An Unmarried Woman

Jill got married, had kids and moved to CT where Meryl was her neighbor. She resumed her career when her kids got older. Shame her last movie was Bridesmaids.

What I really love about An Unmarried Woman is how the husband isn’t portrayed as a villain who the audience hates but as a confused dope who leaves this fabulous woman to live out some ridiculous fantasy with a younger woman. Michael Murphy was wonderful in the role.

Lily Rabe the actress is her daughter

R2 I agree. I found myself somehow sympathising with him too. I mean he seemed lost. Also I find Michael Murphy cute in this and also Tanner ‘88. He reminds me of George segal but cuter.

R1, At least it wasn't "Trog" or "Wicked Stepmother".

I thought she was decent in bridesmaids although she seemed sick. It seems fitting that her last film was a woman’s picture. It bookended her career nicely.

She wasn't that into him - she was more into her gurlfriends, Sue & Elaine and co.

I love the film as much as the next homosexual of the 1970s - but I didn't really get that every man she meets after her husband left her, wanted to fuck her.

[quote]Does she leave the painting on the street at the end or take it with her all the way to her new apartment? It was really annoying me that nobody tried to help her carry it or that she couldn’t find anyone to help her.

Probably after a short while someone helped her. It was ridiculous handed her that huge painting right on the street like that and we don't know if she'd moved into the new place yet.

I remember the uproar when she was cast as Carole Lombard in "Gable and Lombard".

I saw Jill at the Bronx Zoo in 1985, and she looked and seemed perfectly fine. She was alone with a couple of kids at the children's zoo. There was no one around except for me & friend, Jill and kids.

Cliff Gorman was sexy as fuck.

I hated her friends. Nothing worse than smug upper middle class NYC fraus whining and whining about First World problems

Maybe, R12, but I love Carole Bishop. A year earlier she won a Tony for A Chorus Line ("At the Ballet"). Carole had to get a SAG card to do Unmarried Woman, and because there was already a member named Carole Bishop, she became KELLY Bishop.

[quote] I love the film as much as the next homosexual of the 1970s - but I didn't really get that every man she meets after her husband left her, wanted to fuck her.

That's how straight guys are. A slim, attractive (doesn't have to be beautiful at all) recent divorceé (they figure she'll be hot to trot and uninhibited) really does get tons of come-ons.

If they'd all proposed marriage, it would have been absurd. But wanting to fuck? Hell, yes.

Her film w Bertolucci did not age well. Perhaps it affected her career at the time as well? Either way I never understood her career, I find her to be a horrible actress.

Yeah, I think Luna lost her a lot of fans. My mother was one of them.

Linda Miller, Jackie Gleason’s daughter, Jason Miller’s then wife and Jason Patric’s mother plays the sexy friend who’s sleeping with a younger man.

Something about her always bugged me. I don't know if it was her looks or her neurotic acting style, but she was great in an episode of Law & Order, about a vile, hateful bastard (Tony Roberts, who also bugs me) taking down a vile, hateful bitch (Jill), and it also starred the hot girl from Sixteen Candles who had sex with Anthony Michael Hall in the car!

Never saw An Unmarried Woman, but it's like a classic, right?

Can’t believe that they chose her to play Carole Lombard. Nowhere near as beautiful as she was. James Brolin wasn’t the best choice for Clark Gable either, but he was better than her.

You know who else was great on Law And Order? Lauren Ambrose. She essayed the role of a young challenged girl who's taken advantage of by several teenage boys.

She had quite a run in the mid-to-late 70's. Silver Streak, Semi-Tough, Unmarried Woman, Starting Over, and It's My Turn were all either big box-office hits or big critical hits, or both.

I think she was successful because she was a "type". She was unique. There wasn't anybody else who was bringing what she was bringing, love it or hate it. She had a little bit of that Diane Keaton-esque energy, but less bohemian, more regal and WASP-y.

I always kinda liked her.

[quote]Does she leave the painting on the street at the end or take it with her all the way to her new apartment?

She showed every indication of bringing it home.

[quote] It was really annoying me that nobody tried to help her carry it or that she couldn’t find anyone to help her

That was the entire point--she was going to do it all by herself now.

She slung it in a dumpster.

It was this 1976 ABC television movie that first garnered Jill attention.

No, it was...

R25, Only among the Broadway crowd. The television movie brought her national attention.

No, it was starring with the First Lady of the American Theater that got her attention.

Hustling was her big break.

Jill (who was Al Pacino's LT girlfriend at one point) has a natural 1970s quality. She became known playing frumps. Once a star, she became a lead.

I could see her in a few Diane Keaton roles from that era how “looking for mr Goodbar” and “shoot the moon”

Her role in “an unmarried woman” was probably one of the best female roles during that decade alongside “Alice doesn’t live here anymore” and “klute”. The 70s really was an interesting decade for women’s pictures.

Amazing how in 1977 a movie about a couple divorcing was considered cutting edge.

[quote]The 70s really was an interesting decade for women’s pictures.

Yes, and all the press and actresses complained about how there were "no good roles" for women.

R32 = DOB 1995

Blimey, she died 11 years ago. I would have said 3 years ago. My internal timeline is fucked.

R33 I read that too and I guess it only becomes apparent in hindsight. When the parts were there for women in the 70s they were very good and I’d say comparable to the women’s pictures of the 30s and 40s in that the roles were very meaty. Even lesser known actresses like Trish van devere had “one is a lonely number” and Carrie snodgress had “diary of a mad housewife”.

It was the soundtrack that really lifted this film. It was so good.

R32 it was less cliche than the recent “a marriage story” though.

Enjoy this film very much, NYC looks so alive in the 1970s

because it was - the late 70s

She had a great body. Looked fantastic in An Unmarried Woman.

Her career fizzled in the early 80s. Lots of big chances with big name directors and costars that all flopped.

Brad Davis' wife's book kind of implies that Clayburgh had an affair with Davis or at least was very freaked out about having just worked with him and then his announcing he had AIDS.

The wife seems to have an ax to grind against Clayburgh.

Worked with Jill in the late 1990s on a TV pilot and she was one of the kindest and smartest actresses I remember from my long career.

Her daughter Lily on the other hand....

R41 Well according to IMDb clayburgh had been suffering from chronic leukaemia for 21 years before she died in 2010 so that would put her diagnosis at around 1989. She worked with Davis in 1990 and he died in 1991. Perhaps his death hit close to home.

The wife seems to imply that Davis infected Clayburgh with AIDS but then her book is a whole lot of crazy.

R31 Keaton has said (I think on Letterman) that people used to confuse them a lot and that they were often up for the same roles. Clayburgh was more definitively East Coast - she absolutely could not play any other type of region convincingly IMO.

She’s also someone who only in the 70s could have become a star, so perhaps not surprising that her perch at the top didn’t last long. Abs also wasn’t young when she hit fame either, so she didn’t have many viable lead years left, anyway.

I’ve always liked her though and I remember being quite sad when I heard she had died.

She blew it when she turned down Norma Rae.

Yes, then newly breast implanted Sally Field got it. Outside of Gidget, I'll never understand why she worked so much. Oh yeah, there was Sybil ...but Sally a lead? Sally a sexy lead? No, thanks.

Art imitates life imitates art.

Film Role Sends Therapist to Therapy / July 31, 1978

The role was small, the pay was paltry, and her best scene, she says now, was left on the cutting room floor. Still, life hasn't been the same since Dr. Penelope Russianoff, a West Side therapist, played Jill Clayburgh's very sincere shrink in the movie “An Unmarried Woman.”

“So much has happened that f went back to my own analyst after 12 years,” the motherly, 60-year-old therapist said very calmly the other day while sitting in what she calls her “very seedy” penthouse apartment on West 86th Street.

Her main reason for going back to see Dr. Lionel Ovesey, she said, was to discuss the “negative reactions” she had gotten for her performanCe from members of her profession. She was also upset, she said, that so many pea: ple had assumed she was a lesbian or bisexual because her character in the movie, Tanya, Was bisexual. Dr. Russianoff is married, “very happily,” she said, to Leon Russianoff, 61, a classical clarinet instructor. He is her second husband.

