Smile (1975 film)
Encyclopedia
Smile is a 1975
film
directed by American director Michael Ritchie
, with a screenplay by Jerry Belson
, about a beauty pageant in Santa Rosa, California
. It stars Bruce Dern
and Barbara Feldon and introduced a number of young actresses who later went on to greater success and recognition, such as Melanie Griffith
, Annette O'Toole
, Denise Nickerson
, and Colleen Camp
. The film is a satirical
comedy-drama
focusing on small-town America and its peculiarities, preoccupations, and hypocrisies. The film was subsequently made into a 1986 Broadway musical
with songs by Marvin Hamlisch
and Howard Ashman
.
. Barbara Feldon starred as Brenda DiCarlo (the pageant's Executive Director), with Nicholas Pryor
as Andy DiCarlo (Brenda's husband), Bruce Dern
as Big Bob Freelander (the head judge), Geoffrey Lewis as Wilson Shears (pageant producer), and as the contestants, Joan Prather as Robin Gibson, Annette O'Toole
as Doria Hudson, Melanie Griffith
as Karen Love, and a small role played by Michael Ritchie's sister, Elsie Ritchie
. Choreographer Michael Kidd
starred as Tommy French, the pageant's stage director. The movie was filmed on location in and around Santa Rosa, with the pageant held at Veteran's Memorial Auditorium.
1975 in film
The year 1975 in film involved some significant events, with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws topping the box office.-Events:*March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London....
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by American director Michael Ritchie
Michael Ritchie (film director)
Michael Brunswick Ritchie was an American film director.Ritchie was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the son of Patricia and Benbow Ferguson Ritchie...
, with a screenplay by Jerry Belson
Jerry Belson
Jerry Belson was a writer, director, and producer of Hollywood films for over forty years.Belson's writing credits include the Steven Spielberg films Always and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, several episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and I Spy...
, about a beauty pageant in Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
. It stars Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
and Barbara Feldon and introduced a number of young actresses who later went on to greater success and recognition, such as Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
, Annette O'Toole
Annette O'Toole
Annette O'Toole is an American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is most recently known for portraying Martha Kent, the mother of Clark Kent on the television series Smallville.-Early life and career:...
, Denise Nickerson
Denise Nickerson
Denise Nickerson is an American former child actress best known for her roles as the gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Amy Jennings in the soap opera Dark Shadows.-Career:...
, and Colleen Camp
Colleen Camp
Colleen Celeste Camp is an American actress and film producer, known for her performances in two installments of the Police Academy series and as Yvette the Maid in the 1985 black comedy Clue. She was also the first actress to play Kristin Shepard in U.S. prime time soap opera Dallas in 1979.Camp...
. The film is a satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
focusing on small-town America and its peculiarities, preoccupations, and hypocrisies. The film was subsequently made into a 1986 Broadway musical
Smile (musical)
Smile is a musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman. It was originally produced on Broadway in 1986. The musical is based loosely on a 1975 film of the same title, from a screenplay by Jerry Belson.-Production:...
with songs by Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch is an American composer. He is one of only thirteen people to have been awarded Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and a Tony . He is also one of only two people to EGOT and also win a Pulitzer Prize...
and Howard Ashman
Howard Ashman
Howard Elliott Ashman was an American playwright and lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University and Goddard College and then went on to achieve his master's degree from Indiana University in 1974...
.
Synopsis
The plot revolves around the contestants and people involved with California's Young American Miss Pageant held in Santa Rosa, CaliforniaSanta Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
. Barbara Feldon starred as Brenda DiCarlo (the pageant's Executive Director), with Nicholas Pryor
Nicholas Pryor
Nicholas Pryor is an American film and television actor.Pryor was born Nicholas David Probst in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dorothy and J. Stanley Probst, a pharmaceutical manufacturer....
as Andy DiCarlo (Brenda's husband), Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
as Big Bob Freelander (the head judge), Geoffrey Lewis as Wilson Shears (pageant producer), and as the contestants, Joan Prather as Robin Gibson, Annette O'Toole
Annette O'Toole
Annette O'Toole is an American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is most recently known for portraying Martha Kent, the mother of Clark Kent on the television series Smallville.-Early life and career:...
as Doria Hudson, Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
as Karen Love, and a small role played by Michael Ritchie's sister, Elsie Ritchie
Elsie Ritchie
Elsie Ritchie was an American actress with a brief career in the 1970s who was the sister of American film director, Michael Ritchie. She starred in her brother's films in The Candidate in 1972 and in 1975's Smile....
