Save the Tiger
Encyclopedia
Save the Tiger is a 1973 film
1973 in film
The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....

 about moral conflict in contemporary America. It stars Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

, Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...

, Laurie Heineman
Laurie Heineman
Laurie Heineman is an American actress probably best known for originating the role of Sharlene Frame on Another World and for her role of Myra in the film, Save the Tiger, a film which gained Jack Lemmon an Oscar....

, Thayer David
Thayer David
Thayer David was a film, stage and television actor. He was best known for his work on the cult ABC serial Dark Shadows and as the fight promoter George Jergens in the Oscar-winning movie Rocky . He also appeared as Count Arne Saknussemm in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1959...

, Lara Parker
Lara Parker
Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to...

 and Liv Lindeland
Liv Lindeland
Liv Lindeland is a Norwegian model and actress. She was chosen as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in January 1971 and as the Playmate of the Year for 1972. She became the first Playmate of the Month ever to show clearly visible pubic hair.Her original pictorial was photographed by Alexas...

. The film is directed by John G. Avildsen
John G. Avildsen
John Guilbert Avildsen is an American film director.-Life and career:Avildsen was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Ivy and Clarence John Avildsen...

 and adapted from the novel of the same title by Steve Shagan
Steve Shagan
Steve Shagan is an American novelist, screenplay writer, TV and Movie producer. He was born in 1927 in New York. He wrote the novel, the screenplay and also co produced, Save the Tiger, the 1974 movie, for which Jack Lemmon won the Best Actor Academy Award and Shagan was nominated for Best...

, (the first book by the author of The Formula and other thrillers, and generally regarded to be his most successful novel by literary standards).

Jack Lemmon plays Harry Stoner, an executive at a Los Angeles apparel company on the edge of ruin. Throughout the film, Stoner struggles with the complexity of modern life versus the simplicity of his youth. He longs for the days when pitchers wound up, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 filled the air, and the flag was more than a pattern to put on a pants pocket. He wrestles with the guilt of surviving the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and yet losing touch with the ideals for which his friends died. To Harry Stoner, the world has given up on integrity, and threatens to destroy anyone who clings to it. He is caught between watching everything he has worked for evaporate, or becoming another grain of sand in the erosion of the values he once held so dear.

Plot

A bleak story that depicts an outwardly successful man questioning the value of the material prosperity he is desperately trying to maintain, it follows the uncertain path of Harry Stoner (Jack Lemmon), an executive at an apparel company close to ruin. With no legal way to keep the company from going under, Stoner considers torching his warehouse
False insurance claims
Insurance fraud or false insurance claims are insurance claims filed with the intent to defraud an insurance provider.-Health insurance fraud:...

 for the insurance settlement. Meanwhile, he drinks, laments the state of the world, and tries his best to keep the business rolling as usual. This last task is complicated when a client has a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 in the arms of a prostitute provided by Stoner. With nerves still shaky, Stoner takes the stage at the premiere of his company's new line, only to be overcome by war memories. He ends the day spontaneously deciding to go home with a young, free-spirited hitchhiker
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...

, whose ignorance of his generation underscores his isolation from the world around him. At the end of the film, Stoner agrees to the warehouse getting torched and then walks by a Little League
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...

 game and attempts to act as pitcher to the children. One child shouts out, "You can't play with us, Mister!", leaving Stoner yet again isolated from another part of society.

Production and reception

The movie was written by Steve Shagan and directed by John G. Avildsen
John G. Avildsen
John Guilbert Avildsen is an American film director.-Life and career:Avildsen was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Ivy and Clarence John Avildsen...

. Lemmon was determined to make the movie, despite its limited commercial prospects, and so he waived his usual salary and worked for scale. The movie was filmed in sequence after three weeks of rehearsal in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. There is also a novel version of Save the Tiger, by Shagan: the title comes from a campaign to save tigers from extinction to which Stoner contributes. The movie failed financially at the box office, but critics and viewers who saw it liked the Oscar winning performance of Jack Lemmon as Stoner.

Awards

  • Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role  Jack Lemmon
    Jack Lemmon
    John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

  • Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay-Adapted  Steve Shagan
    Steve Shagan
    Steve Shagan is an American novelist, screenplay writer, TV and Movie producer. He was born in 1927 in New York. He wrote the novel, the screenplay and also co produced, Save the Tiger, the 1974 movie, for which Jack Lemmon won the Best Actor Academy Award and Shagan was nominated for Best...


Nominations

  • Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
    Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
    Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

      Jack Gilford
    Jack Gilford
    Jack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...

  • Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Steve Shagan
    Steve Shagan
    Steve Shagan is an American novelist, screenplay writer, TV and Movie producer. He was born in 1927 in New York. He wrote the novel, the screenplay and also co produced, Save the Tiger, the 1974 movie, for which Jack Lemmon won the Best Actor Academy Award and Shagan was nominated for Best...


  • Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
  • Golden Globe Award for Best Actor-Drama  Jack Lemmon
    Jack Lemmon
    John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

  • Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor-Motion Picture Jack Gilford
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