“One of my hidden goals in doing the film,” she said in her soft monotone, “was to desensitize people to the fear of therapy. So it hurt when my own colleagues attacked me, when people like Lionel Tiger called me ‘quite nauseating’ in Psychology Today, and when Stanley Kauffmann, the critic wrote that he didn't dare say how awful I was or he'd be sued for libel.

And Penelope Russianoff dropped dead 20 years ago at age 80.

NYT Obit:

Her appearance in (An Unmarried Woman), filmed in her Manhattan penthouse office, drew much criticism from colleagues. It also increased her practice and earned her a book contract.

I think studios were afraid she'd throw up in their films, too.

50 comments and not ONE mentions her Catherine in "Pippin"?

I didn't mind Erica's friends, but that irritating daughter was enough to destroy any relationship.

Clayburgh was a wimp and shockingly ordinary, which was perhaps part of her appeal. John Waters said it was ridiculous to have a Marilyn Monroe look alike contest because the bar was too high. They should have had Jill Clayburgh look alike contests so everyone could win.

AUW was definitely a success but in his negative review, Kauffmann said that the role of Erica needed someone like Jane Fonda or Blythe Danner, someone who could give it more than what was on the page.

[quote]50 comments and not ONE mentions her Catherine in "Pippin"?

someone HAS mentioned it and linked that song

[quote]AUW was definitely a success but in his negative review, Kauffmann said that the role of Erica needed someone like Jane Fonda or Blythe Danner, someone who could give it more than what was on the page.

The film was so well scored, so well shot, so well written...it was an absolute gift for her - she kept the ball rolling, but she was so ordinary in every way the steam went out and she fell back to "working actress" status. She was no movie star. Starting Over was another great film, but her ordinariness really revealed itself. Burt's obsession with her didn't ring true at all.

Candice was great though. So was Burt.

R55 Bergen's singing that song, so great!

I really like her daughter Lily Rabe. She's kind of beginning to edge in on the market of the 1% moms that Laura Dern owns, such as when she was Nicole Kidman's friend in The Undoing.

Pacino left her for DL fave Tuesday Weld. He worked with her husband and daughter though so I guess all was forgiven.

[quote]she was so ordinary in every way the steam went out and she fell back to "working actress" status. She was no movie star.

[quote]AUW was definitely a success but in his negative review, Kauffmann said that the role of Erica needed someone like Jane Fonda or Blythe Danner, someone who could give it more than what was on the page.

If Jane Fonda had been cast, I would have seen An Unmarried Woman once, if that, rather than the six or more times I did go to see it. Possibly it was her lack of movie star-ness alluded to above that made Jill Clayburgh so perfect in the role for me. Even all these years later, I have yet to see a movie I liked as much as An Unmarried Woman. It's the script, it's New York, it's my specific neighborhood in New York, it's the music, it's Alan Bates, but most of all, it's Jill Clayburgh as Erica.

I was completely unfamiliar with Jill when I saw the movie. Or I thought I was. I'd seen Pippin in 1975, so maybe I saw her in that. She became my favorite actress in 1978. I didn't much like anything she did afterwards, but that wasn't because of her. Her next favorite part for me was Tish Darling on Dirty Sexy Money. I think she may have become too ill to perform as that series shot a number of episodes without her.

Oh, I had always imagined one of the Puerto Rican women in the freeze frame helped Erica lug the painting home to her new place in the Village. Or at least got her to a phone booth, from which she called Elaine, Jennifer, and Sue.

RIP, Jill

[quote]shockingly ordinary

Yes, that was IN in the 1970s

DAMN!

- Miss Streisand, who had shitty roles....other than The Way We Were

My friend Scott (not his real name) and I both lovelovelove AUW, and just last week we were around the corner from the foot bridge over the FDR in the very first scene with Jill and Michael jogging—another 70s touchstone, right? So of course we paid our respects. If you happen to be in the area yourself, it's at 81st and East End Avenue, although rebuilt and refurbished who knows how many times since the movie was made.

Jill had a bulbous nose that did not photograph well.

Ann Reinking was Jill’s understudy in Pippin. If anyone cares.

If you saw Pippin in 1975, you didn't see Jill as Catherine.

That decade was all about “ordinary women” as movie stars though - Sissy Spacek anyone? And Sally Field as well (she had implants?)

Sally had huge tits before the implants, never understood why she them.

Soho where Saul had his loft apartment (Spring and Wooster is shown as outside location) was totally shit back in 1970's. But that loft today would easily go for tens of millions as Tribeca and SoHo are now the gold coast of downtown NYC real estate.

Erica's apartment on UES was famed Manhattan House on 68th street between Third and Second avenues.

Clayburgh did seem to have problems with people. She was convinced both Bob Fosse and Tom Stoppard didn't like her and bad mouthed them in interviews.

The story of how she got Pippin instead of Betty Buckley is interesting. They had the same agent. Both were on the list of people they were interested in. The agent lied to Buckley and told her there was no suitable role for her in it. Then it opened and she saw it and was like I could have played Catherine. She then ran into someone from the production on the street who said Betty what are you doing here? Your agent told us you quit the business and went back to Texas.

Buckley confronted the agent (that must have been fun to watch) He said Clayburgh had some film credits so he could get a higher fee so he pushed her. Buckley fired him and then got to be the first replacement and played the part for three years.

Clayburgh must have been unhappy in the show.

R32

Because 1970's is when a lot of shit hit the fan that had been building since 1960's if not before.

Divorce laws were changed in many states allowing more "no fault" petitions. More to the point you had plenty of middle aged married couples who took advantage of changing social mores made divorce not often the scandal it had been say prior to WWII. Men had been stepping out on their wives for hundreds of years, and in some cases things went to divorce courts (DL fave film "The Women" is proof of that), but often this was at the higher end of social strata. Middle class households weren't supposed to do that sort of thing, but by 1970's they began to jump on that bad wagon.

Against that back drop wave of various anti-discrimination laws and so forth were changing the landscape for women. Long placed on pedestals as "weaker sex" who needed protections, now were being told to pull up their socks and be independent women.

AUW unlike "The Women" from ages before looks at a married woman trying to navigate this new world she finds herself thrust into, but not from the ever noble "Mary Haines" perspective.

In short marriage was no longer offered the certainty it once did; and as usual women bore the more heavy load from fallout. Erica represented the no small number of real life divorcees back then who found themselves at middle age forced back out into a world they long since left.

Prevailing wisdom then would have us believe a woman in her late thirties or certainly 40's or beyond wasn't interested in sex, dating, etc... But that wasn't true as Eric shows and real life women experienced. Dating scene in 1970's was vastly different than 1950's or even 1940's when many of those women met and married on their first go around.

I never got An Unmarried Woman. I would have been Mrs Alan Bates so fast that guy wouldn't have known what hit him.

R61 “Scott?” One always chooses the pseudonym of Mark , Rick, or Steve.

I love that so much of the movie was improvised. I felt like I was eavesdropping during Erica’s scenes with the therapist and the one in the bedroom with her friends when Kelly has her breakdown.

I watched this as a kid on network tv on a Friday night, I was too young to understand it and I assume some of it was edited for television. This will be another old movie DL has me watch again. That’s why I like this place.

[quote]Erica's apartment on UES was famed Manhattan House on 68th street between Third and Second avenues.

R67 - Gurl, NO! That link is wrong. She lived at 254 East 68th St.

It's a most unremarkable building with fantastic views. I stayed there soon after the film was made which was weird as I was a gayling from London who was obsessed with the film.

This movie era was so good (as far as I'm concerned) as so many of the most high profile movies were about adults and adult relationships...Goodbar, Annie Hall, Julia, KramerVsKramer, The Goodbye Girl...American cinema grew up in the 1970s.

In England this occurred on TV (the movie industry was shot) - we had endless TV plays with top actors and writers dealing with adult themes...most of them now lost.

But a few survived....Bouquet Of Barbed Wire, for instance...about a father obsessed with his daughter and his hatred of the man she married and the tragedy that ensued.

If you liked any of the above, you're in for a treat.

R28 Hustling was a quirky but entertaining movie for the 1970s.

I liked the character DeeDee the hooker sympathetically played by Melanie Mayron - the cashier from the movie Car Wash better than Clayburgh.

