Goodbye Charlie (1964)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

George Axelrod (play)
Harry Kurnitz (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 November 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

They don't make girls like "Charlie" anymore -- they never did!

Plot:

Shot by a jealous husband, Charley falls out a porthole and is lost at sea only to find himself returned as an attractive blond woman...

Plot Keywords:

Reincarnation | Sex Change | Based On Play | Character Name In Title

Cast

Tony Curtis	...	George Wellington Tracy
Debbie Reynolds	...	The Reincarnated Charlie Sorel / Virginia Mason
Pat Boone	...	Bruce Minton, the 3rd
Joanna Barnes	...	Janie Highland
Ellen Burstyn	...	Franny Salzman (as Ellen McRae)
Laura Devon	...	Rusty Sartori
Martin Gabel	...	Morton Craft
Roger C. Carmel	...	Inspector (as Roger Carmel)
Harry Madden	...	Charles Sorel
Myrna Hansen	...	Starlet
Michael Romanoff	...	Patron
Michael Jackson	...	Himself
Anthony Eustrel	...	Butler (as Antony Eustrel)
Donna Michelle	...	Girl doing the twist on yacht
Walter Matthau	...	Sir Leopold Sartori

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #20731)

Company:

Venice Productions

Trivia:

The title role was offered to Marilyn Monroe shortly before her death. She rejected it judging the role as "not feminine at all".

Goofs:

Factual errors: Vincente Minnelli is credited as "Vincente Minelli"

Quotes:

Sir Leopold Sartori: You speak in riddles, my Sphinx.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 2 (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Seven at once

Another Guilty Pleasure from the 60's

GOODBYE CHARLIE was a slightly smarmy but very funny comedy from the 60's that I grew up with. This was the story of a womanizing cad named Charlie Sorel, who one night is partying on a yacht and romances a married woman. He is caught by her husband who shoots Charlie, who falls overboard into the ocean. Charlie's body is not immediately located but a memorial service is held, attended by his best friend George (Tony Curtis) and dozens of women Charlie romanced over the years. A couple of days later a woman (Debbie Reynolds) is found naked on the beach outside of Charlie's apartment, where George is sorting out Charlie's things. We soon learn that this woman is a female reincarnation of Charlie Sorel, apparently God's ironic way of punishing Charlie for the dreadful way he treated women all his life. Charlie initially freaks out at the idea of being a woman but soon shows he hasn't learned a thing and reverts to the old Charlie even though he is a woman now. I was just a kid when this film first hit theaters but I still thought it was pretty funny. Reynolds and Curtis are energetic in the lead roles and are well-supported by Walter Matthau as the guy who shot Charlie, Pat Boone as a schnook who found and falls in love with the reincarnated Charlie and Joanna Barnes and Ellen MacRae as two of the women in old Charlie's life. BTW, Ellen MacRae later changed her name to Ellen Burstyn. It's no cinematic masterpiece, but it will make you laugh. Remade many years later as SWITCH.