Loving (film)
Encyclopedia
Loving is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures
. It was directed by Irvin Kershner
, famous for directing the second movie in the Star Wars
trilogy The Empire Strikes Back (1980
) and based on the novel Brooks Wilson Ltd. by author J. M. Ryan.
It starred George Segal
and Eva Marie Saint
in the lead roles, as Brooks Wilson and his wife Selma. The film also featured Sterling Hayden
as a tycoon, David Doyle
of Charlie's Angels
fame, comedian Keenan Wynn
, Roy Scheider
of Jaws
fame, and future 20th Century Fox
president Sherry Lansing
in small roles.
) is a busy man, juggling his work as a commercial artist with a marriage to Selma (Eva Marie Saint
) and two young children. He also has a girlfriend on the side named Grace (Janis Young) who wants him to commit to her, but he cannot do this.
Brooks is trying very hard to land an elusive account from Lepridon (Sterling Hayden
), but this is seeming harder to achieve than he thought. A party is held one evening in a grand Connecticut home, where both Brooks and Selma are invited. Feeling his life is falling apart at the seams, Brooks realises another affair, this time with flirty Nelly (Nancie Phillips), wife of his associate Will (David Doyle
).
They go to a children's playhouse which is outside the home where the party is being held, and their indiscretions are caught on closed-circuit television. Selma and Will are devastated, and a fist-fight between Brooks and Will ensues. After the commotion dies down, the harried Brooks tells Selma that he finally landed the Lepridon account. She smacks him senselessly with her handbag, and they stare at each other in silence, seeing their marriage honestly for the very first time.
found the film's climax "superb" and praised the director on his "great feeling for day-to-day detail [of the characters' lives]" (Maltin, 1991: 730).
Roger Ebert
found the film "an amusing and intelligent comedy of manners" (Ebert, 1970) with a great central performance by George Segal. Clive Hirschhorn noted the while the film was "well-observed", and was truly "Segal's film", it was still "uneven" in content (Hirschhorn, 1989: 285). Perhaps the review that most sums up the film comes from Leslie Halliwell
, "smart New York sex comedy, typical of many but better than most," (Halliwell, 2000: 496).
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. It was directed by Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner was an American film director and occasional actor, best known for directing quirky, independent films early in his career, and then Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. -Background:...
, famous for directing the second movie in the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
trilogy The Empire Strikes Back (1980
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
) and based on the novel Brooks Wilson Ltd. by author J. M. Ryan.
It starred George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
and Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
in the lead roles, as Brooks Wilson and his wife Selma. The film also featured Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
as a tycoon, David Doyle
David Doyle
David Fitzgerald Doyle was an American actor.-Early life:Doyle was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Mary Ruth and Lewis Raymond Doyle, an attorney. His maternal grandfather, John Fitzgerald, was a prominent railroad builder and banker in Nebraska...
of Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
fame, comedian Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
, Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
of Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
fame, and future 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
president Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing is a former actress and American film studio executive. She is former CEO of Paramount Pictures, and when president of production at 20th Century Fox was the first woman to head a Hollywood studio In 1996, she became the first woman named Pioneer of the Year by the Foundation of...
in small roles.
Synopsis
Brooks Wilson (George SegalGeorge Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
) is a busy man, juggling his work as a commercial artist with a marriage to Selma (Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
) and two young children. He also has a girlfriend on the side named Grace (Janis Young) who wants him to commit to her, but he cannot do this.
Brooks is trying very hard to land an elusive account from Lepridon (Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
), but this is seeming harder to achieve than he thought. A party is held one evening in a grand Connecticut home, where both Brooks and Selma are invited. Feeling his life is falling apart at the seams, Brooks realises another affair, this time with flirty Nelly (Nancie Phillips), wife of his associate Will (David Doyle
David Doyle
David Fitzgerald Doyle was an American actor.-Early life:Doyle was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Mary Ruth and Lewis Raymond Doyle, an attorney. His maternal grandfather, John Fitzgerald, was a prominent railroad builder and banker in Nebraska...
).