[quote][R28] Hustling was a quirky but entertaining movie for the 1970s.

I never last more than 15 minutes with that one

Melanie Mayron transformed her looks amazingly. The woman in Hustling is unrecognizable as the woman in thirtysomething.

Check out this guy's channel - he must be one of us. And I love the way he titles his clips.

"you tell, Patty!"

This is the best representation of working women clothing in the 70s.

Great interview with Jill Clayburgh and Paul Mazursky.

The 1970's will be damned to eternity for giving us women's pantsuits. They are the most common and vulgar fashion to have been foisted onto women in history to my mind, and when you consider everything thing else from corsets to bustles, that's saying something. Pantsuits weren't very feminine at all, but almost rather butch....

Jill gets cunty @ 10:00 ^^

I found it streaming for free online and am watching it now. I remember as a kid thinking Alan Bates was fat. Maybe because people are larger today but now I just see him as a big man.

Alan Bates in younger days wasn't fat, not by a long shot.

I don’t know bates always seemed kind of cornfed and healthy and strong. Perfect for his role in “the go between”.

I like the “you tell Patty” clip because she gets this sneer on her face when he starts telling his meet-cute story.

Absolutely perfect. Because that is just the kind of thing a man would do. And just the kind of thing a woman would do in response.

I still don’t like her, though. She looks like a droopy dawg.

"I'm not your mother!"

who thought casting her as a mathematician would be entertaining?

I'm very surprised by the comments. I think Clayburgh is VERY beautiful. Alan Bates was gorgeous, not fat until he hit old age. I loved that movie when I was younger, now it reads like an annoying SATC episode. Being white and middle class, I am puzzled at how self-absorbed, clueless and pretentious the white middle class was in the 70's..It's a very accurated description of the 70's as I remember them as a kid

R81 LMAO at the interview when he mansplain for ages that his marriage is perfect and Jill's looks on her face says "why are you fucking me then?" . priceless

Scene where Erica and her husband are walking down that street in SoHo when he drops that bomb is just perfect.

Erica like many upper middle class fraus is babbling away totally unaware her husband is acting odd, withdrawn and so forth. When Martin finally breaks down and starts blubbing out his confession (curiously for all that wailing he can't manage a single tear, (film's budget couldn't spring for glycerin or other means of fake?), and in span of several moments Erica's nice little world comes crashing down.

In typical male WASP or reformed (to extreme) male Jew Martin makes this confession all about *HIM*. He's in love with this other woman. He's been seeing her for over a year. He doesn't know how it began, but feels compelled to tell his wife how he met that school teacher (at Bloomingdale's for goodness sake).Oh and Martin rushes to defend his new lady love's honor from the start "she's not a whore....".

Jill Clayburgh's "Erica" played this moment perfectly. The genuine concern over her husband's welfare as he begins bawling like a baby in middle of the street moves to fear, shock, a bit of loathing and a few other emotions (all clearly visible on Erica's face) as she listens to what Martin is saying.

Erica's "You tell Patti" for many other women in same situation would have been followed up with some well chosen nasty words spoken in anger. But way Erica says it, and just that is more than enough to sort out Martin for time being. That wimp of a man will have to look his daughter in the eyes and explain what he's just told her mother. Stephen Haines (The Women) let his wife, Mary Haines do that bit of dirty work for their child Mary.

Many other actresses would have likely wanted to act this scene differently. Lots of screaming, raw emotions, blubbing, physical violence, etc.... Jill Clayburgh does things better. After getting that nasty shock she walks away, but her gait and demeanor are nothing like beginning of scene. Erica looks like someone coming out of a doctor's office after being told "go home and get your affairs in order....". World she knew at start of that day is gone, dead, over; and she's digesting that news while trying to hold herself together.

For the record that part of SoHo (Spring and Wooster streets) looks vastly different today.

Anyone who bought down there or maybe landed a loft/apartment some how back then is sitting very pretty today.

It looks very pretty and colorful in R92's llink.

R91 I find it hard to believe that she was overlooked by the AA for that performance, especially in favor of "nepotism" Jane, who's a HORRIBLE actress, who you can see "act" from the moon

At the time it was a very love it or hate it kinda movie.

And the jogging thing was a new New York thing at that time and was talked about in magazines like Time. I kid you not.

I remember when John Waters wrote that about Jill Clayburgh, R53!

The story about Clayburgh’s casting over Betty Buckley in “Pippin” is very interesting. I read in a book about Fosse that their initial choice for Catherine had been Katie Hanley, who was in the OBC of “Grease” and the movie version of “Godspell”, but then Fosse became impressed with the idea of using a serious actress — and one who had some movie credits on top of it.

“A Jill Clayburgh Film Festival” was used as a punch line on the sitcom “Square Pegs”.

I don't see many women looking like Jill Clayburgh. I don't understand. She 's obviously a beautiful woman. John waters probably prefers the Divine type. Since when is that cunt a good judge of female beauty , has he ever done anything with heart ?

I always thought Jill Clayburgh looked like a younger Maureen Stapleton.

Towards end of clip in R91 when Erica is walking away from Martin and reaches corner of street just before crossing (and throwing up once reaches other corner), she passes 157 Spring Street at corner of West Broadway. You see in one shop glass window over Erica's right should, "Josef Gallery & Framing,"

Soho in 1960's and 1970's became a popular area for art, book dealers, framers, etc... SoHo, Tribeca, and even areas of Greenwich Village (around NYU along Broadway..) had been since 1800's center of garment manufacturing for Manhattan, NYC. That activity gradually moved up to mid-town in twenties to low forties on west side where garment center was reestablished.

All those abandoned manufacturing spaces by 1970's into 1980's began to be snapped up by artists and other creative persons who needed large spaces. Hence all the galleries, framing shops, etc... that once were down there.

Say "once" because despite protections city offered, artists, arts, etc.. all mostly were largely chased out of SoHo and Tribeca as money discovered and moved down there en masse.

OK I'm out of here

[quote] a younger Maureen Stapleton.

MS was a cow, she was fat and ugly, how can you even say that ?? this is ridiculous , bye

R101, If you take an objective look at photos of Maureen when she was YOUNGER, you'll see the resemblance.

[quote]OK I'm out of here

yet

[quote]MS was a cow, she was fat and ugly, how can you even say that ?? this is ridiculous , bye

R103 I'm disappointed, I thought it would be a nice conversation about an interesting movie, but reading post after post that Jill Clayburgh was homely (according to john waters ? lol ) or looked like the ugliest character actress ever is very disappointing. Why don't we talk about the subtlety of her performance? or how gorgeous alan Bates was , or the charm of 70's NYC, or the fabulous score ?

Alan Bates was FAT ????REALLY???. why do you people even bother to post ?

I've had it.

There was no reason for Jill to stay at Pippin longer than her original contract (6 months? a year?). She was just getting her film career going and was being courted for all sorts of projects.

Did anyone see Jill on Broadway in the ingenue role in The Rothschilds before she did Pippin?

I think she was attractive in a very accessible way, like a Diane Keaton. She becomes beautiful if you connect to her emotionally. Personally, I think that’s a stronger kind of beauty.

There are women who are indisputably beautiful, like Liz Taylor or Sharon Stone, but Clayburgh isn’t one of them.

I don't buy Alan Bates as a London Jew. It was a bit silly, quite frankly.

I am another one who thought Bates was fat when I was young. Growing up in the 70s, the male idea was very slim and Bates was not that.

Looking at him now, I can see it. But in my teens, I did not get it.

If nothing else, this thread is making me very eager to re-watch the film!

Is Jane Fonda the only female star of the 70s who managed a long-term career as a leading lady? Actually, she began in the early 60s and was A list through much of the 90s. No other woman has come close.

[quote]Is Jane Fonda the only female star of the 70s who managed a long-term career as a leading lady?

Diane Keaton has never stopped working, same with Vanessa Redgrave.

Also, Jane Fonda stopped working for quite a few years.

Alan Arkin was the first choice for Saul. I’m glad they went with Bates. And I’ll never forget Cliff Gorman gingerly grabbing Clayburgh’s nipples and pulling her towards him in their sex scene.

Denauve, Keaton, Streisand, Hawn

Was there no An Unmarried Man because there was Company already?

