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Following THE V.I.P.'S, their film about stars stranded at the airport, director Anthony Asquith and writer Terence Rattigan, turned to this stars-on-the-road vehicle; an unconnected three part romantic drama about the glamorous owners of a classic Rolls-Royce. Lord Frinton (Rex Harrison) originally purchases the car in the 1930s as a gift for his beautiful French wife (Jeanne Moreau) only to discover that she is using it to carry on an affair. He promptly sells the car.
In Genoa, an American gangster, Paolo Maltese (George C. Scott), buys the car to tour Italy with his gum chewing moll, Mae (Shirley MacLaine). A handsome photographer (Alain Delon) pursues Mae from town to town, but she resists until Paolo has business to attend to in America, leaving them alone in the Rolls, which once again acts as an aphrodesiac. When Paolo returns, he gets wise and sells the car.
During the Second World War, American millionairess Gerda Millett (Ingrid Bergman) buys the Rolls, now looking much the worse for wear, in Trieste for a dangerous trip to war torn Yugoslavia. When she meets Davich (Omar Sharif), a dashing young Yougoslav partisan, he compels her to take him with her. While not as weighty as previous Asquith-Rattigan efforts, THE WINSLOW BOY and THE BROWNING VERSION, this continental romp still manages a nice blend of drama and romance.
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