. Choreographer Michael Kidd
Michael Kidd
Michael Kidd was an American film and stage choreographer.-Life and career:Born Milton Greenwald in New York City on the Lower East Side, the son of Abraham Greenwald, an immigrant barber, and his wife Lillian, Michael Kidd moved to Brooklyn with his family and attended New Utrecht High School there...
starred as Tommy French, the pageant's stage director. The movie was filmed on location in and around Santa Rosa, with the pageant held at Veteran's Memorial Auditorium.
Cast
- Bruce DernBruce DernBruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
... Big Bob - Barbara Feldon ... Brenda
- Michael KiddMichael KiddMichael Kidd was an American film and stage choreographer.-Life and career:Born Milton Greenwald in New York City on the Lower East Side, the son of Abraham Greenwald, an immigrant barber, and his wife Lillian, Michael Kidd moved to Brooklyn with his family and attended New Utrecht High School there...
... Tommy - Geoffrey LewisGeoffrey LewisGeoffrey Lewis is an American character actor.His filmography includes television shows such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent and My Name is Earl, as well as films such as Down in the Valley, alongside Edward Norton, The Butcher, alongside Eric Roberts, Maverick, alongside Mel Gibson, and When...
... Wilson - Eric SheaEric SheaEric Shea , is an American actor. A professional child actor since the age of six, he is best known for his roles in the feature films Yours, Mine and Ours, The Poseidon Adventure, Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies, and The Castaway Cowboy, as well as for his numerous guest-starring appearances...
... Little Bob - Nicholas PryorNicholas PryorNicholas Pryor is an American film and television actor.Pryor was born Nicholas David Probst in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dorothy and J. Stanley Probst, a pharmaceutical manufacturer....
... Andy - Titos Vandis ... Emile
- Paul BenedictPaul BenedictPaul Benedict was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and movies beginning in the 1960s...
... Orren Brooks - William TraylorWilliam TraylorWilliam "Bill" Traylor was an American television, theater, and motion picture actor. He was also an acting coach and founder of The Loft Studio, an acting school attended by such major stars as Sean Penn, Anjelica Huston and Nicolas Cage...
... Ray Brandy - Dennis DuganDennis DuganDennis Dugan is an American director, comedian, and actor. He is most famous for his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, with whom he directed the films Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Grown Ups, Just Go With It, and Jack and...
... Logan - Dick McGarvin ... Ted Farley
- Adam ReedAdam ReedAdam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
... Freddy - Brad ThompsonBrad ThompsonBradley Joseph Thompson , is an American baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent.-Career:Thompson was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 16th round of the 2002 amateur draft out of Dixie State College of Utah. He holds the AA single-season scoreless innings streak. He made his major...
... Chuck - George WynerGeorge WynerGeorge Wyner is an American film and television actor. He is probably best known for his role as ADA Bernstein on the series Hill Street Blues. Wyner graduated from Syracuse University in 1968 as a drama major, and was an in-demand character actor by the early 1970s. To date, Wyner has made guest...
... Man at Party - George Skaff ... Dr. Malvert
- Kate Sarchet ... Judy - Young American Miss
- Joan Prather ... Robin - Young American Miss
- Denise NickersonDenise NickersonDenise Nickerson is an American former child actress best known for her roles as the gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Amy Jennings in the soap opera Dark Shadows.-Career:...
... Shirley - Young American Miss - Melanie GriffithMelanie GriffithMelanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
... Karen - Young American Miss - Annette O'TooleAnnette O'TooleAnnette O'Toole is an American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is most recently known for portraying Martha Kent, the mother of Clark Kent on the television series Smallville.-Early life and career:...
... Doria - Young American Miss - Maria O'Brien ... Maria - Young American Miss
- Colleen CampColleen CampColleen Celeste Camp is an American actress and film producer, known for her performances in two installments of the Police Academy series and as Yvette the Maid in the 1985 black comedy Clue. She was also the first actress to play Kristin Shepard in U.S. prime time soap opera Dallas in 1979.Camp...
... Connie - Young American Miss - Caroline Williams ... Helga - Young American Miss
- Shawn Christianson ... Young American Miss / The Winner