None of the above named actresses were starring in films in the early 1960s like Jane and still starring in films (well, streaming TV, anyway) today.

R65, when she was under 30, Sally Field had the flattest chest I've ever seen. Normally I like the way small breasted thin women look, but Sally's were prepubescent. Then suddenly Norma Rae comes out in 1979, and she's flashing C-cups in a tight T on her tiny frame. I won't say "bouncing," because they didn't move. I assume it was Burt Reynolds' idea, that bigger tits would make her sexy and more marketable, just as he suggested she appear in those Smokey and the Bandit movie(s).

R119 were they real and she was a late bloomer or what?

Let's not make this about Sally Fields' tits.

R120, SALLY FIELD IS NATURALLY FLAT, it happens. She had children young so her body was working as an adult woman, her boobs just looked non-existent. In the old days she's just pad up.

Glad to see this post, I was just thinking about An Unmarried Woman.

I loved Jill Clayburgh glowering on the sidewalk in her Albert Wolsky coat. Jill’s girlfriends gossiping about sex at lunch reminded me of Sex And The City. The teenager daughter who watched Lina Wertmüller films and passed around the hat to pay for her classmate’s abortion was just the right type of satirical.

I agree with Pauline Kael on this rare occasion that it made no sense that Clayburgh had to stay single for the sake of “finding herself” when she had the perfect man in Alan Bates turn up.

Maybe we could start another thread and write "An Unmarried Woman 2"

Oh that coat! I loved that coat! Belted with a big collar. Also, Jill is in every scene. Every fucking scene!

Don't forget Jill Clayburg's tour de force performance as the sexy Naomi (complete with fake tan make-up and really bad accent) in film Portnoy's Compliant that our hero tries, and fails to bed.

R118, catherine denauve

Catherine Deneuve

Fixed that for you....

Clayburgh actually might have worked in Kramer vs. Kramer.

R129 that would have saved us from "elephant woman" (trunk reference)

R82 tbf Bobbie started it by saying something false. Than Jill wanted receipts and Bobbie didn’t know what to say - age changed the story and said friends had said it when clearly she implied critics had called it a “high budget soap”. Then she pretends to be too busy to provide an answer and pretends she’s not listening as Jill rants. Talk about hit and run!

If Erica had married Saul, eventually she would have discovered he was into guys. Art imitates life.

who's Saul again ? Alan Bates ? Alan Bates was into guys ???

the longer version

The coat. Fabulous.

That interview at R82 turned hilariously awkward!

Sorry —!the interview is at R81!

R136, But Jill's reaction was justified, since the interviewer did imply that critics had called the movie a high priced soap opera, but then said it had been people she had spoken to and not critics after the interview was over.

Jill's audible comment at the very end was great, "What was "The Turning Point"?"

the interviewer did it on purpose,it's clear it was her opinion of the movie . What a bitch. and then Jill calls out her bluff and she pretends to be busy, never apologises or offer to cut the segment.and that unassuming bitch face. I hate that kind of bitches. I wanted to cut her open from the snatch up and rip her guts apart

Seth Rudetsky claims Betty Buckley told him she was the first choice to play Catherine in the original Pippin, but Jill Clayburgh was fucking their mutual agent, so said agent told the producers that Ms. Buckley has given up her theatrical career and moved back to Texas. She told them not to despair, he has a terrific actress named Jill Clayburgh. Ms. Buckley said the producers told her there was no part in the show that she’d be right for, then he told her he put her up for the role but the producers said they hated her and wouldn’t give her an audition, meanwhile the part was her’s for the asking.

Interesting stuff, R140!

I’m sure that crappy score sounded better with Betty singing it.

R140 = Betty Buckley

I love the mixed race couple in the SoHo bar with Leo Sayer song playing on the HiFi. He was cute, grinning from ear to ear. SHE was a total bulldyke. I remember, even age 15, thinking how does that work? Then Charlie arrives...

And the guy with the combover, the "we had dim sum I almost got raped" guy - they thought he'd be match for Erica? No wonder she ran to the bathroom.

The casting WAS sometimes hilarious.

And I wouldn't have fucked her doctor either.

I quite love the first hour of "La Luna" including the jack off scene which s far more poignant than one would guess,

Where can one stream this movie?

in your ass R147

[quote]Where can one stream this movie?

Here, gurl...

Hated the "throwing up in the garbage can on the street" scene. Ushered in the era (still now) where every character who is shocked and/or upset vomits. What a stupid trope.

Hissssssss, r150.

I too agreed with Pauline Kael....Dumping Alan Bates (who adores you) so you can "find yourself" in New York City in the SUMMER?????

R150 it's the one and only time I find it legit, it's totally in line with the story

can we talk R152 ?

Mr. Mazurzky contacted Betty Lynn and me to play Erica and her daughter Patti, but we were both committed to our smash hit TV show!

Thank you, R149.

[quote] Worked with Jill in the late 1990s on a TV pilot and she was one of the kindest and smartest actresses I remember from my long career.

Met her during a limited run of an Israel Horowitz's 9/11 play in NYC about 20 years ago. She was one of the nicest, friendliest, least assuming "famous" actors I ever met. Just lovely. Her daughter Lily was in it too (before hitting it big) but I didn't really have many exchanges with her. I was production side. I was very sad to hear she died not too many years later.

I also enjoyed her short-lived, last TV series, "Sexy Dirty Money" with Donald Sutherland.

R2- He was also good looking.

I met Israel Horowitz

R158 he was , but he comes off as a total pig in this movie, real good acting

[quote] I think she was successful because she was a "type". She was unique. There wasn't anybody else who was bringing what she was bringing, love it or hate it. She had a little bit of that Diane Keaton-esque energy, but less bohemian, more regal and WASP-y.

Hmm. I see more Blythe Danner than I do Diane Keaton. But Blythe has a cold, brittle quality about her that Jill did not.

[quote] I met Israel Horowitz. Do I win?

That's nice, I met him too. Was this a competition to you?

Nobody knew who Blythe was in the 70's . she became semi-famous when she appeared in supporting parts in woody allen movies in the late 80's

I'm not saying Blythe was a bigger star than Jill, but you're mistaken if you think she was toiling away in obscurity until Woody Allen. As a tween, I remember her best from "The Great Santini" (1979), but she'd already been making movies and on TV for almost 10 years earlier.

Clayburgh had just had a couple of box office hits with "Silver Streak" and "Semi-Tough", so she had some built-in buzz at that time. Great casting and performance.

And of course Erica will be back for Saul in September...

Oh, enough already with Ma Goop!

R59- Jane Fonda was offered the role but turned it down- something about the role or script being trite- not her exact words but she thought it was too average, meanwhile in 1978 she starred in Coming Home which I consider a SAPPY movie.

R78- She was such a SHLUB as Brenda's friend on Rhoda ,back then she was UNFORTUNATE looking. She had some major work done on her face by the time she appeared on thirtysomething, but I admit it improved her looks dramatically.

[quote] Jane Fonda was offered the role but turned it down- something about the role or script being trite

Barbarella, cat ballou, the chapman report, the electric horseman, barefoot in the park and 9 to 5 were all masterppieces to put Ingmar Bergman to shame

About fifteen years ago it was announced they were planning to make a movie about the women of Watergate,called "Dirty Tricks," centering on Martha Mitchell, who was going to be played by Meryl Streep. The rest of the main cast was announced as Clayburgh as Pat Nixon, Gwyneth Paltrow as Mo Dean, and Annette Bening as Helen Thomas. I forgot who was to play Rosemary Woods.

They never made it, which broke my heart. Jill Clayburgh would have made a brilliant Pat Nixon.

[quote] They never made it

thank god

[quote]Meryl Streep Gwyneth Paltrow as Mo Dean, and Annette Bening

where can I puke ?

Jill did a lot of stage work in what turned out to be her final years.

R169, Fonda was offered every good role from 1976 on. Sorry Miss Streisand, you cannot act.

R170 There needs to be a movie about Martha Mitchell! Which actress today could play her?

Viola Davis R174

R174. Jessica Chastain

I just found An Unmarried Woman thru a search on yahoo. It's on a Russian streaming site called ok.ru. and it's not dubbed in Russian.

