Butterfield 8 (Widescreen/Full Screen): Amazon.ca: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill, Mildred Dunnock, Betty Field, Jeffrey Lynn, Kay Medford, Susan Oliver, George Voskovec, Tom Ahearne, John Armstrong, Charles Harten, Joseph Ruttenberg, Daniel Mann, Kathryn Hereford, Pandro S. Berman, Charles Schnee, John Michael Hayes, John O'Hara: DVD

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Amazon.com Essential Video

"I was the slut of all time!" declares Elizabeth Taylor in the role for which she won her first Academy Award®. Taylor plays Gloria, a model of loose morals who discovers a last chance at love and redemption when she spends a week with Weston Ligget (Laurence Harvey), a man who married into money and hates himself for it. They fall in love, but before they can find happiness they have to overcome their own worst natures. BUtterfield 8 (named after Gloria's answering service) is a big boozy melodrama, full of gorgeous clothes, catty comments, and emotional showdowns--but along the way it plumbs some genuine sadness. No one can be simultaneously overblown and utterly sincere like Elizabeth Taylor; the movie is mired in the morality of the time, but her performance makes Gloria's mixture of grief and anger seem immediate and genuine. --Bret Fetzer

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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Tragic, July 15 2004

By

"i_love_literature" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Butterfield 8 (VHS Tape)

This is a tale of a good girl gone bad. Men are *toys* to her until she meets Weston Ligette (Laurence Harvey). Falling in love, she is determined to turn her life around. A compulsive decision she makes early in the relationship results in tragic consequences. Never dull and the dialogue is brilliant. Elizabeth Taylor is at her best in this film.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Excelent script, Jun 20 2004

By

Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Butterfield 8 (Widescreen/Full Screen) (DVD)

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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3.0 out of 5 stars Decent film with a few shortcomings, April 16 2004

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L. W. Barnes (Alabama, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Butterfield 8 (Widescreen/Full Screen) (DVD)

Of course Elizabeth Taylor delivers a stellar performance in this film, one of the best in her career. The viewer feels that she IS Gloria, not merely portraying the part. However, I was sorely disappointed in the acting by Laurence Harvey. I found his performance to be sorely lacking, his emotions forced and faked, and his overall acting style stiff and unbelievable. Sounds harsh, I know, but I wish the producer/director had found a better actor to fill this role, and then the film would have been much better.

On a final note, this is one of the best films I've ever seen about a prostitute. We can't mince words; that's exactly what Gloria is, although she tries to gloss it over. In addition, the final scene between Liggett and his wife is fairly decent, leaving the viewers to surmise the outcome of their marriage with their own imaginations, even though his wife is EXTREMELY underdeveloped and has a too-good-to-be-true attitude about the entire situation.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Taylor's Controversial Oscar Winning Performance
Despite the thoughts of some critics and indeed Elizabeth Taylor herself at times about this film, I've always admired it and firmly believe it is an unfairly maligned production... Read more

Published on Feb 19 2004 by Simon Davis

3.0 out of 5 stars A Surprise Oscar for Elizabeth Taylor
BUTTERFIELD 8 is a screen adaptation of John O'Hara's earlier novel made to look modern for a 1960's audience. Read more

Published on Aug 28 2003 by Peter Kenney