They go to a children's playhouse which is outside the home where the party is being held, and their indiscretions are caught on closed-circuit television. Selma and Will are devastated, and a fist-fight between Brooks and Will ensues. After the commotion dies down, the harried Brooks tells Selma that he finally landed the Lepridon account. She smacks him senselessly with her handbag, and they stare at each other in silence, seeing their marriage honestly for the very first time.
Cast
- George SegalGeorge SegalGeorge Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
as Brooks Wilson - Eva Marie SaintEva Marie SaintEva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
as Selma Wilson - Sterling HaydenSterling HaydenSterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
as Lepridon - Keenan WynnKeenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
as Edward - Nancie Phillips as Nelly
- Janis Young as Grace
- David DoyleDavid DoyleDavid Fitzgerald Doyle was an American actor.-Early life:Doyle was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Mary Ruth and Lewis Raymond Doyle, an attorney. His maternal grandfather, John Fitzgerald, was a prominent railroad builder and banker in Nebraska...
as Will - Paul Sparer as Marve
- Andrew DuncanAndrew DuncanSir Andrew Rae Duncan, GBE was a British businessman who was brought into government during the Second World War, serving twice as both President of the Board of Trade and Minister of Supply....
as Willy - Sherry LansingSherry LansingSherry Lansing is a former actress and American film studio executive. She is former CEO of Paramount Pictures, and when president of production at 20th Century Fox was the first woman to head a Hollywood studio In 1996, she became the first woman named Pioneer of the Year by the Foundation of...
as Susan - Roland WintersRoland WintersRoland Winters was an American actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in six films.-Biography:Born Roland Winternitz in Boston, Massachusetts on 22 December 1904, Winters was the son of Felix Winternitz, a violinist and composer who was teaching at New England Conservatory of Music...
as Plommie - Edgar Stehli as Mr Kramm
- Calvin Holt as Danny
- Mina Kolb as Diane
- Diana Douglas as Mrs Shavelson
- David FordDavid FordDavid Ford is a politician who is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Ford has been leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since 2001 and has been Northern Ireland Minister of Justice since April 2010.- Early life :...
as Al - James Manis as Charles
- Mart Hulswit as Ted
- John FinkJohn FinkJohn Fink is an American film and television actor.In the 1970-1971 the NBC sitcom Nancy, Fink was cast as an Iowa veterinarian, Dr. Adam Hudson, who marries the daughter of the President of the United States. The short-lived series starred Renne Jarrett as the title character and Celeste Holm...
as Brad - William Duffy as Jay
- Irving Selbst as Benny
- Martin Harvey Friedberg as Roger
- Lorraine Cullen as Lizzie
- Cheryl Bucher as Hannah
- Ed CrowleyEd CrowleyEdgar Jewell Crowley was a Major League Baseball third baseman. He appeared in two games for the Washington Senators in , going hitless in one at bat.-External links:...
as Mr Shavelson - Roy ScheiderRoy ScheiderRoy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
as Skip - Sab ShimonoSab ShimonoSab Shimono is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows in character roles.-Career:An accomplished stage actor, he has appeared on Broadway and in regional theaters including San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre...
as Byron - Eileen O'Neill as Cindy
- Diane Davies as Barbie
Critical reception
The film has generally been well received by critics. Steven Scheuer found the film "quietly intense" and "humorous, human, and insightful", but found the film's final scene "incongruous in its farcical mayhem," (Scheuer, 1990: 641). On the other hand, Leonard MaltinLeonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
found the film's climax "superb" and praised the director on his "great feeling for day-to-day detail [of the characters' lives]" (Maltin, 1991: 730).
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
found the film "an amusing and intelligent comedy of manners" (Ebert, 1970) with a great central performance by George Segal. Clive Hirschhorn noted the while the film was "well-observed", and was truly "Segal's film", it was still "uneven" in content (Hirschhorn, 1989: 285). Perhaps the review that most sums up the film comes from Leslie Halliwell
Leslie Halliwell
Robert James Leslie Halliwell was a British film encyclopaedist and television impresario who in 1965 compiled The Filmgoer's Companion, the first one-volume encyclopaedia devoted to all aspects of the cinema. He followed it a dozen years later with Halliwell's Film Guide, another monumental work...
, "smart New York sex comedy, typical of many but better than most," (Halliwell, 2000: 496).