Such Good Friends
Encyclopedia
Such Good Friends is a 1971
American
comedy-drama film directed by Otto Preminger
. The screenplay by Esther Dale (a pseudonym
for Elaine May
) is based on the novel of the same title by Lois Gould
.
ite Julie Messinger, a complacent housewife and mother of two raucous young sons, is married to Richard, a chauvinistic and self-centered magazine art director and author of a best-selling children's book. When he falls into a coma during minor surgery to remove a nonmalignant mole on his neck, Julie learns from his doctor, Dr. Timmy Spector, that another surgeon nicked his artery, necessitating a blood transfusion
to which he had a rare allergic reaction. The following day, Julie is told Richard has overcome the reaction, but his liver has sustained serious damage requiring immediate treatment. In quick succession, all his organs begin to fail.
While trying to comfort Julie, family friend Cal Whiting reveals his girlfriend Miranda has confessed to having had a lengthy affair with Richard. Distressed by the news, Julie seeks advice from her egocentric mother but finds herself unable to discuss her husband's infidelity. She decides to confront Miranda and asks her what future she anticipated having with her husband. Miranda confesses she and Richard are deeply in love and have discussed marriage, although thus far she has been unable to make such a permanent commitment.
Julie begins to unravel emotionally. She visits Cal, whose attempted seduction of her fails due to impotence. At the hospital, she tells the unconscious Richard she will never divorce him and vows to ruin his reputation. Timmy invites her to his apartment for drinks and admits he was aware of Richard's affair not only with Miranda, but with other women as well, and kept them secret out of a sense of loyalty to his friend. Stunned and confused, Julie lashes out at Timmy, then seduces him, and he succumbs to her advances.
At home later that evening, Julie finds a black book in Richard's desk and realizes it contains coded data about his numerous extramarital affairs, many of them with her friends. She gives it to Cal, who then shows it to Miranda to prove she was just one of Richard's many conquests.
The following day, Richard goes into cardiac arrest, and Julie realizes she wants him to survive despite his betrayal of her. When Timmy reports her husband has died, a grieving Julie takes her sons for a walk in Central Park to contemplate their future.
, who was working as his story editor, producer Otto Preminger heard about a manuscript by Lois Gould that was rumored to be a hot property. He negotiated with the author and purchased the film rights for $200,000 in February 1970, three months before the book was published.
The novel, narrated in stream-of-consciousness mode by Julie Messinger, proved to be difficult to adapt for the screen. Joan Micklin Silver
initially tackled the project, but Preminger found her to be too much of a feminist
who was more psychologically attuned to the character than he thought was necessary. He then hired Joan Didion
and John Gregory Dunne
and worked with them for several months. Finally, in early 1971, Elaine May
, his original choice for screenwriter, became available. May worked on the script for ten weeks, although Preminger found it difficult to adjust to her method of writing. The two would meet for a story conference, then May would disappear and remain incommunicado for two weeks or so, finally emerging with a substantial part of the screenplay completed. Preminger would give her notes and she would disappear again, and this routine continued until the script was finished. Not wanting her name attached to work started by others, May insisted she did not want screen credit and used the pseudonym Esther Dale
, the name of a Hollywood character actress, instead of her own. Preminger later used May's involvement in the film to help promote it, a move the screenwriter resented, as she felt he was "more honorable than that."
Preminger and leading lady Dyan Cannon
clashed throughout filming. She constantly was late, one of the director's pet peeves, and the two disagreed about everything about her character, from how she should be portrayed to how she should be dressed. Uncomfortable with the director's perception of Julie Messinger, the actress frequently tried to incorporate some of her own vision into her interpretation, resulting in loud on-set arguments that left Cannon feeling alone, self-conscious, and very vulnerable. Upon the film's completion, the two vowed never to work with each other again.
of the Chicago Sun-Times
called the film "a hard, unsentimental, deeply cynical comedy" and "Preminger's best film in a long time, probably since Anatomy of a Murder
in 1959." He added, "There are funny lines in the movie, but they are rarely allowed to be merely funny; they are also intended to hurt. People hurt and insult one another because, we sense, attack is the best form of defense inside this carnivorous society. Some of the dialog is in appallingly bad taste, and some of the critics have blamed the bad taste on Preminger, but it would have taken a lesser director to leave it out. The vulgarity belongs there because the movie is as tough as the people it's about."
