The V.I.P.s

Asquith, once a card-carrying member of the Communist Party and a determinedly radical film-maker, subsided in the '50s and '60s into lavish productions which were in some cases entertaining and glossy, but politically middle-of-the-road conservative. This one concerns the various problems and predicaments of a group of wealthy people stranded at London Airport by fog. The level of the Terence Rattigan script is typified by the episode in which 'devoted secretary' Maggie Smith persuades millionaire Richard Burton to write a cheque for a vast sum of money in order to save her boss (Rod Taylor) from ruin. The performances are all reasonably enjoyable, but it's the sort of film the British cinema could well do without.