Blume in Love (1973)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writer:

Paul Mazursky (writer)

Release Date:

15 February 1974 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

There's no such thing as a perfect marriage.

Plot:

Lawyer Stephen Blume, specialized in divorces, lives a paradoxical situation when, having his own marriage break up...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Divorce | Ex Wife | Lawyer | Husband Wife Relationship

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

George Segal	...	Stephen Blume
Susan Anspach	...	Nina Blume
Kris Kristofferson	...	Elmo Cole
Marsha Mason	...	Arlene
Shelley Winters	...	Mrs. Cramer
Donald F. Muhich	...	Analyst
Paul Mazursky	...	Hellman
Erin O'Reilly	...	Cindy
Annazette Chase	...	Gloria
Shelley Morrison	...	Mrs. Greco
Mary Jackson	...	Louise
Ed Peck	...	Ed Goober
Jo Morrow	...	Bar Hostess
Gigi Ballista	...	Older Man
Ian Linhart	...	Young Boy

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

St. Mark's Square, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The title of the movie is a word play on "Love in Bloom" which was a hit song for Bing Crosby in 1934 and which later became Jack Benny's theme song.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Soundtrack:

Settle Down And Get Along

Probably Mazursky's best

Paul Mazursky gave us three fine films: Blume in Love, Harry & Tonto and Moscow On the Hudson, and a host of lesser works that we can still enjoy. I can't think of many American directors of the last half-century with a record like his. Blume In Love is obviously influenced by Truffaut's Jules and Jim, but is funnier, faster and not indebted to literary models as Truffaut's film was.

The triangle of Blume, Nina and Elmo works so well because of Kris Kristofferson's easy charm and rock star charisma. The story would have foundered on Blume's obsessiveness and Nina's Puritan desire to do good ("I haven't done much for the farmworkers, but I boycott the supermarkets") had Elmo not been around to keep things light. The story he tells of the bust in Franklin, Tenn. is wonderfully funny, although a little scary, and the trio's singing Chester the Goat is a delight.

I became a George Segal fan when I first saw this movie, and I can't help but lament the lack of intelligence and depth in today's actors when I see what he does with this difficult character. Marsha Mason is his equal in talent, playing Arlene, Blume's vulnerable lover who knows her days are numbered. The smaller roles are ably filled, particularly Shelley Winters as the woman whose husband left her.