Time
said, "The whole notion is so outrageously melodrama
tic that Preminger was probably right in choosing to play it for comedy . . . On second thought, Such Good Friends might have worked better the other way. Preminger is usually funnier — remember Hurry Sundown
? — when he's trying to be serious."
Tony Mastroianni of the Cleveland Press
called it "one of those sick-funny films that asks you to laugh at tragedy and gets away with it." He continued, "It undoubtedly will offend many and for a number of reasons. It has a brand of caustic wit that somehow surmounts situations that are a blend of soap opera maudlin and ribald coarseness. The picture takes on such institutions as marriage, medicine and friendship and treats them all pretty roughly. What succeeds is a barrage of bright, witty, trenchant lines written by Elaine May operating under the pseudonym of Esther Dale. Director Otto Preminger, whose recent films looked as though they were directed by an ax murderer, does a better job this time out. There are still scenes that are all surface, some that are just crudely done. But in others, notably those involving large groups of people, he works out an interplay of parts that results in fascinating moments of counterpoint."
Time Out London observed, "Sadly, Preminger seems unsure whether to take May's characters at face value or to feel for them. As a result, the cardboard emotions of Cannon . . . and Coco . . . are too often taken for real, and the script's brilliantly witty cameos
are shunted too quickly out of sight."
TV Guide
rated the film one star, saying it "aimed at being contemporary but turned out contemptible. It does, however, provide a look at a tough-skinned New York lifestyle that Big Apple resident Preminger well understood."
in Klute
.
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
comedy-drama film directed by Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
. The screenplay by Esther Dale (a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
for Elaine May
Elaine May
Elaine May is an American film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols...
) is based on the novel of the same title by Lois Gould
Lois Gould
Lois Gould was an acclaimed American writer, known for her novels and other works about women's lives. She was born in Manhattan, the daughter of fashion designer Jo Copeland and Edward J. Regensburg, Jr., a cigar manufacturer...
.
Plot
ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
ite Julie Messinger, a complacent housewife and mother of two raucous young sons, is married to Richard, a chauvinistic and self-centered magazine art director and author of a best-selling children's book. When he falls into a coma during minor surgery to remove a nonmalignant mole on his neck, Julie learns from his doctor, Dr. Timmy Spector, that another surgeon nicked his artery, necessitating a blood transfusion
Blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...
to which he had a rare allergic reaction. The following day, Julie is told Richard has overcome the reaction, but his liver has sustained serious damage requiring immediate treatment. In quick succession, all his organs begin to fail.
While trying to comfort Julie, family friend Cal Whiting reveals his girlfriend Miranda has confessed to having had a lengthy affair with Richard. Distressed by the news, Julie seeks advice from her egocentric mother but finds herself unable to discuss her husband's infidelity. She decides to confront Miranda and asks her what future she anticipated having with her husband. Miranda confesses she and Richard are deeply in love and have discussed marriage, although thus far she has been unable to make such a permanent commitment.
Julie begins to unravel emotionally. She visits Cal, whose attempted seduction of her fails due to impotence. At the hospital, she tells the unconscious Richard she will never divorce him and vows to ruin his reputation. Timmy invites her to his apartment for drinks and admits he was aware of Richard's affair not only with Miranda, but with other women as well, and kept them secret out of a sense of loyalty to his friend. Stunned and confused, Julie lashes out at Timmy, then seduces him, and he succumbs to her advances.
At home later that evening, Julie finds a black book in Richard's desk and realizes it contains coded data about his numerous extramarital affairs, many of them with her friends. She gives it to Cal, who then shows it to Miranda to prove she was just one of Richard's many conquests.
The following day, Richard goes into cardiac arrest, and Julie realizes she wants him to survive despite his betrayal of her. When Timmy reports her husband has died, a grieving Julie takes her sons for a walk in Central Park to contemplate their future.
