"Mama, face it: I was the slut of all time."

-Elizabeth Taylor , Butterfield 8

Butterfield 8

In Butterfield 8, its hard to really know if Elizabeth Taylor is a prostitute, an escort, or if she works for a modeling agency called Butterfield 8. You can make a pretty good guess, but the details of this matter are shrouded in ambiguity. She becomes indignant when a man offers her money for sexual favors, yet she earns her living accepting money from men to whom she delivers sexual favors. Perhaps she makes her living through indignation and intercourse, a pastime probably only accepted in the early 1960's.

Of course, none of this matters completely, the idea that ElizabethTaylor portrays a woman of loose moral character is well conveyed in the opening scene, in which we watch her awaken in the bed of a stranger, wearing only a slip, she then pours a glass of scotch, wraps herself in a "borrowed" mink and then makes her way out the door and down the street where she meets Steve Carpenter (Eddie Fisher), and promptly sheds her mink coat.

Point taken. Gloria is a mixed up girl. She plays for the affection of her childhood friend Steve, and for the attentions one man after the other. In her wake, she has gathered a heap of satisfied customers and an easy reputation.

Then she meets the despicable Weston Leggett (Laurence Harvey) who is too busy riding a streetcar down the road to disaster to slow down at the intersections. His marriage is in shambles, and he can't be faithful to his wife.


His nights are filled with drink because his days are filled with boredom. Gloria satisfies his need for excitement, together they feed on each other's weaknesses.

Their affair is sad, and it is almost sickening to watch two people spiraling into nothing. The couple meets in dark, smoky places and they sleep in darker, smokier hotels. There is no glory or spirit in their forbidden romance. It is a dull and lifeless affair, an exercise in indiscretion The disgraceful web of licentious debauchery leads Gloria to believe that she has at last found true love.

This epiphany is inspires a desire to change in Gloria, who sets out on changing her life. Unfortunately, her good intentions are not enough. Hours after declaring her true love for Leggett, she tries to molest her best friend. To Gloria, true love is just another thing that she can destroy.

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