Goodbye Again (1961)

In this adaptation of Françoise Sagan's best selling novel, Paula is a beautiful and highly successful 40-year-old businesswoman. She is deeply in love with Roger, her mature consort of ... See full summary »

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

Françoise Sagan (novel), Samuel A. Taylor (screenplay)

Stars:

Ingrid Bergman, Yves Montand, Anthony Perkins

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ingrid Bergman	...	Paula Tessier
Yves Montand	...	Roger Demarest
Anthony Perkins	...	Philip Van der Besh
Jessie Royce Landis	...	Mrs. Van der Besh
Pierre Dux	...	Maître Fleury
Jocelyn Lane	...	First Maisie (as Jackie Lane)
Jean Clarke	...	Second Maisie
Michèle Mercier	...	Third Maisie (as Michele Mercier)
Alison Leggatt	...	Alice
Uta Taeger	...	Gaby
David Horne	...	Queen's Counsel
Peter Bull	...	Client
André Randall	...	Mr. Steiner (as Andre Randall)
Diahann Carroll	...	Night Club Singer

Storyline

In this adaptation of Françoise Sagan's best selling novel, Paula is a beautiful and highly successful 40-year-old businesswoman. She is deeply in love with Roger, her mature consort of five years. Roger is a very charming gallant who loves Paula but is too selfish to give up his freedom to be promiscuous. When Paula meets Phillip, the 24-year-old immature lawyer son of one of her rich clients, he falls hopelessly in love with the glamorous, sympathetic older woman and insists that the age difference will be no barrier to a romance. Paula resists the young man's persistent advances, but she finally succumbs when Roger initiates yet another affair with one of his young Maisies. An affair begins, and society does not approve.

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Plot Keywords:

businesswoman | unmarried woman | record player | woman living alone | listening to classical music | 

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Taglines:

This is how love is...and always will be...

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1961 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Time on Her Hands

Filming Locations:

Studios de Boulogne-Billancourt/SFP - 2 Rue de Silly, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argus Film, Mercury Productions (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Phillip's line, "All's for the best in this best of all possible worlds", is from "Candide" by Voltaire.

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Soundtracks

"Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90: III. Poco allegretto"
Written by Johannes Brahms

User Reviews

A flawless, disturbing drama and melodrama...gorgeous and moving

Good Bye Again (1961)

Wow, such a beautiful and poignant look at fidelity and sacrifice in a relationship, just as the world is teetering from mid-20th Century stability to the 1960s and the free-for-all that meant for many. And the movie itself is one of the last, like "The Apartment" on this side of the Atlantic, to be made in the old Hollywood style, with invisible editing, gorgeous black and white photography, tight story construction, and a full, rounded sensibility that might, without being derogatory, be called "classic." I could watch it again today just for its perfect blending of acting, writing, filming, and tragic themes, which struck me hard.

It's hard to believe this kind of movie didn't fly at the time, and hasn't made an impression since. Anthony Perkins is at his charming, disarming best here (he had just finished filming "Psycho"), and in some ways steals the show from the much bigger headliner, an amazing (as always) Ingrid Bergman. They make an unlikely screen couple, but a great one. The tensions between them are not only reasonable, their inevitable, or so the writing has made it seem. Which is perfect. The third star is a paradigm of old school suave European manliness, Yves Montand, quite wonderfully appealing and disgusting at the same time. Everyone is dressed great, thanks to costume design by Christian Dior. (There's even a comment by a rich older woman who says she's going shopping "to Dior's.")

This is a very European feeling film, though it is of course an "American" movie in that it's in English, but it was officially made by the small production company, Argus, which otherwise made only French films. This was the era of the declining and disappearing studios, and one way a movie got made was exactly like this, patching together talents and money and location shooting. Making it a European film had the advantage of pushing some adult issues, which is what helps the film have relevance today. The director, Anatole Litvak, though an immigrant to the U.S., was thoroughly a Hollywood director, and overall this has the feel of the best of the great Golden Age movies, though updated of course by the realities of 1960s Paris. Along those lines, there is a great appearance of club jazz singer Diahann Carroll.

For a really nice detailing of the film see the TCM article here: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/88170%7C0/Goodbye-Again.html or just google the title and TCM.