The VIPs

Snowed in myself north of Syracuse, I was delighted to find The VIPs on cable. The VIPs concerns a group of travelers fogged in at London’s Heathrow Airport. Margaret Rutherford won an Oscar as best supporting actress. It has an all-star cast, but in fact it’s the first Taylor-Burton quickie, filmed while Cleopatra was still being edited, and making big money quickly out of cinema’s most celebrated affair. Terence Rattigan, a playwright put in temporary eclipse by the angry young men, whipped out a screenplay derived from the film Grand Hotel and an incident in the life of Vivien Leigh. Anthony Asquith directs Orson Welles as a director resembling the Fellini of 81/2, and then there’s Maggie Smith, Rod Taylor, etc. As the film opens, Burton and Taylor take a helicopter to Heathrow --what fog? They then drive their Rolls to the V.I.P. lounge. In the backseat, Burton gives Taylor a platinum bracelet because she’s going to New York alone. But, in fact, Taylor is leaving Burton for Louis Jourdan who is already in Heathrow. Burton “plays” a tycoon. Burton has deals to do and has to stay in London. He gets in his Rolls and heads to the City for business. And then along comes this terrible fog.

INSERT

I hope you enjoy my book about jewelry. It is one of the great passions of my life, but it is not the only one. The support and care of people living with AIDS has been my greatest priority since 1984. My organization, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF), is helping people with AIDS by funding programs that deliver care and services to those who need them. I invite you to join me in this passionate endeavor by sending a contribution--big or small--to ETAF at the address below. I personally underwrite the costs of ETAF, so your entire contribution will go directly to those who need your help. You will have my gratitude forever.

With much love--
Elizabeth Taylor

The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation
P.O. Box 55995, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413

SCRAPBOOK

It was never going to work out, this break-up with France. The French-American love affair just keeps going, a folie a deux that's lasted nearly three centuries. It's tempestuous, hot and heavy, beyond reason. Like all the great, impossible mismatches -- F. Scott Fitgerald and Zelda, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee -- it cannot end.

--Willima Grimes in today's Times