The Out-of-Towners (1970 film)
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| The Out-of-Towners | |
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 promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Arthur Hiller |
| Produced by | Paul Nathan |
| Written by | Neil Simon |
| Starring | Jack Lemmon Sandy Dennis |
| Music by | Quincy Jones |
| Cinematography | Andrew Laszlo |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 28, 1970 |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,500,000 (estimated) |
The Out-of-Towners is a 1970 comedy film written by Neil Simon, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. It was released by Paramount Pictures on May 28, 1970.
Much of the film's humor is derived from the interaction between George, the manic husband desperately collecting the names of everyone he encounters with plans to sue every last one of them, and Gwen, the mousy wife who accepts each new indignation with quiet resignation.
A number of comic actors, including Anne Meara, Sandy Baron, Ann Prentiss, Paul Dooley, and Anthony Holland, were cast in small supporting roles.
Both Lemmon and Dennis were nominated for Golden Globe awards in the comedy acting categories. Simon's screenplay won him the Writers Guild of America award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen.
The movie was remade with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn in 1999.
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[edit] Origins
Originally, playwright Neil Simon planned his tale of a suburban Ohio couple's misadventures in New York City to be one of a quartet of vignettes in his Broadway play Plaza Suite. However, he quickly realized the comic possibilities were numerous enough to warrant a full-length treatment, and the action was more suitable for the screen than the stage. During filming in the spring of 1969, Hiller took full advantage of Manhattan, including Grand Central Station, Central Park, and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in his location shooting, and substituting MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York, for the Twin Oaks, Ohio, air terminal.
[edit] Plot
The plot revolves around Gwen and George Kellerman, whose company has offered him a job promotion in New York City. From the moment they depart their home town of Twin Oaks, Ohio, the couple suffers nearly every indignity out-of-towners possibly could experience. Heavy fog forces their flight to circle the airport repeatedly and finally be rerouted to Boston, where they discover their luggage - in which George's ulcer medication and Gwen's extra cash are packed - was left behind. Just missing the train at South Station, they chase it to the next stop by cab, board it and wait two hours for seats in the dining car, only to discover the only food left are peanut butter sandwiches, green olives, and crackers. Upon arrival in New York, penniless, they discover that mass transit, cab drivers, and sanitation workers all are on strike. Making their way to the Waldorf-Astoria on foot past tons of garbage in a torrential downpour, they discover their reservation - guaranteed for a 10:00pm arrival - has been given away, and the hotel - like every other one in the city - is booked to capacity due to the strikes. What follows is a series of calamities that includes two muggings (one while they sleep in Central Park), kidnapping by armed liquor store robbers while the Kellermans are riding in a police car, a cracked tooth, broken high heels, accusations of child molestation, an exploding manhole cover, expulsion from a church, and an attack by protestors in front of the Cuban embassy. With each successive catastrophe, George angrily writes down each perpetrator's name and promises to sue them or their company when he returns home. George awakens in Central Park haggard and unkempt and unable to keep his job interview. By the time their ordeal comes to an end, the two realize an upwardly mobile move to the big city is not what they truly cherish and desire for themselves or their family, and they make the decision to return to Ohio, only to be subjected to one more major catastrophe -- their flight home is hijacked to Cuba.
[edit] Cast
- Jack Lemmon as George Kellerman
- Sandy Dennis as Gwen Kellerman
- Sandy Baron as Lenny Moyers
- Anne Meara as Purse Snatching Victim in Police Station
- Ron Carey as Barney Polacek, Cab Driver in Boston
- Ann Prentiss as 1st Stewardess
- Robert Nichols as Passenger
- Graham Jarvis as Murray the mugger
- Mary Norman as 2nd Stewardess
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Actor Ron Carey's first film.
- The "Twin Oaks, Ohio" scenes were actually filmed on Long Island, New York in May 1969, including some on the Veterans' Memorial Highway, and Islip MacArthur Airport.
[edit] Quotes
George: Tell me I've done the right thing. Tell me we're going to be happier in New York.
Gwen: Yes, George. We're going to be happy in New York.
George: -ier! Happier in New York.
Gwen: Oh, we're going to be happier in New York!
George: I may be just an insignificant out-of-towner, but you people have messed with the wrong person.
George: And you're not getting away with anything! I've got all your names and your addresses!
George: My wife can verify that. Gwen?
Gwen: I can verify that.
Gwen: You should have just stopped and explained to them.
George (after awakening in morning in Central Park and trying to take pocket change from a Hispanic boy): Explain! What I'm doing in the bushes with a little boy, with my hands in his pockets!? They'd give me 10-20 years!
Murray: Alright! Give me your wallet!
George: I don't have a wallet!
Gwen: Give him your wallet, George!
[to Murray]
Gwen: It's in his left pocket!
George (after being denied a room by hotel desk clerk): Well I didn't know that I was gonna be flying to Boston tonight, then take a cattle car back to New York and walk through a hurricane from Grand Central Station! Now, if I don't get a room you people are fourth on my list to get sued! Now I want to see some action!
George: I'm suing 'em all. I don't care if I'm in court all year.
Gwen (exhausted): George, I can't walk and you can't carry me. And there are no buses, or taxis, and no car will stop to pick up bleeding strangers.
George: It's not safe in the park at night.
Gwen: We were already robbed and kidnapped, we have nothing to lose but four cents. Please, George.
George: But suppose it rains again?
Gwen: I'm so wet now, it can only make me drier.
[edit] External links
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