[quote] Oh, enough already with Ma Goop!

Oh dear. Someone needs a chamomile tea and a nice quiet rest under a heavy blanket.

Streisand was offered every important female role from 1969 to 1977. She can't act? She won an Academy Award for her first film role!

Barbra Streisand is a generous philanthroper who has given MILLIONS - most of it her OWN money - to charity, including AIDS and childrens causes. Also women's health. She has a big wallet and a big heart! Oh please please please give her her due - compliments, roses instead of vitriol!

- posting in advance of "charlie"

R179 = barbra

R180 = unfamiliar with charlie

ok who's charlie then ?

I'm only familiar with goodtime Charlie

R183 I hate your guts joel. give that oscar back to jimmy already

I think East Coast / private school actresses of that era that went to some good college and got their start in theatre tend to be more grounded and on less of a “star trip.” You always hear nice stories about Sigourney Weaver, too (and yes, M).

You MUST look out for the psycho Streisand worshipper, charlie - a hoot.

Other than Babs, he "knows" all the celebrities, and KNOWS the female ones are NOT gay!

YEAH PRIVILEGED WHITE WOMEN FROM THE EAST COAST WHO GO THE VASSAR TEND TO BE MORE GROUNDED

R187- Nicole Hannah Jones

R187 then Demi Moore or Sharon Stone? Well actually yeah.

Xennial how stupid re you exactly ?

R174, Here ya go . . .

"Julia Roberts will star as Martha Mitchell, the Pine Bluff native who was married to John Mitchell, attorney general under President Richard Nixon, in a forthcoming Starz adaptation of Slate’s “Slow Burn” podcast, Vulture reports. The TV show is called “Gaslight.” Sean Penn will star as John Mitchell."

R172, Including the Mildred Natwick role in the Barefoot in the Park revival.

R191 wait , Harriet tubman will play Martha Mitchell ?

Shirley MacLaine of "Terms of Endearment":

… You know who I modeled a lot of "Terms of Endearment" on, was my relationship with Martha Mitchell. We had dinner many times, she would call different restaurants, make all these circuitous plans so no one would know she was there, told me the whole truth about the Nixon administration … and I thought, that sounds like what Aurora would do.

Diane Ladd's Martha Mitchell dream project:

"And the title is 'Interrupted Destiny', because Martha Mitchell’s destiny was interrupted…and so was mine."

My mother thought she was ugly and thought it was a bad idea that her character danced in her underwear. The last scene with the painting was a metaphor for the wonderful complications in her life.

Blythe Danner won a Tony for Butterflies Are Free in 1969. She was hardly a nobody in the 1970s/early 80s.

I would love to have seen a Butterflies... revival with a Blythe as the mother.

Erica's ex husband was FAR more attractive than that DUMPY bearded BRIT she shacks up with.

Really liked the movie. In some ways, I thought it had a kind of "Saturday Night Fever" NYC vibe, being that the 2 films were made relatively around the same time. Jill has an underdog, taking-the-lumps-in-stride but never-giving-up quality in it that I admired, as well as the vibe of the city in that era portrayed in the movie.

r149 that is a Russian site that doesn't look safe

Anyone who owns, runs,or is charged with maintaining a website will tell you to steer clear of anything ending in .ru

While there are some truly legitimate and safe internet things coming out or Russia, they are far outweighed by malware, ransomware, worms, dark web, and tons of other malevolent shit that is based in Russia. That country and or a few of former Soviet Union nations as well. Only China is Russia's equal or surpasses in that area.

Because tons of porn (of all sorts) comes out of Russia that is usually one way their evil is spread.

Just stay away...

Not knowing her heritage, I was watching Lily Rabe in one of the American Horror Stories. There was something about her that was bugging me. Her voice, her mannerisms, certain facial expressions. Very Deja vu. I couldn't figure it out.

Finally, I looked her up on IMDB where I learned she was the daughter of Jill and David Rabe. That was it - Jill Clayburgh! She really is very much like her mom.

Ms. Bobbie Wygant is still with us, who knew?

She looks like "Madam" without Wayland Flowers.

R97

There are plenty of women who resemble Jill Clayburgh (at same age she was when starred in An Unmarried Woman) roaming around Upper East Side, Upper West Side and other parts of Manhattan, NY. They make up a good part of the Jewish or gentile woman who are the middle, upper middle class and and bit above wives and mothers.

Honestly, Blythe Danner isn’t a great screen actress.

R207

She was barely alright as Marilyn Truman on W&G.

Blythe is wonderful in a little movie called I’ll See You in my Dreams opposite Sam Elliott I think she’s gotten better with age.

R207, Always thought she was prettier than her daughter.

R206, Yeah, like Maureen Stapleton.

I caved and checked out the website at R204. She has interviewed an impressive amount of people over the course of her career, but that stunt she pulled in the Jill Clayburgh/Paul Mazursky (who she called “Mazurki” at one point) really reflects poorly on her.

I am shocked that anyone here is claiming Michael Murphy is good-looking. I think he is a terrific actor, but good-looking....? Seriously?

IMHO Blythe was a terrific ingenue on stage and in films, really brought a quirky and unique quality to her performances, but hasn't been as successful or as convincing or interesting as she aged into mature roles. Kind of like Matthew Broderick.

R213

I don't get it either, but then again nearly 95.5% of men called "handsome" on DL don't make me shiver none.

Michael Murphy is nice looking average, and very nasal. The reason some think he's good looking is that he still has hair.

My sister, who is an academic, wrote a book about women-focused films of the "New Hollywood" era of the late-60s and early-1970s that will be out next year. I read part of it, and it's interesting how many of them are DL faves, like this, Looking for Mr. Goodbar Play it as it Lays.

R201- That was the ONLY way I could watch the movie. It's not available to stream anywhere right now.

R218

I'd run a full in-depth anti virus/malware check. You never know what you'll catch......

R217, I’d be interested in that book! Will it be widely available? Can you let us know when it’s out? TIA.

R213- In 1977 when An Unmarried Woman was filmed Michael Murphy was DEFINITELY good looking.

R218, Criterion has an edition of it, so it should show up on the Criterion Channel sometime.

In the meantime, it is only $15 with the current Criterion sale on B&N's website.

R221 clearly has not seen the movie.

Or any photograph of Michael Murphy.

R207 = Gwyneth

[quote] Blythe Danner won a Tony for Butterflies Are Free in 1969. She was hardly a nobody in the 1970s/early 80s.

1) I knew that 2) that doesn't exactly make her a household name, you're an imbecile

R213 I like his ordinary guy look. He’d be considered good looking in any working situation, granted he’s not the kind of muscle guy worshiped on this site. He’s definitely appealing to me in the same way George segal did in some of his early films.

R226- Who was MUSCULAR in 1977? Very few people. Most guys in those days were just slim. Today most guys are FAT or MUSCULAR or both.

$14.99 Criterion DVD, $19.99 BluRay

R225 have to agree with R225. Winning a Tony, despite being a major show biz award, is mainly a NY thing and in Blythes case, no one really knew who she was in the 70s. I remember seeing her in Great Santini when I was 14, so I knew who she was then, but most people don’t know her even now, despite winning two Emmys since. Good actress, but not really a name.

thank you R229, god bless !

Blythe Danner was a push actress of the 70s. They kept putting her in films that bombed one after another.

Lovin Molly for cripes sake!

Can we get back Sally Field's implants?

[quote]Can we get back Sally Field's implants?

Isn't she still wearing them?

Has Blythe Danner ever starred in a production of Blythe Spirit?

According to Gwyneth, Blythe turned down lots of plum roles to raise her children. She could have been a MAJOR star but chose motherhood over film stardom.

R235 That seems like an underhanded dig at Diane Ladd.

[quote] According to Gwyneth

you lost me there

[quote] I'd run a full in-depth anti virus/malware check. You never know what you'll catch......

Good advice, also before a night of clubbing.

Speaking of old Tribeca and SoHo, anyone remember Capsouto Freres?

Inspired by this thread, I am dying to watch the movie, which I never saw the first time around. It doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere.

