California Suite (film)
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
Article Images
California Suite is a 1978 American anthology comedy film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay by Neil Simon is based on his 1976 play. Similar to his earlier Plaza Suite, the film focuses on the dilemmas of guests staying in a suite in a luxury hotel. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Simon, with Maggie Smith winning Best Supporting Actress.[2] She also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.[3]
| California Suite | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan | |
| Directed by | Herbert Ross |
| Written by | Neil Simon |
| Based on | California Suite by Neil Simon |
| Produced by | Ray Stark |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | David M. Walsh |
| Edited by | Michael A. Stevenson |
| Music by | Claude Bolling |
Production | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $42 million[1] |
In "Visitors from New York", Hannah Warren (Jane Fonda) is a Manhattan workaholic who flies to Los Angeles to retrieve her teenage daughter Jenny (Dana Plato) after she leaves home to live with her successful screenwriter father Bill (Alan Alda). The bickering, divorced couple are forced to decide what living arrangements are best for the girl.
In "Visitors from London", Diana Barrie (Maggie Smith) is a British actress and a first-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actress in an independent British film, an honor that could revive her faltering career, but she knows she has no chance of winning. She is in deep denial about the true nature of her marriage of convenience to Sidney Cochran (Michael Caine), a once-closeted gay antique dealer who has become increasingly indiscreet about his sexuality. As she prepares for her moment in the spotlight, her mood fluctuates from hope to panic to despair.
In "Visitors from Philadelphia", conservative, middle-aged businessman Marvin Michaels (Walter Matthau) awakens to discover a prostitute named Bunny (Denise Galik) - an unexpected gift from his brother Harry (Herb Edelman) - unconscious in his bed. With his wife Millie (Elaine May) on her way up to the suite, he must find a way to conceal all traces of his uncharacteristic indiscretion.
In "Visitors from Chicago", Dr. Chauncey Gump (Richard Pryor) and his wife Lola (Gloria Gifford) and Dr. Willis Panama (Bill Cosby) and his wife Bettina (Sheila Frazier) are taking a much-needed vacation together. Things begin to unravel quickly when everything seems to go wrong, and the two men decide to settle their differences by engaging in a very competitive tennis match.
- Alan Alda as Bill Warren
- Michael Caine as Sidney Cochran
- Bill Cosby as Dr. Willis Panama
- Jane Fonda as Hannah Warren
- Walter Matthau as Marvin Michaels
- Elaine May as Millie Michaels
- Richard Pryor as Dr. Chauncey Gump
- Maggie Smith as Diana Barrie
- Herb Edelman as Harry Michaels
- Sheila Frazier as Bettina Panama
- Denise Galik as Bunny
- Gloria Gifford as Lola Gump
- Dana Plato as Jenny Warren
- James Coburn as Pilot in Diana Barrie's Film on Airplane (Uncredited)
- Richard Burton as himself (Uncredited)
The film was shot on location at The Beverly Hills Hotel, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Music Center, and along Rodeo Drive.
Diana and Sidney's arrival at the Academy Awards was actually shot during the arrivals for the 50th Academy Awards in April 1978. This may explain the muted response from a real-life crowd unfamiliar with the names Diana Barrie and Sidney Cochran.
The California-themed paintings seen in the opening credits are by pop artist David Hockney. While the play featured two actors and two actresses each playing several roles, the film features a different actor for each role.
Vincent Canby of The New York Times called California Suite "the most agreeably realised Simon film in years" and added "Here is Mr. Simon in top form, under the direction of Herbert Ross, one of the few directors...who can cope with the particular demands of material that simultaneously means to be touching and so nonstop clever one sometimes wants to gag him. It all works in California Suite, not only because the material is superior Simon, but also because the writer and the director have assembled a dream cast."[4]
Variety observed "Neil Simon and Herbert Ross have gambled in radically altering the successful format of California Suite as it appeared on stage. Instead of four separate playlets, there is now one semi-cohesive narrative revolving around visitors to the Beverly Hills Hotel...The technique is less than successful, veering from poignant emotionalism to broad slapstick in sudden shifts."[5]
Time Out New York described the film as "quick and varied comedy, highly suited to Neil Simon's machine-gun gag-writing" and added "Fonda provides the film with its centre, giving another performance of unnerving sureness. Also on the credit side is a bedroom farce of epic proportions from Matthau and May. The other vignettes are a bit glum."[6]
Channel 4 stated "It's an expertly crafted slick movie that sets up each of its coconuts and knocks them over with a sure eye, but ultimately it's emotional sushi rather than satisfying catharsis."[7]
In his annual movie guide, Leonard Maltin gave the film three stars out of a possible four, and described it as a "pleasant time-filler, with a nice jazz score by Claude Bolling". He also felt that "gently bickering" Smith and Caine came off best, while "unfunnily combative" Pryor and Cosby came off worst.[8]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 27 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Maggie Smith's acidic turn is the standout in this stacked ensemble, but broad characterizations and an unsure tone make for a disappointingly uneven adaptation of Neil Simon's episodic play."[9]
The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list.[10]
Awards and nominations
California Suite was released in the United States on VHS by Columbia Pictures in 1983,[16] and on DVD in anamorphic widescreen format on January 2, 2002.[17]
- ^ Tied with Ellen Burstyn for Same Time, Next Year.
- ^ Also for Comes a Horseman and Coming Home
- ^ "California Suite, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
- ^ a b "The 51st Academy Awards (1979) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "California Suite". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (December 22, 1978). "Screen: Simon's 'Suite' Comes Back Home:Things Go Wrong". The New York Times. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ "Film Reviews: California Suite". Variety. December 31, 1977.
- ^ "California Suite". Time Out New York. February 4, 2013. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013.
- ^ "Channel 4 review". Archived from the original on 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
- ^ Maltin, Leonard. 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Books. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-451-41810-4.
- ^ "California Suite". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
- ^ The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made. The New York Times via Internet Archive. Published April 29, 2003. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
- ^ "BAFTA Awards: Film in 1980". British Academy Film Awards. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ "Evening Standard British Film Awards". IMDb. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ "KCFCC Award Winners – 1970-79". Kansas City Film Critics Circle. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ "The 4th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ a b c "California Suite - Awards". Mubi. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ "California Suite". VHSCollector. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
- ^ "California Suite". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.