Right Man." She also still lives with her mother, although her long-suffering mother tries to deny her daughter's lifestyle. When Gloria has a one-night-stand with Weston Ligget (Laurence Harvey), the man who has unhappily married into money, she feels she has at last found the security she has been looking for. As she tells her psychiatrist in a hilarious scene, "I'm cured!"
First of all, the opulent sets are gorgeous (lots of blues, chandeleirs, posh rooms, sumptuous clothes) and at the centerpiece is Ms. Gorgeous herself, La Liz in her prime. Wow, she was, as one reviewer noted, cosmically beautiful in a way few prior or since have come close: raven black hair; violet eyes with the thick double-lashes; florid coloring; the perfect eyebrows (thick but not bushy and tapered beautifully); beauty mark; beautiful nose; even a dimpled smile. She also was quite voluptuous and here is poured into her clothes, including her undergarments. Who wore a slip like Elizabeth Taylor? Her performance here is quite good -- she's definitely steeped in excess (in the opening scene, in fact, she brushes her teeth with booze and teeters through the lush apartment on high heels) but also sympathetic and puts across a complex range of emotions. Sure, the script reflects the attitudes of the times and there are moments of unintentional humor (such as when long-suffering "noble" wife of Ligget, the lovely Dina Merrill has a confrontational scene with her husband where he tells her *SPOILER* he's leaving because he can't go on disrespecting her, and she pleads, "Can't you try?"), but it's still a very complex portrait of Gloria, as embodied by Taylor, and her life. And it's a classic representation of the sexes in that time -- almost right out of a lurid pulp novel in Technicolor mixed with old-style Hollywood. Taylor in long black gloves and huge pearls. Terrific! Wish everyone wore hats still!
Laurence Harvey actually embodies the description Ian Fleming gave of James Bond in his novels with the piercing eyes, hard mouth and even the "comma of black hair" over his eye. He's a classic of this period, too, and the wooden acting is all part of it. It's not quite a stereotype, either; the characters are all fairly well drawn, in fact. The scene of the businessmen in the bar "making a joke" over Gloria ("most desirable girl in town and easiest to find," as the poster says), that the men who have her "number" would fill a stadium, is still an outrage, but even if women are no longer "branded" for being sexually "loose," the attitudes still persist. (Look at how people embrace the largely sexist hip-hop's slang "'ho" and think how many men still have women on their "budget"). We've come a long way, baby, but it ain't over! And probably never will be.
Yes, yes, the scoop surrounding the film was that Taylor was involved with Eddie Fisher (why, Elizabeth?) and broke up his marriage with Debbie Reynolds. But although he's fairly good here as her faithful friend, it would have been far more believable if he had been a gay man. As it stands, it feels absurd that a straight man would have the likes of Elizabeth Taylor coming to his apartment, flirting and tempting him, and remain chastely faithful to his girlfriend.
In any case, splashy, good fun and great to look at!
Rating: 
Summary: Elizabeth Taylor SIZZLES
Review: "ButterField 8" Is Elizabeth Taylor at the Height of her beauty, popularity, and undeniable talent. Her portrayal of Gloria Wonderous (the Character she DID NOT want to play in a movie she called "Smut") is demure,although she plays a "high priced prostitute", catty although she has charm to spare, whitty although she is not appreciated for her mind, and very full of vulnerability. Laurence Harvey compliments the star nicely, as well as Eddie Fisher. My adsolute favorite Elizabeth Taylor Movie, you will be enraptured by it.
Rating:
Summary: "Sunday morning and scotch on your breath?"
