The World of Henry Orient (1964)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

George Roy Hill

Writers:

Nora Johnson (screenplay) and
Nunnally Johnson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 November 1964 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Step into the world of Henry Orient...and meet two junior-size misses and one king-size nut!

Plot:

A mischievous, adventuresome 14-year-old girl and her best friend begin following an eccentric concert pianist around New York City after she develops a schoolgirl crush on him.

Plot Keywords:

New York City | New York | Concert Pianist | Number 97 | Checkers

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Peter Sellers	...	Henry Orient
Paula Prentiss	...	Stella Dunnworthy
Angela Lansbury	...	Isabel Boyd
Tom Bosley	...	Frank Boyd
Phyllis Thaxter	...	Mrs. Avis Gilbert
Bibi Osterwald	...	Erica 'Boothy' Booth
Merrie Spaeth	...	Marian 'Gil' Gilbert
Tippy Walker	...	Valarie 'Val' Campbell Boyd
John Fiedler	...	Sidney
Al Lewis	...	Store Owner
Peter Duchin	...	Joe Daniels
Fred Stewart	...	Doctor
Philippa Bevans	...	Emma Hambler
Jerry Jerrett
Jane Buchanan	...	Lillian Kafritz

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | USA:Approved (certificate no. 20690) | Finland:S | Germany:16 | Ireland:PG | UK:U | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Pan Arts

Trivia:

David Wayne, Robert Preston, Gig Young, Rex Harrison, Tony Randall, and Dick Van Dyke, were all sought for the role of Henry Orient.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Peter Sellers is rifling through the phone book looking for an airline he comes down to flipping single pages then suddenly flips a bunch of pages and immediately finds the number.

Quotes:

[Describing his encounter with "Gil" and "Val", during an intimate moment with Mrs. Dunnworthy]
Henry Orient: ...And then two small bladders came out of their mouths. And just when she was beginning to hum, too.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ghost World (2001)

Soundtrack:

Henry Orient Concerto

An unexpectedly pleasurable gem!

I wasn't quite prepared for how much I enjoyed this sophisticated (but certainly not too much so) romp when I caught it during its first-run release. I thought it so well-executed in every department that I was delighted to note that it's now available in a DVD edition with its Panavision widescreen ratio restored. But unfortunately the audio element is so bad (requiring turning the volume way up to even begin to hear the dialogue, and a music score that's mangled beyond belief) that I had to return the disc for a refund. Fortunately Turner Classic Movies recently showed it and the soundtrack was not a problem, making possible a fairly decent high-fidelity VHS recording.

The two young actresses who played the very natural but entirely madcap duo who precipitate most of the plot's ins-'n-outs are completely charming and they are supported by an extraordinarily well-chosen cast of top-notch professionals. Angela Lansbury, never an actress to shrink from the somewhat less savory aspects of a character she's playing, strikes just the right note as a socialite whose maternal instincts are close to non-existent. I do remember wishing that Paula Prentiss had been given more to do, but I suppose getting mistaken for Jayne Mansfield (in one of the film's funnier sequences) wasn't something to be sneezed at. As the film's title character, Peter Sellers wasn't permitted by director George Roy Hill to unbalance the proceedings. And it certainly seems that scenarist Nora Johnson had inherited more than a modicum of her father Nunnally's professional good taste. This one is a treat for all but the dyspeptic and the excessively demanding.