BUtterfield 8 (1960)

So, two things.

1. The capitalization for this movie actually is BUtterfield 8 because it refers to a telephone exchange, meaning the “BU” should be capitalized.
2. This movie did not age well.

However, it did get Elizabeth Taylor her first Oscar. I will try to be fair.

Gloria Wandrous (Taylor) is a, shall we say, sexually adventurous woman, carrying on an affair with a wealthy, married man named Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey).

That has to be the most rich guy name that I have ever seen.

Regardless, Gloria is smitten with Liggett, and it may or may not be mutual. She has a confidante in the form of childhood friend Steve (Eddie Fisher), and some ongoing drama with her mother (Mildred Dunnock), but she really wants to run away and be with Liggett. Liggett, for his part, is torn between staying with his incredibly loyal wife Emily (Dina Merrill) and running off with Gloria. Problems erupt when Emily returns from a visit to her elderly mother early, not long after Gloria had gotten her hands on Emily’s mink coat. As a result, Gloria may be about to find out whether or not Liggett really loves her or just enjoys her company in the, shall we say, carnal way.

OK, so, I said above this movie aged poorly, and I meant that. It came out in 1960, but it was based on a novel from 1935. HBO Max’s plot description described her as a “call girl,” but she doesn’t seem to take any money from her lovers. If anything, she was quite offended in the opening scene when Liggett left money behind for her to replace a torn dress. If anything, her major sin is being…a slut! Yes, a slut! That is what people call her! Taylor herself didn’t want the role because she came across as a nymphomaniac and not someone hurt as a victim of childhood sexual abuse. It very much is a “blame the victim” sort of mentality, one that demonizes a woman first for enjoying her body and second for having to come up with some kind of childhood trauma to “explain” why she can’t be a good little unmarried virgin. Factor in as well Taylor’s overly melodramatic performance and a script that, really, has not aged well at all.

Now, granted, this sort of melodrama really isn’t my thing even under most circumstances, but given more recent schools of thought on things like how we treat sex workers (even though Gloria doesn’t seem to be one) or just how it isn’t wrong for a woman to enjoy sex. Gloria’s only real crime is going with a married man, and arguably, Liggett is a much worse person than Gloria given his callous disregard for both Gloria and Emily’s feelings. And while the movie frames the ending as a tragic one, I couldn’t help but think this was a story that would have turned out very differently today, and as a result, I perhaps could not take it quite as seriously as it was when the book was written or the movie was made.

Grade: C