The bestselling novel that became an oscarwinning film starring elizabeth taylor about new yorks speakeasy generation a masterpiece of american fiction and a bestseller upon its publication in 1935, butterfield 8 lays bare with brash honesty the unspoken and often shocking truths that lurked. This summer i picked up butterfield 8 and dove right in. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. Id never seen the movie and hadnt really ever heard anything about the story. Butterfield 8 is a 1960 american drama film directed by daniel mann, starring elizabeth taylor and laurence harvey. Find out where butterfield 8 is streaming, if butterfield 8 is on netflix, and get news and updates, on decider. Butterfield 8 also has laurence harvey playing a pampered, spoiled rich man with the maturity of an adolescent. Butterfield 8 is certainly not intellectual literature, but it was a best seller in its time and is an american classic. The book started out a little slow, but still very vivid. Doesnt mean the movie is not great, everything is just so icy blue and white and blingy and chic in the. I just saw this movie for the first time and was wondering why it has such a bad rep. Butterfield 8 movie tv listings and schedule tv guide. If you are a fan of taylors and need this film to complete your collection then by all means but it. Reading the back cover gave a slight insight, but still left me wondering what to expect.
But it is the best kind of trash because it is so completely trashy. A bestseller upon its publication in 1935, butterfield 8 was inspired by a news account of the discovery of the body of a beautiful young woman washed up on a long island beach. In the locker room, kahan bumps into an old college classmate, weston. John ohara a highclass call girl in new york and a socially prominant man fall in love, but he cant forget her past and she resents his distrust, so they battle their emotions and each other. Miss taylor was dead set against playing gloria wandrous.
Its one of those movies where the interiors are so amazing it distracts me from the story, and after a few minutes i find myself obsessively studying the background instead of listening to the dialogue. Butterfield 8 1935 is a realist novel by john ohara. Directed by 1 writing credits 3 cast 35 produced by 2 music by 1 cinematography by 2 film editing by 1 art direction by 2 set decoration by 2 costume design by 1 makeup department 2 second unit director or assistant director 3. She escaped a molesting uncle in the sticks and has made her own way in the big city ever since. Taylor won her first academy award for her performance in a leading role. The film is based on a novel written by bestselling author john ohara. With elizabeth taylor, laurence harvey, eddie fisher, dina merrill. The glamor girl who wakes up ashamed elizabeth taylor is gloria wandrous, a promiscuous fashion model who falls in love with weston liggett laurence harvey, the hard drinking son of a working class family who has married into money. Im not going to spoil anything, but it is so strange and shifts the main focus of the story. The ending here is false so wait for the epilogue which is a doozy. Her death was never resolved, but ohara seized upon the tragedy to imagine her downand out life in new york city in the early 1930s.
Venable wants catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth. But theres a rage in that bloody ending, a rage at those who. Butterfield 8 john o hara a strange title for an eerie intriguing bestseller than won an. The most important book totv adaptations coming in 2020. Liz a two time oscar winning movie goddess and pioneering aids activist whose offscreen marriages 8, divorces and death defying exploits rivaled, her. Butterfield 8, its original title, was a telephone code presenting in the novel, in those years. Not only does she maintain an answering service butterfield 8, silly, shes forced to turn away clients at peak hours, if only to steal away with your dignity, last seen in your ball and chains best fur coat. The book im referring to, the one that captures that ominous strange interlude is butterfield 8. Butterfield 8, aka telefon butterfield 8, usa, 1960, regie.
John oharas firstand perhaps greatestnovel, appointment in samarra, appeared to much acclaim in 1934. The first translation of the novel was called gloria, which is the main character. There exists also a movie adaptation, from the 60s. Rodney dangerfield at his best on the tonight show starring johnny carson 1983 duration. Dont get me wrong, i actually liked this movie, and its mainly because of the terrible ending i only give butterfield 8 three stars.
Butterfield 8 is an engaging film, and its an interesting film but its a very depressing film and one that is painfully predictable from the start to the finish of the movie. Hoping to capitalize on taylors sexual notoriety, mgm dusted off a property theyd owned for years, and made taylor an offer she couldnt refuse. For instance, when she steals the coat shes naked under it. In butterfield 8, a jewish movie executive named kahan is taken to lunch at the club of his architect, a gentile named farley. The film was based on a 1935 novel of the same name by john ohara, following the success of his critically acclaimed appointment in samarra. Find books like butterfield 8 from the worlds largest community of readers. Hes just so unlikable, but not in a way that makes a viewer want to stop watching him or completely.
Elizabeth taylor, laurence harvey file photo elizabeth taylor, 79, was born feb. Goodreads members who liked butterfield 8 also liked. Download pdf butterfield 8 free online new books in. Originally published in 1935 and an immediate bestseller, butterfield 8 was inspired by a news account of a beautiful twentyfiveyearold womans washing up on a long island beach.
Find out when and where you can watch butterfield 8 on tv with the full listings schedule at. The bestselling novel that became an oscarwinning film starring elizabeth taylor about new yorks speakeasy generation a masterpiece of american fiction and a bestseller upon its publication in 1935, butterfield 8 lays bare with brash honesty the unspoken and often shocking truths that lurked beneath the surface of a society still reeling from the effects of the great depression. Turner classic movies presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from one of the largest film libraries in the world. Ohara wrote butterfield 8 in 1935 and it was made into a movie in 1960 starring elizabeth taylor and her scandalously new husband eddie fisher who she literally stole from her. In other words, the title announces that this is a new york novel set in the immediate aftermath of the crash. However, glorias desire for respectability causes her to reconsider her lifestyle.
Elizabeth taylor is quite right when she says the film is a piece of trash. Although the author earned several screenwriting credits during the 1940s, it was not until the late 50safter ten north frederick won the 1955 national book awardthat his novels began to make the transition to the screen. Many remember this john ohara novel as being mainly about sex. For butterfield 8 is one of the truly great chronicles of the 1930s. Gloria wandrous is a golddigger extraordinaire in new york city during the depths of the depression, circa 1931. Its almost as if the main character changes from elizabeth taylors character to another one. John oharas 1935 novel butterfield 8 was based on the life and death of a reallife call girl named starr faithfull.
A manhattan call girl has a tragic affair with a rich married man. What the girl saw was so horrible that she went insane. Set amid manhattans fast set in the early 1930s, butterfield 8 is the tale of an abrupt and destructive sexual affair between a respectably married society man and a wild and tragically corrupted young girl, that tears both their lives apart. The novel that explains the moment were in butterfield 8 and the fear of a new depression. The phrase butterfield 8 denotes a telephone exchange on the upper east side, where the action begins. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. Scott fitzgerald, and dorothy parker, he wrote seventeen novels, including appointment in samarra, his first. Butterfield 8 1960 beautiful gloria wandrous elizabeth taylor, a new york fashion model engages in an illicit affair with married socialite weston liggett. Prodigal son bosses explain how that shocking ending was planned from the start. Butterfield 8 doesnt just dive into the trash pile, it wallows in it with considerable conviction. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing butterfield 8 near you. Unlike the more recent ohara offerings, it is not filled with drooly bedroom scenes and lurid prose.
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