Oops yes I know late to the party sorry

I'm proud to say DataLounge introduced me to this film. I was born in NYC in the early eighties, but never heard of AUW. I knew who Jill Clayburgh was from some TV movies in the nineties. The one where Kellie Martin sees her baby picture on a milk carton and finds out she was kidnapped as a kid sticks out to me the most. Jill played Kellie's grandmother in that.

Imagine my surprise when I found out from DL that Jill was the Julia Roberts of the late seventies. Maybe that's not an accurate comparison, but you get the idea. Too bad the ride didn't last longer, but I'm glad she got her time in the sun. It sounds like her star faded due to bad choices. Supposedly she turned down Norma Rae to be in Luna which turned out to be a commercial and critical flop. Norma Rae, as we all know, won Sally Field her first oscar.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of Jill's other films from the height of her fame like Starting Over and the one where she plays the first female Supreme Court Justice.

Blythe played Elvira opposite Richard Chamberlain and she was terrific.

R242- Search on yahoo under videos and you'll find it.

I thought "First Monday in October" really sucked, but "It's My Turn" had a few laughs. They both bombed at the box office.

R245 ive only seen parts of both on TV but shes the only actress of that time whom I could “maybe” buy as a math teacher, or Supreme Court Justice etc.

I liked Dirty Sexy Money too - did she stop filming that due to illness?

Blythe danner’s most high profile roles came after her daughter became famous.

Before Gwyneth, the only thing I knew Blythe Danner from was her memorable guest-starring role on Columbo and as the mother in Brighton Beach Memoirs. When Gwyneth won her Oscar and the camera panned to her parents in the audience, I remember saying "That's the lady from Brighton Beach Memoirs!" I watched that movie a lot as a child.

She played an attorney in Costa-Gavras' "Hanna K." The "Times" called it a "soggy dud", but I thought it was interesting and Clayburgh was fine.

I did a Google search and found a place that streamed it that was safe. It was not that Russian site linked above

Starting Over (1979) is one of my favorite movies. I saw it at the theater in New York when it first came out, and it's one of two movies that Burt Reynolds was actually good in. Semi-Tough, the earlier one Clayburgh did with Reynolds, is nauseating. First Monday in October and It's My Turn were the beginning of the end for her. She still worked, but the "star" thing was over.

[quote] First Monday in October and It's My Turn were the beginning of the end for her. She still worked, but the "star" thing was over.

Being paired with Walter Matthau in FMIO did her absolutely no favors.

My earliest memory of Blythe Danner was some TV movie she did in the 70s where she played Zelda Fitzgerald. As a kid I was struck by how gravelly her voice was.

I also liked her in “shy people” playing a city woman relocated to the Louisiana bayous with her troubled daughter played by DL favorite Martha Plimpton. There they clash with Barbara Hershey and her sons. A good supporting role by Mare Winninghmam.

R251, The Broadway play with Henry Fonda and Jane Alexander was so much better than the film.

Among other credits, Blythe Danner played Martha Jefferson in the film of 1776, a film still beloved and watched yearly by many Americans every July 4th. To say she was not famous in the 1970s is ridiculous.

No, she was not a star of Jane Fonda proportions but very well-known and highly respected by her peers in Hollywood and on Broadway, if not a household name in the homes of many of the DL assholes growing up in them.

R255, so you are agreeing that Danner was lesser known but stating in in belligerent way as if you were making a new point?

She regularly appeared in TV movies in the ‘70s (in addition to being in 1776 as R255 notes) and pretty well-known at the time.

Jill Clayburgh was the star of a string of straight date night movies that boomer women loved and boomer men tolerated. She specialized in playing bright, pretty but not gorgeous young women with interesting lives and wardrobes. My recollection was that Clayburgh got tired of playing that character, did the Bertolucci film which confused her fans and aged out of romcom land. I think she had a limited range and when she wasn't playing the nice girl character. she overacted. Her Southern accent was atrocious in that football film.

Blythe Danner was a competent performer but her name wouldn't fill seats in a movie theater. Julia Roberts was an it girl who owned the screen.

Streisand inspired devotion and ardent dislike. I thought her nails deserved a separate credit in Prince of Tides. Her movies were vehicles; she was never off the screen and invariably some conventionally handsome leading man would remark how beautiful she was. I suffered through Nuts, The Owl and the Pussycat and a few others and felt as if I had been physically assaulted. But many adored her.,

Agree that Coming Home was a bucket of shit.

R258 What's amusing about Streisand is how blind she is to her outsize self-absorption and much better her movie career could have been without it.

Blythe Danner gave us Gwyneth. She can never be forgiven for that…

I dunno, R259. Streisand was a singer and a personality when she started movies. Her marketability was selling Herself, not her acting. People responded to that, and the formula was set. I doubt she could have done it any other way or had a better movie career. She got in a couple of good performances and was in a couple of good movies. As with most performers like of this type, it went on far too long as the returns got smaller and smaller. Streisand's problem for the past 20 years is that she didn't see it was time to STOP. Stop singing, acting directing - stop everything.

[quote] Blythe Danner gave us Gwyneth. She can never be forgiven for that…

One thing to be said for Blythe, and I wish I had the link but I don't. She has the most fabulously decorated an furnished house I've ever seen in any celebrity house tour. It's exquisite, it oozes class, it's drop dead elegant and understated, it's just jaw-dropping tasteful and gorgeous

Stop cloning.

People who use the word "class" rarely have it.

R264 well now we'e sure YOU don't

Blythe was very much a critic's favorite. John Simon, Pauline Kael and Stanley Kauffmann were all huge fans. Kael thought she was the best actress in her age group and Simon often wondered how Streep became an instant goddess and Danner was left behind. Her performance in Eccentricities of a Nightingale on PBS was exceptionally well reviewed. Even when she did crap like Futureworld, she got great reviews. Time Magazine said that few actresses could have managed a parody of Barbara Walters and Sally Quinn and still make it believable. She was also one of the few actresses who I felt could handle Robert Duvall in The Great Santini.

I would have loved to have seen Streisand do a gritty 70's type movie. Up the Sandbox was probably the closest she did to that, but the fancy sequences really take you out of the picture. When it's just her going about her everyday business, and dealing with Michael Sarrazin and her family, she's entertaining in a low key way. Much like she is in What's Up Doc?

Blythe danner was no gena rowlands

Blythe Danner was no Diane Ladd, and I would place good money on Diane and Laura being able to take down Blythe and Goop in record time even fair and square, no dirty practices.

I would Love to see Bacall in Gloria, however much I love Gena in that

Blythe is talented of course, but she's a bit boring and patrician. That's really all I can say about her.

R270, Bacall campaigned hard for the Anne Bancroft role in "The Turning Point", even though she was 10 years older than Shirley MacLaine.

I'm always younger than another woman

Bacall could have played the role Martha Scott played (based on Lucia Chase), but maybe thought it was too small and she was too young.

I don't do small parts, they're for small actresses

r267 You're conflating Up the Sandbox and For Pete's Sake.

Ha ive never heard of John Simon like anyone - especially an actress.

Danner’s been decently good in things, but I certainly have never seen her in anything worthy of being singled out in such a way - she certainly was never as interesting as the actresses of her generation who actually became stars.

My mother was always a fan of hers, however, so I had always heard of her even before Goop. But that’s not representative of most people.

Blythe was no sandy dennis

I'm fairly ambivalent about Blythe, I don't hate her but not especially a fan. She's just kind of there. I think she's done some good work, and also some terrible work. I saw her in the late 80s in a revival of Streetcar Named Desire at Circle in the Square (Bway). I think Aiden Quinn played Stanley. The whole production was off-key but her performance was just so over the top that she came thisclose to being a cartoon. Truly cringe-inducing, like a bad sitcom hitting Tennessee's jokes (and wry humor) way too hard.

And while I enjoyed St. Elsewhere in its early years, I generally found Bruce Paltrow himself every bit as annoying as his progeny.

[quote) Aiden Quinn played Stanley

I had to google "aiden quinn" to maje sure it was the same aidan quin. Who cast this ? Pia Zadora ?

I'm with the critics on Blythe. Wonderful actress. But I can't picture anyone but Jill as Erica.

Oh Really ? Why aren't you asking me if I could play Erica ?

Yeah. Aiden was a little too shrimpy and mousy to play Stanley. I think Blythe was actually taller than him. Not a good production.

