Butterflies Are Free (1972)

Director:

Milton Katselas

Writers:

Leonard Gershe (play)
Leonard Gershe (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 September 1972 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Take some time to smell the flowers.

Plot:

A blind man moves into his own apartment against the wishes of his overprotective mother, and befriends the freethinking young woman next door.

Plot Keywords:

Overprotective Mother | Blind Man | Commitment | Neighbor | Actress

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Goldie Hawn	...	Jill Tanner
Edward Albert	...	Don Baker
Eileen Heckart	...	Mrs. Baker
Paul Michael Glaser	...	Ralph (as Michael Glaser)
Michael Warren	...	Roy Stratton

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Spain:18 | Sweden:Btl | USA:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Frankovich Productions

Trivia:

Eileen Heckart and Paul Michael Glaser reprise the roles they created in the original 1969 Broadway production.

Quotes:

Mrs. Baker: [talking about Ralph's play] I do not intend to pay money to see nudity, obscenity and degeneracy.
Ralph: Mrs. Baker, these things are all a part of life.
Mrs. Baker: I know, Mr. Santori. So is diarrhea, but I wouldn't classify it as entertainment.

Movie Connections:

References The Sound of Music (1965)

Soundtrack:

Butterflies Are Free

Goldie at her most enchanting.....

BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE is the delightful 1972 film adaptation of the Leonard Gershe play about a young man who has been blind from birth (Edward Albert)who moves into his own apartment and almost instantly falls in love with his kooky next door neighbor (Goldie Hawn), a flighty free spirit who has trouble with anything resembling commitment, which he turns a blind eye to but is picked up immediately by his clingy, over-protective mother (Eileen Heckart). This breezy comedy still holds up pretty well for a film that's over 30 years old, thanks to an enchanting performance from Hawn in one of her earliest roles and a flawless supporting turn from Eileen Heckart as the mother-from-hell, who swoops in to protect her baby boy from this evil woman. Heckart underplays her role so beautifully here, a perfect supporting performance that won her a richly deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. I love when she first meets Jill, who is in her underwear, and Jill explains that she came over so her son could help her with her blouse to which Heckart replies, with the sweetest smile on her face, "Where is your blouse?" Edward Albert, son of GREEN ACRES' Eddie Albert, made an impressive screen debut here as Donny, the young man between these two women. Albert won a Golden Globe for Outstanding Newcomer for his work here but it is the work of Hawn and the divine Ms. Heckart that make this film worth watching.