Such Good Friends (1971)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Lois Gould (novel)
Elaine May (writer)

Release Date:

14 October 1972 (Japan)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The little black book that became a national bestseller.

Plot:

While awaiting the outcome of her husband's surgery, Julie Messinger discovers he has been having affairs.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Bureaucracy | Red Tape | Marriage | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Dyan Cannon	...	Julie Messinger
James Coco	...	Dr. Timmy Spector
Jennifer O'Neill	...	Miranda Graham
Ken Howard	...	Cal Whiting
Nina Foch	...	Mrs. Wallman
Laurence Luckinbill	...	Richard Messinger
Louise Lasser	...	Marcy Berns
Burgess Meredith	...	Bernard Kalman
Sam Levene	...	Uncle Eddie
William Redfield	...	Barney Halsted
James Beard	...	Dr. Mahler
Rita Gam	...	Doria Perkins
Michael Giordano III	...	Matthew
Oscar Grossman	...	The Doorman
Nancy Guild	...	Molly Hastings

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 (f) | Finland:K-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Otto Preminger Films

Trivia:

When Ken Howard shows Dyan Cannon the nude photo he took of her, the face is Cannon's but the body is someone else's. Dyan Cannon was uncomfortable doing a nude scene, especially directed by Otto Preminger, so she went for this option.

Quotes:

Julie Messinger: [looking at her husband's black book] Doria Perkins. Three times post... posterior. Three times posterior! I guess that's better than looking at her nose.

Movie Connections:

Features "Adventures of Superman" (1952)

Soundtrack:

Suddenly It's All Tomorrow

Dissipated urban humor

A razor-sharp, deadpan hilarious dark comedy which never found its audience...and continues to elude the very people who could make it into a cult. The wife of a celebrated writer and magazine editor in New York City finds out her husband's been cheating on her within their circle of friends--and this discovery comes while he's in the hospital dying after having had a mole removed! Dyan Cannon delivers one of her best performances here: she's glib, bitter, sexy, and naughty, which helps the viewer overlook the fact the tone of the movie sometimes shifts uncomfortably, or that many of the jabs have an icy pallor. One of Pauline Kael's beefs in The New Yorker was that Cannon's character goes after men without finding the irony of her actions--that she has no self-respect--and this in fact may be true. We never learn where the wife's emotions or priorities lie; she's too encompassed in her thoughts of the past or in trying to be strong and stolid. Director Otto Preminger gets fine performances out of a colorful cast, and there are big laughs in the film, but cutting-edge comedies can also cut too deeply without nimble handling. Preminger isn't very careful, but that may be intentional. ***1/2 from ****