Rachel, Rachel (1968)

Director:

Paul Newman

Writers:

Stewart Stern (screenplay)
Margaret Laurence (novel)

Release Date:

26 August 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Who was she? Sometimes she was a child skipping rope. Sometimes she was a woman with a passionate hunger. And one day the woman and the child came together...

Plot:

Rachel is a 35 year old school teacher who has no man in her life and lives with her mother. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out...

Plot Keywords:

School | Teacher | Small Town | Elementary School | Repression

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Joanne Woodward	...	Rachel Cameron
James Olson	...	Nick Kazlik
Kate Harrington	...	Mrs. Cameron
Estelle Parsons	...	Calla Mackie
Donald Moffat	...	Niall Cameron
Terry Kiser	...	Preacher
Frank Corsaro	...	Hector Jonas
Bernard Barrow	...	Leighton Siddley
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Rev. Wood
Nell Potts	...	Rachel as a child
Shawn Campbell	...	James
Violet Dunn	...	Verla
Beatrice Pons
Dortha Duckworth		(as Dorothea Duckworth)
Simm Landres
Izzy Singer	...	Lee Shabab
Tod Engle	...	Nick as a child
Connie Robinson
Sylvia Shipman
Larry Fredericks
Bruno Engler	...	Bartender (as Bruno Engl)
Wendell P. MacNeal IV		(as Wendell Mac Neal)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pete Bostrom	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Paul Newman

Writing credits
Stewart Stern		(screenplay)
Margaret Laurence		(novel "A Jest of God")

Produced by
Arthur S. Newman Jr.	....	associate producer (as Arthur Newman)
Paul Newman	....	producer
Harrison Starr	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Jerome Moross

Cinematography by
Gayne Rescher

Film Editing by
Dede Allen

Casting by
Shirley Rich

Art Direction by
Robert Gundlach

Set Decoration by
Richard Merrell

Costume Design by
Domingo A. Rodriguez		(as Domingo Rodriguez)

Makeup Department
Colleen Callaghan	....	key hair stylist
Robert Phillipe	....	makeup artist (as Bob Phillipe)

Production Management
Florence Nerlinger	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alan Hopkins	....	assistant director
Edward Folger	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Alex Hapsas	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Robert J. Koster	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Merle Eckert	....	construction (as Merle Eckhart)
Merce Eckhart	....	constructor
Sante Fiore	....	scenic
Thomas Wright	....	property master (as Tommy Wright)

Sound Department
Alan Heim	....	sound editor
Jack C. Jacobsen	....	sound (as Jack Jacobsen)
Dick Vorisek	....	sound re-recordist
Robert Rogow	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Larry Barr	....	key grip
Willie Meyerhoff	....	chief gaffer (as Willy Meyerhoff)
Dick Mingalone	....	camera operator
Muky	....	still photographer
Tom Priestley Jr.	....	assistant camera (as Tom Priestley)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bev Langer	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Lynn Lewis Lovett	....	assistant editor (as Lynn Lewis)
Robert Q. Lovett	....	associate editor

Music Department
Jerome Moross	....	musical director
Frank Kulaga	....	music scoring mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
Roberta Hodes	....	script
Larry Sturhahn	....	production consultant
Phillip M. Goldfarb	....	production assistant (uncredited)
George Manasse	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Kayos Productions

Distributors

• Warner Brothers/Seven Arts (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Emil Morey Associates  location consulting

Also Known As:

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | USA:R | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Bethel, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Kayos Productions

Trivia:

Jim Morrison was asked personally by Paul Newman to write a song for this movie, but it didn't work out.

Goofs:

Continuity: Rachel's hair pattern changes in two continuous shots on the hospital bed. The front camera angle shows her hair in front of her ears but the side camera shows her hair behind her ears.

Quotes:

Rachel Cameron:Oh, guess who invited me for supper tonight, and I said "No". The groper.
Calla Mackie:He probably serves rat. Come on up after, I bought you a... a nothing gift.
Rachel Cameron:What?
Calla Mackie:A companion that needs taking care of. But unlike your mother, it doesn't talk back.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stella (1990)

One of the best American films of the 60's.

This small, naturalistic film is one of the more honest films to come out of Hollywood. Its portrait of unexceptional lives strikes chords most movies never hear. Woodward and Harrington are superb, and under husband Paul Newman's direction, Woodward gives what is probably her finest performance. Newman has done a first rate job, and his use of photographed thought is particularly effective thanks in large part to Dede Allen's superb editing. The scene at the revival is ,perhaps, overdone but, the rest of the film feels true to life. The film's integrity is in its refusal to romanticize or provide dramatic climaxes. There are no heroes or villains, nothing remarkable happens, yet the film is holding and affecting and it should have been on the AFI's list of The 100 Greatest American Films. It deservedly received Oscar nods for best picture and actress, but director Newman was not nominated. Both the New York Film Critics and the Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes) awarded Newman and Woodward. A gem!