Review: "Butterfield 8," directed by Daniel Mann, is basically a trashy soap opera. Elizabeth Taylor plays Gloria, a booze-guzzling, ... promiscuous young woman who becomes involved with an unhappily married businessman (Laurence Harvey). The opening scenes well establish the film's vibe: the story is saturated with cigarettes, alcohol, money, expensive fur, sex, and fury.That said, I found B8 to be a wonderfully entertaining and surprisingly moving film. The delicious dialogue is full of memorable lines (like the one I used for the title of this review). The characters zap each other with some biting insults. A typical exchange between two characters: "Oh mother, don't be vulgar." Response: "Vulgarity has its uses." The entire cast is solid, but this is undeniably Taylor's film. She takes what could have been a campy caricature and instead gives Gloria real depth and humanity. By the end of the film I was really engrossed in Gloria's personal journey. B8 may not be a great Hollywood classic, but it's a great showcase for the legendary Taylor.
Rating: 
Summary: "I loved it - every awful moment of it, I loved!"
Review: "She's catnip to every cat in town," a bartender says of Gloria Wandrous, call girl and Party Girl #1, who is boozing it up, surrounded by a dozen men. Waking up in Wes Liggett's Fifth Avenue penthouse, she discovers he's left her a wad of money and a note saying, "Is $250 enough?" She hurls the money away, scrawling "No Sale" on the mirror with her lipstick. But she seems to forget that she is a call girl, and call girls accept money for services rendered. Unfortunately, Gloria is in love with Liggett, her "john", but he is married to someone else - a society matron poorly played by the cold, patrician beauty, Dina Merrill. As Gloria is leaving, she steals Ligget's wife's $7000 fur coat and starts all kinds of trouble. It certainly would have caused trouble today - the entire film is a PETA nightmare, as Gloria can be clocked wearing suede, lynx, coyote, mink, sable, beaver, and something that looks like skunk. The whole movie has Liz in her last fading bloom of youth, girded-to-the-gills and at the peak of her "eyebrows-of-death" period. Her Gloria-ously voluptuous figure is beginning to bulge and sag, but she is decked out to the nines in drop-dead stylish early-60s glamour. At the time, Liz and Jackie Kennedy were neck-and-neck in the glamour department, and the Jackie look is unmistakably present in Liz's styling. Though Jackie's never would be, Liz's cleavage is on abundant display. Cleavage was such a powerful metaphor for sex, then - a set-piece whose effectiveness would be impossible now (you practically have to show actors rutting on the floor to satisfy the modern taste). Liz was also at the peak of her Eddie Fisher period - playing a harlot on screen after stealing Fisher away from his real-life wife, Debbie Reynolds, only added to Liz's plummeting reputation. Fisher plays Gloria's friend who loves her but is not taken seriously by her. He's such a drip onscreen, that you can't help wondering how in real life this guy managed to attract one of the most glamorous women in the world. The suave and very continental Harvey is equally dull, especially as he commandeers that last 20 minutes of the film.
The part of Gloria won an Oscar for Liz Taylor - mysteriously, since the work is far inferior to many of Liz's previous films. Liz has proclaimed that this is the least favorite film she ever made - she was simply fulfilling the requirements of her contract. But when Liz is good, she's very, very good, but when she's bad, she gives it all she's got. Director Daniel Mann definitely had a way with leading-ladies. In addition to guiding Liz towards her Oscar, he did the same for Shirley Booth in *Come Back, Little Sheba* and Anna Magnani in *The Rose Tattoo*. Also directing Susan Hayward in *I'll Cry Tomorrow*, Mann certainly excels in these heavy-handed soapers. Based on the racy John O'Hara novel, the dialogue is dreadful. At one point Gloria tells her shrink, "I don't need you any more. I have no problems. I'm in love," as well as, "Someday Wes is going to find himself, and I want to be there." The script was so bad my sister and I veered off into a conversation about the Austin yogurt shop murders, and missed a scene full of lots of drinking, ultimatums and arched eyebrows, but we were riveted to the screen as Gloria is screaming, "Mama, face it! I was the slut of all time!" But even when shrieking, Liz is irresistible. And like Gloria says in the movie, "I loved it - every awful moment of it, I loved!"
Rating:
Summary: DIAL AT YOUR OWN RISK...
