'Grand Hotel' but set in the V. I. P lounge of Heathrow Airport where an all-star cast, (Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan, Orson Welles, Rod Taylor, Maggie Smith, Margaret Rutherford), are holed up waiting for a flight to New York that's been delayed by fog and each with their own reasons, (romantic, financial), for getting out of the U. K. as fast as possible. It was a prestige production and no mistake, directed by Anthony Asquith and with a (not that) original screenplay by Terence Rattigan and even when the material is weak the cast more than carry it.
Welles is a hoot as a tax dodging movie producer. There's an excellent early performance from Maggie Smith as a secretary in love with her boss Rod Taylor but it's Margaret Rutherford who walks off with the picture and a richly deserved Oscar as the penurious Dutchess of Brighton. The central plot about Taylor leaving Burton for Jourdan is a bit of a bore but for the most part this is surprisingly good fun.
Welles is a hoot as a tax dodging movie producer. There's an excellent early performance from Maggie Smith as a secretary in love with her boss Rod Taylor but it's Margaret Rutherford who walks off with the picture and a richly deserved Oscar as the penurious Dutchess of Brighton. The central plot about Taylor leaving Burton for Jourdan is a bit of a bore but for the most part this is surprisingly good fun.