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The Arrangement (1969) -- Open-ended Trailer from Warner Brothers Pictures

Overview

User Rating:
6.2/10   794 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Elia Kazan
Writers:
Elia Kazan (novel)
Elia Kazan (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Arrangement on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
18 November 1969 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama more
Tagline:
The girl knew about the wife. The wife knew about the girl. It was all part of the arrangement.
Plot:
Eddie is a very rich man who has everything he wants; money, family, success. But a car crash is all... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 win & 2 nominations more
User Comments:
A Film Whose Time Has Come. more (20 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Kirk Douglas ... Eddie Anderson

Faye Dunaway ... Gwen

Deborah Kerr ... Florence Anderson

Richard Boone ... Sam

Hume Cronyn ... Arthur
Michael Higgins ... Michael
Carol Eve Rossen ... Gloria (as Carol Rossen)
William Hansen ... Dr. Weeks

Harold Gould ... Dr. Leibman

Michael Murphy ... Father Draddy
John Randolph Jones ... Charles
Anne Hegira ... Thomna
Charles Drake ... Finnegan
E.J. André ... Uncle Joe
Philip Bourneuf ... Judge Morris
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
125 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R
Company:
Athena Productions more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The character of Gwen in Kazan's 1967 best-seller is based on his second wife, Barbara Loden. Ironically, Faye Dunaway - who played Gwen in the movie - had been Loden's understudy in the 1964 Broadway production of After the Fall (1974) (TV), in which Loden played the role of Maggie. The character of Maggie was based on Marilyn Monroe, the second wife of the play's author, Arthur Miller. The 1964 production by the Lincoln Center Repetory Company was directed by Kazan, who was the co-manager of the acting troupe. Loden won the 1964 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Dunaway played the part of Maggie in the 1974 TV movie. According to Mark Harris in his 2008 book "Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood" (one of which was Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which made Dunaway a star), Dunaway as a tyro actress who was part of Kazan's Lincoln Center repertory company, carefully studied Loden's performance. more
Quotes:
Gwen: OK, yes, I know, I'm nothing, I never was, but you! You could have been...
Eddie Anderson: What? What?!
Gwen: ...What you could have been. ...What happened to you, Eddie? Must kill you to think what you might have been.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Brando (2007) (TV) more

FAQ

Is the movie based on a novel?
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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
A Film Whose Time Has Come., 4 April 2007
8/10
Author: thataw from Asheville NC

Panned and patronized at the time of it's initial release, Elia Kazan's adaptation of his best selling book THE ARRANGEMENT plays much better now than it did in 1969. Made after a 6 year hiatus from film-making at a time when movies were enjoying unheard of freedom due to the demise of the production code, THE ARRANGEMENT clearly shows that Kazan was still a director to be reckoned with. The basic premise was nothing new. A highly successful businessman (Kirk Douglas) suffers a mid-life crisis and attempts suicide. How he and the other characters deal with the aftermath make up the rest of the story. Kazan has always been an actor's director and the film provides a showcase for the young Faye Dunaway as Douglas' mistress who gets him to reexamine his life but wants out to be with someone else. Deborah Kerr in her last major film appearance is superb in the difficult role of the wife who tries to understand what Douglas is going through but doesn't want to give up the rich lifestyle she's become accustomed to. Strong support is given by Hume Cronyn as the family solicitor who has plans of his own and from Richard Boone in a rare non-Western role as Douglas' ailing father. His slide into dementia is both heartbreaking and terrifying. Marlon Brando had originally agreed to play the lead but bowed out allowing Kirk Douglas who really wanted to work with Kazan to step in. While not stage trained like the other principals, he acquits himself well in an emotionally as opposed to a physically demanding role. The combination of raw emotions, alternating points-of-view including black humor, and touches of surrealism was ambitious then and still is today (think American BEAUTY). The movie is not without its flaws. It runs too long and is occasionally sloppy in everything from editing to make-up but the powerful writing and intense performances make THE ARRANGEMENT provocative film-making nearly 40 years later. Called everything from a harrowing emotional ride to a self-indulgent mess, it is ultimately for the home viewer to decide (my rating indicates where I stand). Kazan will always be a controversial figure because of his HUAC testimony in the 1950's but his greatness as a director cannot be denied and remains captured on film for all to see.

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