One Mazurzky remake was more than enough for you, Sharon!

Weird but the first time I knew of Blythe was in a tv show Tatinger's where she starred with the perv Stephen Collins.

r285 oops it was Tattingers. And it was created by Bruce Paltrow so that is why she was starring in it.

R277, In his review of The Act. John Simon compared Liza's face to that of a beagle.

R286 Like the Champagne?

R280, I always confuse Aiden Quinn with Aileen Quinn.

Not to mention Quinn Cummings!

[quote]Blythe was very much a critic's favorite. John Simon...

JOHN SIMON? HA HA HAAAAAA!

[quote]Bacall campaigned hard for the Anne Bancroft role in "The Turning Point", even though she was 10 years older than Shirley MacLaine.

Anyone over Shirley MacLaine. Even bitch Bacall.

Blythe must continue to pay penance for inflicting Gywneth on the world.

R291, The point was MacLaine and Bancroft were supposed to be contemporaries, not ten years apart in age.

[quote] for inflicting Gywneth on the world.

I had to accept to be raped by Satan in exchange for Bruce's success

The magic of movies, R293. It doesn't matter.

Was Lainie Kazan available?

R295, She was in 1973 at 17:20.

My friend was in that production of Streetcar. HATED Quinn. Loved Franny McDormand who played Stella. Blythe was replaced by Pamela Payton-Wright who he said was an extraordinary Blanche.

Funny Streetcar was mentioned because I saw her in a Williamstown production and I thought the whole cast (Signorney weaver and Christopher Walken) was amazing. Of course I was 8 or 9 years old so what do I know. This was around ‘86 or ‘87.

Xennial you saw "streetcar " at 9 yo ??? what did you parents take you see for your 10th bday ? "the last house on the left" ?

WHET Pamela Payton Wright? She was considered the next big thing on the stage even with Streep around.

Pamela is dead.

Speaking of Quinn Cummings the daughter reminded me of her with her too smart for her years comments

R273 all Bacall needed was a bit of high point decaf and she’d be good to go.

R303. Flavah

The other night I read a review of the movie from someone who obviously had not seen the movie. That reviewer described Erica's apartment as FABULOUS. It was a characterless , crappy 70's apartment building. They were also described in another review as RICH. They were Upper Middle Class NOT rich.

The 21st century version will be called THE UNMARRIED HOMOSEXUAL.

R306 Played by Miles Heizer.

[quote] The 21st century version will be called THE UNMARRIED HOMOSEXUAL.

Nope. It'd be called An Unbinary Woman

R289, R290

I not only confuse Aidan Quinn with Aileen Quinn and Quinn Cummings, but also Colin Quinn, Kathleen Quinlan, and Quinn Martin!

R297

I did like McDormand, who was well-known but not yet famous. But the problem wasn't just Danner overacting or Quinn being miscast. The production itself was off-kilter. It played like a very special episode of "I Love Lucy" with an odd and disruptive pandering for laugh lines. There is very dark humor in all of Williams' plays, but they are not comedies and they are certainly not Neil Simon comedies. Bizarre interpretation.

R309 Well, at least you seem able to rule out the state vegetable of New Jersey, Karen Ann Quinlan, so there a win- at least for you.

As Karen would say, ...................................................

R310 I don't know, now that you imply it was deliberate. TW plays are so grotesque and OTT, it has to be shown in a John Waters way in this day and age, nobody can take this seriously anymore

R309, What am I, chopped liver?

Well, the play in question was 30 years ago. And I don't think his better plays would read as OTT ala John Waters now anyway. Although his plays are of certain era that is gone (mostly), they also speak to larger universal issues and of course the general human condition. I can name better examples of playwrights whose work from 100-60 years ago has aged less well.

Erica’s apartment looked like everything was made of plastic. The soho apartment we assume she moved into was the exact opposite. I remember seeing the movie when I was 16 and I fell in love with that apartment.

Erica appartment was the epitome of middle class chic in the 70's, it was a 70's frau wet dream

That's true r197, but Tony Award winners don't aren't instantly bestowed with icon status the way Academy Award winners are, and that includes the supporting category

[quote] it was a 70's frau wet dream

Hence the shag carpet...

Over 300 replies? Is this thread just two old caftans talking to each other?

Plus Blythe and Goop, r320.

R320

You are clearly a case of the housecoat calling the caftan a muumuu.

Did John Simon in fact like anybody? The line of his that stands out in my mind comes from his review of “bird on a wire”: “Goldie Hawn, whose face has fallen alarmingly…” That was so mean, I never forgot it. Poor Goldie, that must have hurt her feelings at the time. I’ve always thought she was adorable at any age.

Now that I’m old, I sometimes look in the mirror and think “my face has fallen alarmingly.”

R323, Goldie would have been 45.

Looking at the Unmarried Woman living room. Dining room had an antique pine farm table and bench, before they were knocked off by Ikea and Cost Plus. There's a wicker lounge chair and ottoman with comfy cushions. The coffee table was low, massive and high gloss laminate, which was very chic back then. The sofa is white and cushioned--neither shabby chic or midcentury modern had become trends. Very neutral mix of straw, antique pine, nubby white fabric and laminate with lots of plants. Very representative of urban livable chic.

R325- Their apartment had NO charm nor was it modern sleek. They lived in a CRAPPY , CHARACTERLESS apartment. Her furniture did NOT make up for it.

Isn’t the point that they lived as a typical family with their kind of wealth would? I don’t think the idea was to give them an opulent apartment at the Dakota.

[quote][R325]- Their apartment had NO charm nor was it modern sleek. They lived in a CRAPPY , CHARACTERLESS apartment. Her furniture did NOT make up for it.

The views were incredible and it's a very quality building.

But the set designer found shitty stuff to furnish it with.

We stayed on the other side on the 29th floor and the views of midtown were the best I've ever seen in an NYC apartment.

R328 don't even bother answering that, R326 lives in a total shithole

Erica's apartment perfectly embodies who she was at that moment in time, and what kind of marriage she had. Look at any home decorating magazine of the time, and you'll see those exact furnishings. Neutrals, hanging plants, wicker and rattan, etc. It was *supposed* to be tasteful and bland. "Characterless."

Later, she's in messy, bohemian lofts, sitting on cushions on the floor and so forth. This is part of her evolution, part of the story. Putting her in a ridiculously fabulous apartment that was incongruous with the character and the story would have happened in the '80s, and that's one reason why '70s movies in generally are better than '80s ones

R330 why do you all bother answering that cunt ?

Goldie was cute when she was younger, but hers was never really the type of face that would age well. Plus, she boozes, smokes and eats to excess, not to mention living in the sun most of the time.

Goldie Hawn has had so many nose jobs and facelifts, breast implants, weight gain, that the original is hardly recognizable.

R333 I can now see more of Kate in her there

I have loathed Blythe Danner since The Great Santini. I actually consider Gwyneth a better screen actress.

Why r335? Because of her acting or something else?

Blythe Danner as the downtrodden Jewish mother in Brighton Beach Memoirs was one of the most ludicrous casting choices ever.

Blythe with Judith Ivey, no less, as her sister! Two blonde shiksa goddesses playing Jewesses. Who cast that film??

[quote] Blythe with Judith Ivey, no less, as her sister! Two blonde shiksa goddesses playing Jewesses. Who cast that film??

Self-loathing Jews?

Frank Rich said he wished Linda Lavin could play the Jewish mama in "Broadway Bound" forever.

She’s actually very convincing and effective in the part, IMO. So she’s tall and blonde (which IS possible, btw) so what? She captures the essence and background of that character perfectly, that’s all that matters in the end. Ans who knows, maybe being married to a Jew helped.

I think Gwyneth in her prime was actually quite a bit prettier than her mom, but as she aged she looks more and more like her father.

R341, Thank God her father wasn't Karl Malden.

Gwyneth 's great beauty has TOTALLY VANISHED. where are those cheekbones, these chiseled features , the almond eyes ? She was divine to look at in SIL and I'm one of the few people who think she actually deserved that oscar, but she's aged like unrefrigerated milk, which is all the more surprising considering the neverending GOOP treatment

R343 chiseled? Not so much. But all put together she was extremely lovely looking. Her strong jaw balanced out her other strong features namely her nose. But now everything just looks too “strong” (and if you look at her candids, it’s cleft she never got a nose job).

