The Swimmer (1968)

Director:

Frank Perry
(more)

Writers:

John Cheever (story)
Eleanor Perry (writer)

Release Date:

15 May 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The famed John Cheever short story appeared in the New Yorker and people talked. Now there will be talk again. When you sense this man's vibrations and share his colossal hang-up . . . will you see someone you know, or love? When you feel the body-blow power of his broken dreams, will it reach you deep inside, where it hurts? When you talk about "The Swimmer" will you talk about yourself?

Plot:

Neddy Merrill has been away for most of the Summer. He reappears at a friends pool. As they talk, someone...

Plot Keywords:

Swimming | Swimming Pool | Neighbor | Neighborhood | Injury

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	Ned Merrill
Janet Landgard	...	Julie Ann Hooper
Janice Rule	...	Shirley Abbott
Tony Bickley	...	Donald Westerhazy
Marge Champion	...	Peggy Forsburgh
Nancy Cushman	...	Mrs. Halloran (Nudist)
Bill Fiore	...	Howie Hunsacker
David Garfield	...	Ticket Seller (as John Garfield Jr.)
Kim Hunter	...	Betty Graham
Rose Gregorio	...	Sylvia Finney
Charles Drake	...	Howard Graham
Bernie Hamilton	...	Halloran's Chauffeur
House Jameson	...	Mr. Chester Halloran (Nudist)
Jimmy Joyce	...	Jack Finney
Michael Kearney	...	Kevin Gilmartin Jr.
Richard McMurray	...	Stu Forsburgh
Jan Miner	...	Lillian Hunsacker
Diana Muldaur	...	Cynthia
Keri Oleson	...	Vernon Hooper
Joan Rivers	...	Joan
Cornelia Otis Skinner	...	Mrs. Hammar
Dolph Sweet	...	Henry Biswanger
Louise Troy	...	Grace Biswanger
Diana Van der Vlis	...	Helen Westerhazy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Philip Bruns	...	Biswangers' Pool Party Guest (uncredited)
Alva Celauro	...	Muffie (uncredited)
John Cheever	...	Man at pool party (uncredited)
Marilyn Clark	...	(uncredited)
Lisa Daniels	...	Matron at the Biswangers' Pool (uncredited)
Hugh Franklin	...	Denny (uncredited)
John Gerstad	...	Bunkers' Pool Party Guest (uncredited)
Marilyn Langner	...	Enid Bunker (uncredited)
Ray Mason	...	Bunkers' Pool Party Guest (uncredited)
Dennis McMullen	...	Lifeguard (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Perry
Sydney Pollack		(uncredited)

Writing credits
John Cheever		(story)
Eleanor Perry		(writer)

Produced by
Roger Lewis	....	producer
Frank Perry	....	producer

Original Music by
Marvin Hamlisch

Cinematography by
David L. Quaid

Film Editing by
Sidney Katz
Carl Lerner
Pat Somerset

Art Direction by
Peter Dohanos

Costume Design by
Anna Hill Johnstone

Makeup Department
Ed Callaghan	....	hair stylist
John Jiras	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Joseph Manduke	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Hertzberg	....	assistant director
Ted Zachary	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Stanley Cappiello	....	scenic artist (as Stan Cappiello)
Thomas Wright	....	property master

Sound Department
Jack Fitzstephens	....	sound editor
Willard W. Goodman	....	sound mixer (as Willard Goodman)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Falk	....	gaffer
Michael Nebbia	....	additional photographer

Music Department
Jack Hayes	....	conductor
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Thom Conroy	....	dialogue coach
Sam Goldrich	....	unit auditor
Florence Nerlinger	....	production assistant
Barbara Robinson	....	script supervisor
Liza Stewart	....	swimwear (as Elizabeth Stewart)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Horizon Pictures
• Dover Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• Box Office Spectaculars (II) (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• Columbia-Bavaria Filmgesellschaft m.b.H. (1969) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Fabulous Films (1996) (UK) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Splendor Films (2010) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Alan Shane Associates  casting

Also Known As:

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:Approved | USA:PG (re-rating) (1968)

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Cameo(John Cheever): (author of the short story "The Swimmer") at the pool party.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Shadow of light-rig clearly visible at the first pool party.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Donald Westerhazy:Where have you been keeping yourself?
Ned Merrill:Oh, here and there. Here and there.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Undercover X (2001)

Soundtrack:

Send for Me in Summer

Wonderfully Sad Portrait of Suburban Loneliness

Frank Perry's screen adaptation of the achingly sad John Cheever short story gets the tone of Cheever's story just right, even if the movie itself doesn't have quite the same impact.

There have been countless strong and powerful films made around the theme of suburban loneliness, and this movie belongs to that genre. There's something so poignant about the idea that someone can exist in a world that's manufactured for the sole purpose of providing its inhabitants with luxury, pleasure and convenience, and still be miserable. You'd think people would have gotten the point by now, and figured out that privilege, wealth and materialism have virtually nothing to do with ultimate happiness, but if our own consumerist culture is any indication, they haven't.

What helps "The Swimmer" to stand out from other similarly-themed films is the way the story is told. It's only through the reactions of others that we begin to sense what's wrong with Burt Lancaster's character. To us, he looks the picture of middle-aged robustness and health. Lancaster became a much better actor as he aged, and he gives a wonderful performance here, as his bravado and macho virility (the strutting and preening of a man on top of the world) slowly dissolves into a lost insecurity, until the film's final devastating moments leave him as forlorn as a baby.

What a sad, sad movie.

Grade: A-