Review: Based upon the John O'Hara novel of the same name, this film won Elizabeth Taylor an Oscar in 1960 for Best Actress. Not bad, considering that this, her last film for MGM, was a film in which she had not wanted to act. Ms. Taylor plays a beautiful young woman, Gloria Wandrous, with serious self-esteem problems that lead her to live of life of cheap thrills. By day a dress model, by night a bon vivant, Gloria is a professional escort gotten by dialing Butterfield 8, loving and leaving so many men that she is regarded as being nothing more than a tramp. She is outwardly a bad girl with a good girl buried inside. Her childood friend, Steve (Eddie Fisher), is supportive of her and believes that she has more to offer the world than pure, unadulterated sex, while her mother (Mildred Dunnock) is in serious denial about her daughter's escapades. When Gloria meets Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey), an unhappily married attorney who has his own issues, she undergoes a change of heart as she falls in love with him. He, too, falls in love with her. Alas, the path of true love never seems to run smoothly. Their romance is no exception. Laurence Harvey does a good job as Liggett, a man who struggle with his pride for having married his wealthy wife, Emily (Dina Merrill), whose family has him on a golden leash . Dina Merrill is good as Emily, but her role is terribly dated. She plays it as if she were a Stepford wife, a good little wife who will patiently wait until her husband stops boozing it up and whoring around. Her scene with her mother on this very issue, in which her mother congratulates her on her wisdom, is enough to make the viewer laugh. Eddie Fisher, who was cast as Steve by means of being married to Liz Taylor, displays zero talent as an actor. In fact, so uncharismatic is he on screen that he leaves the viewer wondering what it was that Elizabeth Taylor ever saw in him in real life. Susan Oliver, who credibly plays the role of Steve's girfriend, is made up to resemble Debbie Reynolds in order to capitalize on the Hollywood scandal that saw Eddie Fisher leave his wife and children for Elizabeth Taylor. In fact, I took a double take when I first saw Ms. Oliver come on screen, so obvious was it that she was made to look like Ms. Reynolds. Talk about bottom feeding! This is a film that is a curiosity piece at best, filled with what passed at the time as sophisticated repartee. While Ms. Taylor does a decent job with the role of Gloria, the film is so dated as to be almost laughable. Still, fans of Ms. Taylor will enjoy seeing her at her most beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: A Surprise Oscar for Elizabeth Taylor
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Heavy handed
Review: Butterfield 8 is one of those old-time movies written after the fashion of medieval morality plays. Liz Taylor is beautiful and the clothes are great, but it is rather unsubtle in its message.
Rating:
Summary: Great Taylor Film!
Review: Butterfield 8 makes other films in this genre superfluous. Elizabeth Taylor is ravashing and funny and dramatic all the way through it. Laurence Harvey gets a good going over here from Liz, as she pushes her high heel into his shoe while they sit at a bar. Liz's beauty is astonishing throughout. The ending is a suprize, and the scene between Dina Merill and her mother is pricelss camp, but this film is much better than the bad apples playing at Malls these days. Buy this sexy movie and enjoy it time and time again!
Rating:
Summary: Taylors Oscar winning performance now on Widescreen DVD!
Review: BUtterfield 8 the phone number that rang Elizabeth Taylor to her first Academy Award!! Taylor is gorgeous as the woman who lights the evening fires of mens hearts. Her ethics prevented her from taking money for she is looking for true love only to be reminded what kind of woman she truly was. Lawrence Harvey is an unhappily married wealthy man who does fall in love with Taylor. His constant insecurities and jealously drives their romance and lives over the edge. Can Taylor ever achieve a normal life ? Will she escape her past? The ending will surprise you. This DVD has both Full Screen & Anamorphic (auto adjusts to your tv) WideScreen formats. The picture quality is good, but disappointing considering this is 2003. Extras only include; Trailer and cast & crew listings. Worth a rental view before buying. Enjoy. Taylors performance and beauty is worth the viewers time.
Rating:
Summary: Excelent script
Review: 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.
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