The Meaning of a Yellow Rolls Royce

Geoffrey Hamilton

March 21, 2006

When we're little kids and our parents take us for a trip sometimes we feel there is nothing more torturous. Where do our parents get off taking us to Paris? How boring is that? Then, somehow, over time we change and we start wanting to go on trips and to see new things. This change is the turning point in a 1960s technicolor extravaganza called The Yellow Rolls Royce.

In this film Shirley MacLaine plays a spoiled gangster's girlfriend who is taken on vacation to Italy by her boyfriend, played by George C. Scott. The trip offers nothing of interest for her - nothing is beautiful and she loves no one. Scott buys a yellow Rolls Royce for the trip south to Naples because MacLaine has a partial liking for it.

In Pisa Scott fails to get any reaction out of MacLaine regarding the beauty of the leaning tower. Scott is frustrated - he wants MacLaine to be happy and see the beauty in life.

Then a local scam artist, a young good looking Italian man impresses Scott with his energy and balls and Scott takes him along. MacLaine can't stand the scam artist, then can't help but play along with his tricks; at least his lies are interesting and she is excited by the danger involved.

When Scott needs to deal with Mafia business in America Scott insists that MacLaine get something out of Italy and he forces her to enjoy herself and she is chaperoned by Scott's underling Art Carney. Instead of controlling her Carney lets her follow the scam artist around. She falls in love and they openly romance each other along the Amalfi coast, even making love in the yellow Rolls at one point.

She starts dreaming of a life with him and so does he with her. Suddenly Scott sends a letter informing them that he is returning early. His mission was successful and he killed all his rivals. Actually, he had secretly come back to MacLaine's villa first, then sent her the letter, so as to spy on her and see how she would react. The scam artist decides he wants to stand up to Scott and take her away with him, but MacLaine knows Scott will just kill him. MacLaine decides to fain a lack of interest in the young man so as to save his life and he departs brokenhearted.

Scott sees the whole scene and lets it all happen. He returns to MacLaine and outwardly she is the same disinterested girl he loves - but he knows she is crushed inside. Scott lets her think he knows nothing and he picks up where he left off - with trying to get her to appreciate the beauty of the Italian landscape. To his happy surprise she is now relishing sunsets and the gorgeous views of mountain villages - everything now has beauty to her. Without her realizing it, the love and heartbreak has turned her around and everything has meaning where there was none before.

Any emotion helps us remember an incident, but romance is one kind that is stronger than most. Heartbreak is about reminding oneself of that strength and of that power. The Yellow Rolls only became associated to that power by accident, but the car is no less important to her for being an accident. Such is the case with any incidental associations that happen along the way during her romance with the scam artist. Whereas years of her mere experience with the 'beauty' of the world produced no change in her and no love for what was around her, the accident of falling in love with a man she despised rubbed off on the entire world - everything meant more. Meaning and mystery grew in her heroic-heartache as she remembered the good times - even the insurmountable grandness of a sunset gained in meaning. What happened to Shirley MacLaine's character happens to all of us as children, but usually over what we naive adults call toys and childish things.

GRH

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