European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 19, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse By Bob Thomas associated press from the mamas and the Papas Tawarren Beatty s Girlfriend to Rudolf Nureyev s leading lady the beat goes on for Michelle Phil lips. There s even More for the tall self assured Honey blonde. She s starring for 8.iv a 11 Abc in a mini series Aspen due in no vember and she has a new album victim of Romance her first As a Solo is the big leap Forward for Phillips who has wanted to be a movie Sta since she was a los Angeles youngster. She shared that ambition with a Friend named sue Lyon. Lyon made it Early in reception to Valentino has been United artists Michelle Phillips with Nureyev in Valentino a part Worth waiting for. Full mixed As one might expect of a Ken rus sell exercise. Those who enjoy his audacity will like the movie. Others Are Likely to hate it. In either Case the film is a step for Ward for Phillips 32. She got the role after the British director interviewed her for the part of Janis Joplin in another film biography he is planning. Later he sent me the script of Valen Tino she recalled. I liked the part of Natasha rambo a and i offered to test for it we won t bother with that Ken said. He had seen me in Dillinger and liked the Valentino script is a fanciful account of the Star s Brief life but Phillips Felt she wanted to study thereal life of his wife and Mentor. But How there was no in depth research on Natasha the actress said. The legend was that she was a Butch Bitch who ran Valen Tino s life until she was discarded. Then in a 50-year-old newspaper clip Ping i read about a sister who lived in Pas Adena. I called information and to my astonishment she was still there. The sister was sceptical about talking to me because she had objected to How Natasha had been portrayed by Yvette Mimieux inthe television Valentino. But i alleviated her fears and it was very helpful to listen to someone talking about Natasha in a Loving Way. I found out she was t a Butch Bitch but an intelligent woman who had a Low esteem for everyone else especially the leaders of the motion picture Industry. She considered the shoe paddlers. She kept pushing Valentino moving him from contracts with mom to Para mount to United artists. But in the last contract she failed to notice the Fine print miss rambo a s services will no longer be required i could understand How she Felt. When the mamas and the Papas were at their Peak i suddenly found myself fired. By my own husband. It was a Devastino feeling like having your air pipe snipped by some one you least 18, she married John Phillips and they joined Denny Doherty and Cass Elliotto form the sensational singing group. After three years of immense Success the Phillips marriage ended. Michelle studied acting played the gun Moll in the 1973 dil linger then declined a series of exploitation films. Valentino was Worth the wait she believes. Russell s casting of Nureyev was a starter but Phillips thinks the dancer met the Challenge of portraying the silent film idol. He s a Good actor. His major problem was the English dialogue which he had to work hard on. He amazed everyone the Way he pulled off the performance. He had More work than anyone yet he never seemed tired. His Energy level was higher than anyone i be Ever known. After a whole Day s work he would spend an hour exercising at the Ballet bar. That was his she minimized widely published reports of an altercation with Nureyev. He slapped me on the wrist and i patted his behind. That was our altercation. The Only reason anything was made of it was because it happened in front of 350 doily Magazine by Michael Korda for the new York times read with great amusement of president Carter s edict which took away from the White House staff the privilege of having a car and Driver and reduced them to the state of Ordi nary taxi taking bus waiting mortals. I was not surprised to learn recently tha Zbigniew Brzezinski appealed this decision and won presumably because the National Security adviser to the president is the potential inheritor of or. Kissinger s magic ring of Power after All he has the same starting Job is a University professor an Speaks with a foreign accent. White House observers instantly concluded that Brzezinski s car and Driver were the first signs of ascent to Power and signified the birth of a new Star. And maybe they re right. I have every sympathy for the president s desire to impose Equality on his staff and to demonstrate the ancient Republican Virtues of Thrift Economy and stoicism but i suspect that he is fighting a Noble lost cause and will eventually have to give Way like most framers of sump uary Laws. And anyway what Are All those Drivers doing now that the White House staff is walking to work in any Case Limos represent special category of luxury perk and Are perhaps the single most desirable prize in the Success race Money apart of course. Almost everybody of note has a limousine or rather the use of one since the number of people who actually own their own is very limited. Limos Are leased Long term for the really successful and rented for the Day by those who aspire to Limo Dom but Are not yet in a position to enjoy the privilege on a regular basis. The rented cars in new York usually have the give away a on the License plate that reveals to the world they Are merely hired by the hour or the Day . For going to the theater or the airports but not the same thing As having your own car and at the better hotels restau rants and apartment buildings know the difference too and Accord such cars the limited status they deserve unless you Rea visiting celebrity. In which Case it is obviously All right to hire a Limo for you stay. Limo Day tripping is not ., and the telltale a plus the fact that the chauffeur does t know your name is a dead Giveaway to Limo cognoscenti. As Are the cars themselves special status still applies to the Rolls Royce limousine though not so much to the Ordinary Sedan anymore especially if it s old Black shiny and does not have White Wal tires. Almost equal to it in status is the Mercedes Benz 600 limousine with it Square Tan like lines its living room Inte rior no jump seats there and its neat Little curtains to draw Over the rear win Dows for privacy. A Long Way below this is the Cadilla full size limousine familiar to anyone who has rented one or gone to a funeral and the slightly larger Lincoln Continental Mark Iii limousine. Both of these enjoy conditional status. If you own or lease one if you have your own Driver if the car is new Black and equipped with a Telephone and a Reading lamp it will pass. Length tends to symbolize status and i have seen respectable business men comparing the length of their Limos with the same passion that they might invest in the length of More per Sonal attributes. Above All the most important thing to remember is that a car must have a Glass partition be tween yourself and the Driver to qualify As a True Limo this is the critical social distinction Between Limo and car and one advantage of Limos in a capitalist country is that they Are relatively immune from most of the parking Laws. Very few officials will bother a limousine parked in a no parking zone provided the Driver is in it partly because he is doing a Job even if the Job Only consists of waiting and partly because you can never be sure of whose limousine it is. Whoever it is he is Likely to have some influence somewhere and is therefore Best left alone. Ultimately however the real Joy of Riding in a Limo is the personal glow of satisfaction that comes from being seated in a dry comfortable car while other people stand soaking in the rain waiting for a bus or dueling for the inevitably off duty taxi. New York time Jack Manning status Symbol a 1928 Rolls Royce with liveried chauffeur at the Plaza. Wednesday october 19, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 13