That hair parted in the middle makes her look so stupid too

[quote] chiseled? Not so much.

But she had those lines on her cheeks cutting her face in a V, that I've never seen in anyone else

[bold]for God's sake[/bold] start a Blyth Gwyneth thread

R347 = Jill...sorry Jill

Jill and Blythe were born a year apart, but Goop is 10 years older than Lily Rabe,

I remember being horrified by the apartment in "For Pete's Sake" which featured authentic Stickley furniture (because no repros existed at that time) painted white.

Here's the "For Pete's Sake" photo, I hope.

Is that what inspired her to paint her microphones white?

I am an EG who somehow never saw this one until today. I liked it! I don't really know much about Jill Clayburgh but I thought she was terrific.

Random thoughts...

Mazursky's camera angles in closeup are really odd. It comes off amateurish.

I notice a lot of people on DL say her friends are all terrible people but they didn't bother me at all. They're only in the movie in small doses.

It's weird how Michael Murphey had a two year span where he was the go-to guy for playing bland UES white guys (this and Woody Allen's Manhattan)

Mazursky's role as the obnoxious diner was pretty funny to me. I wouldn't last a minute at a table with that jackass.

When I IMDB'd the daughter it caught my eye she played the child in the TV movie The House Without a Christmas Tree. I fucking forgot about that movie. That was a childhood fave. I'll have to see if I can track it down.

Count me in as someone who thought the soundtrack was too much. There is nothing wrong with the music itself but I just thought it stuck out too much.

I am assuming her apartment was a real apartment? Anyone know whose it was or where it is?

OP it's set in NY in the 70s she's lucky someone didn't try to rob her

Where did you see it? Is it on any streaming or services?

A stiff wind came and blew her and the painting into New York harbour.

But they ran out of film and could not show that.

[quote]Count me in as someone who thought the soundtrack was too much. There is nothing wrong with the music itself but I just thought it stuck out too much.

this is what makes the movie for me - that SAX was so of its time - fantastic soundtrack.

I adore the late Jill Clayburgh, but haven't seen this. I'll look for it this weekend.

[quote] Where did you see it? Is it on any streaming or services?

I had to download it via torrenting. It didn't seem to be available on any streaming service.

This movie was a complete rip-off of the French film La femme de Jean, which came out a couple of years earlier. I was disgusted at the time that the credit was never given.

There was a lot of location filming in Manhattan. Were the interior shots a studio or actual apartments?

actual apartments - I had friends who lived in her building (254. E 68st) and stayed there often myself - you couldn't make up the views thru those windows - the apartments I knew were on the other side and the views were even more impressive.

R362 do you have any interesting memories of that building to share? I always wondered if living in an apartment like the one in the movie lives up to the hype. I always wonder if you can hear your neighbors above you and next to you, doors slamming in hallways, that kind of thing.

[quote] This movie was a complete rip-off of the French film La femme de Jean, which came out a couple of years earlier. I was disgusted at the time that the credit was never given.

It's not exactly a novel concept, a woman makes her way in life after her husband leaves her.

[quote]You know who else was great on Law And Order? Lauren Ambrose. She essayed the role of a young challenged girl who's taken advantage of by several teenage boys.

Lauren was brought back, to L&O: SVU, as Pablo Schreiber's crazed character's inexperienced lawyer, who he ends up having sex with.

r363 it's a very good quality building - I think noise from other apartments is minimal - but I remember my friends saying even though they're on the 26th floor the noise from Second Avenue rises up - it's always best to live on a quiet side street in New York.

The least expensive apartment currently available for rent is $6,000 a month.

13c (scroll down) looks like it has the same layout as Erica's place.

[quote] It's not exactly a novel concept, a woman makes her way in life after her husband leaves her.

Yes but Unmarried is the exact same story, scene by scene, except for the very end.

Who plays the French "Elaine," r367?

How many people in the world know who Elaine was? And Sue come to that?

R367 ought to know, r369, throwing those accusations around the way he is.

I wonder if La Femme de Jean is streamable anywhere—avec sous-titres, of course.

oui, je l'ai trouvé - but it looks unwatchable.

Thanks R336! I enjoyed checking out those floor plans and photos.

As others have noted upthread, John Waters had the best observation on Jill Clayburgh

r361, the restaurants were actual restaurants in 1977. "The girls" met at One Fifth, on the ground floor of One Fifth Avenue, and I'd been to the Chinese restaurant where Erica ate with Hal and Bob. And Food, where Erica and Martin ate before he told her about his new girlfriend is a place I ate a number of times. I drank white wine at 162 Spring Street as well.

[quote]And Food, where Erica and Martin ate before he told her about his new girlfriend is a place I ate a number of times.

I used to go there too. It was a sort of fashionable place to go when SoHo was sort of cool (hard to believe this now).

R2- He was quite good looking too.

It was a must-see film when it was released because it got so much press with mostly good reviews. I think I may have seen it on the Cape in a small theatre in Harwich. But it definitely influenced my moving to NYC the following year. Is the great character actress Helen Hanft in it?

Helen Hanft did not appear in An Unmarried Woman, but she was in two other Mazursky films, Next Stop Greenwich Village and Willie & Phil.

I don’t understand why this and The Turning Point are never on TCM, even around Oscar time.

The only thing I really remember about that stupid movie was the therapist. She gave Erica the shittiest advice and I wasn't too surprised she was Mazurski's real life therapist. It was hard to distinguish what she was worse at, therapy or acting.

I doubt it was intended to be taken this way, but saddling Erica with that annoying therapist and daughter made her more sympathetic to me, and I was really on her side as she began to explore a happier life ... with or without Saul.

[quote]The only thing I really remember about that stupid movie was the therapist. She gave Erica the shittiest advice and I wasn't too surprised she was Mazurski's real life therapist.

What was the bad advice? She told her to get out there and date some new men. What else did you disapprove of?

Also, apparently, she got some shit feedback for appearing in the movie.

Mazursky wrote her character as a lesbian which they downplayed in the eventual movie - although you see her with a young gurl at that party. "Who's that woman?" - "That's no woman, that's my therapist!" You all remember that line.

No she didn't. The therapist told her she should wallow in her self pity.

The therapist (Dr. Penelope Russianoff) improvised her lines, and they would fit right into the Esalen parody in Mazurky's previous movie, "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" and the EST parody in Jill Clayburgh's previous movie, "Semi-Tough".

"You're entitled to your feelings."

"There's nothing wrong with anger."

"There's nothing wrong with feeling lonely."

"Nothing's certain except death."

"It's your move."

And then after she convinces Erica that she doesn't need a man for self worth (and the gender is very underlined), we discover she's a lesbian when she shows up at a gallery with her female lover.

While it is ultimately Erica's decision, the therapists' very muddled messages sends Erica to having a sexual relationship with a guy who is total trouble.

The preview has her saying:

It's certainly okay to feel lonely.

It's really okay to feel anything. Anger, depression.

I mean, she could have gotten better advice watching Oprah.

[quote]While it is ultimately Erica's decision, the therapists' very muddled messages sends Erica to having a sexual relationship with a guy who is total trouble.

You mean Charlie? Hardly a relationship, it was a one night stand - she needed to have sex with someone other than Martin after so many years. It was a good fuck, nothing more than that.

I was reading R55's post, thinking I SO agree with every point and "we'd be besties" if we knew each other in real life and then I realised it was me who wrote the post!

"He can't get a picture made today!" an incredulous Helen Hanft to me on w 43rd by Manhattan Plaza when I suggested she work with Mazursky again. She was funny and entertaining, had many behind the scenes stories and was a part of the old HK I miss her.

[quote]While it is ultimately Erica's decision, the therapists' very muddled messages sends Erica to having a sexual relationship with a guy who is total trouble.

I had high hopes for the guy they hooked her up with at the Chinese restaurant.

r393 = Bob

[quote]"He can't get a picture made today!" an incredulous Helen Hanft to me on w 43rd by Manhattan Plaza

never even heard of her before - though I have heard of Helene Hanff