The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)

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Three separate plot lines in one movies, interconnected by a 1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II that the characters have sex in. Not even making this up!

This film had an all-star cast of its era including Ingrid Bergman, Shirley MacLaine and George C. Scott. They even got Alain Delon (the stoic hitman Jef Costello from influential film ‘Le Samourai‘) to play an Italian gigolo! There are an astounding seven main characters in the movie and all of them are stereotypes. Not to worry; in this movie, the car is the star!

The story opens in 1932 England with the cold, distant Lord Charles impulsively buying a brand new Rolls-Royce right off the showroom floor. He’d forgotten his anniversary and the car was an apology to his much younger wife. The car salesman tried hard to explain about the all-new 525 cubic-inch straight-six engine with a 4.5″ bore and 5.5″ stroke, but Lord Charles simply likes the Rolls-Royce’s yellow paint job. Days later, Lord Charles catches his French wife getting banged in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce by one of his underlings. Seems the apology didn’t take. To maintain appearances, the couple did not divorce, but the yellow Rolls-Royce got returned to the dealership.

Several years later, the Rolls-Royce now had 20,023 miles on the clock and was sitting in a used car lot in Italy. It’s purchased (cash) by an American gangster on vacation with his girlfriend and one of his henchmen. The trio are touring through Italy, and the car’s low-slung frame and semi-elliptical leaf springs made the Rolls-Royce a smooth ride on long drives. The un-cultured hat-check girl just isn’t impressed by Italy, but likes the car. When the gangster is abruptly called away ‘on business’ he leaves his girl, his bodyguard and his Rolls-Royce behind to continue the tour. Sure enough, the right-hand man catches the girlfriend getting banged by an Italian gigolo in the car. At least they kept the curtains closed.

In the third story, a rich American widow is vacationing in Europe at the outset of WWII. She purchases the car in the city of Trieste near the Yugoslavian border, and although it is only 10 years old, the Rolls-Royce is now pretty banged up. The well-connected American can’t ignore the war, so she joins the resistance against invading Nazis and uses the 150″ wheelbase Rolls-Royce to transport soldiers to the border. Then she gets banged in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce by the leader of the resistance, before heading home.

While the final credits are rolling, the Rolls-Royce is shown being loaded onto a cargo ship, and transported across the ocean to America.

In the final shot of the car, it’s seen cruising down the highway in New York City, the new owner blissfully unaware of all the banging that’s gone on in the back seat of his refined English car.

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