Production
Through his son ErikErik Lee Preminger
Erik Lee Preminger is an American writer and actor. He has also been known as Erik Kirkland, Erik de Diego, Erik Lee, and Eric Preminger....
, who was working as his story editor, producer Otto Preminger heard about a manuscript by Lois Gould that was rumored to be a hot property. He negotiated with the author and purchased the film rights for $200,000 in February 1970, three months before the book was published.
The novel, narrated in stream-of-consciousness mode by Julie Messinger, proved to be difficult to adapt for the screen. Joan Micklin Silver
Joan Micklin Silver
Joan Micklin Silver is an American director.She was born in Omaha, Nebraska and received her B.A. From Sarah Lawrence College....
initially tackled the project, but Preminger found her to be too much of a feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
who was more psychologically attuned to the character than he thought was necessary. He then hired Joan Didion
Joan Didion
Joan Didion is an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism. Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
and John Gregory Dunne
John Gregory Dunne
John Gregory Dunne was an American novelist, screenwriter and literary critic.-Life:He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a younger brother of author Dominick Dunne. He suffered from a severe stutter and took up writing to express himself. Eventually he learned to speak normally by...
and worked with them for several months. Finally, in early 1971, Elaine May
Elaine May
Elaine May is an American film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols...
, his original choice for screenwriter, became available. May worked on the script for ten weeks, although Preminger found it difficult to adjust to her method of writing. The two would meet for a story conference, then May would disappear and remain incommunicado for two weeks or so, finally emerging with a substantial part of the screenplay completed. Preminger would give her notes and she would disappear again, and this routine continued until the script was finished. Not wanting her name attached to work started by others, May insisted she did not want screen credit and used the pseudonym Esther Dale
Esther Dale
Esther Dale was an American actress, best known perhaps for her role as Aunt Genevieve in the 1935 Shirley Temple vehicle, Curly Top....
, the name of a Hollywood character actress, instead of her own. Preminger later used May's involvement in the film to help promote it, a move the screenwriter resented, as she felt he was "more honorable than that."
Preminger and leading lady Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon is an American film and television actress, director, screenwriter, editor, and producer.-Early life:...
clashed throughout filming. She constantly was late, one of the director's pet peeves, and the two disagreed about everything about her character, from how she should be portrayed to how she should be dressed. Uncomfortable with the director's perception of Julie Messinger, the actress frequently tried to incorporate some of her own vision into her interpretation, resulting in loud on-set arguments that left Cannon feeling alone, self-conscious, and very vulnerable. Upon the film's completion, the two vowed never to work with each other again.
Cast
- Dyan CannonDyan CannonDyan Cannon is an American film and television actress, director, screenwriter, editor, and producer.-Early life:...
..... Julie Messinger - James CocoJames CocoJames Coco was an American character actor.- Early life and career :Born James Emil Coco in New York City, son of Feliche Coco, a shoemaker and Ida Detestes Coco, James began acting straight out of high school. As an overweight and prematurely balding adult, he found himself relegated to character...
..... Dr. Timmy Spector - Jennifer O'NeillJennifer O'Neill-Early life:O'Neill was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the daughter of a famous Spanish-Irish dental supply import/export businessman, Oscar D' O'Neill and his English wife. As a teenager, O'Neill worked as a fashion model and appeared in television commercials and on magazine covers before moving...
..... Miranda Graham - Ken HowardKen HowardKenneth Joseph "Ken" Howard, Jr. is an American actor, best known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show The White Shadow...
..... Cal Whiting - Nina FochNina FochNina Foch was a Dutch-born American actress and leading lady in many 1940s and 1950s films.- Personal life :...
..... Mrs. Wallman - Laurence LuckinbillLaurence LuckinbillLaurence George Luckinbill is an American actor.-Life and career:Luckinbill was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the son of Agnes and Laurence Benedict Luckinbill. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1956 and The Catholic University of America in 1958.He starred in the 1976 Broadway play...
..... Richard Messinger - Louise LasserLouise LasserLouise Lasser is an American actress. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She was married to Woody Allen and appeared in several of his films.-Personal life:...
