MGM threw just about everything into this one. With big star names, plus such talent as Miklos Rosza (music), Terence Rattigan (screenplay) and Anthony Asquith (director), it had to be a box-office success. The surprise was that it turned out to be a film of some quality as well. The VIPs of the title, headed by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, are a group of fogbound passengers at a London airport. Each has serious problems, all of which are resolved in one way or another before the fog lifts. All this, perhaps, is pure corn, but director Asquith and his players extract some real human emotions from it: Margaret Rutherford won an Oscar as the penniless Duchess of Bedford; Maggie Smith matches her as a devoted secretary; and Rod Taylor relaxes into his natural Australian accent to give a heartwarming study of a self-made tycoon strung to emotional breaking-point. Watch closely and you'll also spot the young David Frost as a reporter.

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