..... Marcy Berns - Burgess MeredithBurgess MeredithOliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
..... Bernard Kalman - Sam LeveneSam LeveneSam Levene was an American Broadway and film actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1927 with five lines in a play titled Wall Street, and over a span of nearly 50 years, appeared on Broadway in 37 Shows, of which 33 were the original Broadway Productions, many now considered legendary...
..... Uncle Eddie - William RedfieldWilliam Redfield (actor)William Redfield was an American actor and author who appeared in numerous theatrical, film, radio, and television roles.-Acting career:...
..... Barney Halsted - Elaine JoyceElaine JoyceElaine Joyce is an American actress.Joyce was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She made her film debut in 1961 as an extra in West Side Story and made uncredited appearances in several musical films, including The Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, and Funny Girl before being cast in Such Good Friends in 1971...
..... Marian Spector - Doris RobertsDoris RobertsDoris Roberts is an American character actress of film, stage and television. She has received five Emmy Awards. She began her career in 1952, and may be best-known as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996–2005....
..... Mrs. Gold - Virginia VestoffVirginia VestoffVirginia Vestoff was an American actress of film, television and Broadway.Vestoff was born into a family of vaudeville performers in New York City. Both her Russian immigrant father and mother, who was the great niece of American composer Stephen Foster, died and left Virginia an orphan at the age...
..... Emily Lapham
Critical reception
The film earned mixed reviews at the time of its release, and some felt it was better than the failed films Preminger did between 1965 and 1970. Roger EbertRoger 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...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
called the film "a hard, unsentimental, deeply cynical comedy" and "Preminger's best film in a long time, probably since Anatomy of a Murder
Anatomy of a Murder
Anatomy of a Murder is a 1959 American courtroom crime drama film. It was directed by Otto Preminger and adapted by Wendell Mayes from the best-selling novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under the pen name Robert Traver...
in 1959." He added, "There are funny lines in the movie, but they are rarely allowed to be merely funny; they are also intended to hurt. People hurt and insult one another because, we sense, attack is the best form of defense inside this carnivorous society. Some of the dialog is in appallingly bad taste, and some of the critics have blamed the bad taste on Preminger, but it would have taken a lesser director to leave it out. The vulgarity belongs there because the movie is as tough as the people it's about."
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
said, "The whole notion is so outrageously melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
tic that Preminger was probably right in choosing to play it for comedy . . . On second thought, Such Good Friends might have worked better the other way. Preminger is usually funnier — remember Hurry Sundown
Hurry Sundown (film)
Hurry Sundown is a 1967 American drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Jane Fonda and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Horton Foote and Thomas C. Ryan is based on the 1965 novel of the same title by K.B...
? — when he's trying to be serious."
Tony Mastroianni of the Cleveland Press
Cleveland Press
The Cleveland Press was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis Seltzer....
called it "one of those sick-funny films that asks you to laugh at tragedy and gets away with it." He continued, "It undoubtedly will offend many and for a number of reasons. It has a brand of caustic wit that somehow surmounts situations that are a blend of soap opera maudlin and ribald coarseness. The picture takes on such institutions as marriage, medicine and friendship and treats them all pretty roughly. What succeeds is a barrage of bright, witty, trenchant lines written by Elaine May operating under the pseudonym of Esther Dale. Director Otto Preminger, whose recent films looked as though they were directed by an ax murderer, does a better job this time out. There are still scenes that are all surface, some that are just crudely done. But in others, notably those involving large groups of people, he works out an interplay of parts that results in fascinating moments of counterpoint."
Time Out London observed, "Sadly, Preminger seems unsure whether to take May's characters at face value or to feel for them. As a result, the cardboard emotions of Cannon . . . and Coco . . . are too often taken for real, and the script's brilliantly witty cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
are shunted too quickly out of sight."
TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
rated the film one star, saying it "aimed at being contemporary but turned out contemptible. It does, however, provide a look at a tough-skinned New York lifestyle that Big Apple resident Preminger well understood."
Awards and nominations
Dyan Cannon was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama but lost to Jane FondaJane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
in Klute
Klute
Klute is a 1971 film which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a missing persons case. It stars Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi and Roy Scheider. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J. Pakula.Klute was the first...
.