Cinderella Liberty (1973)

Director:

Mark Rydell

Writers:

Darryl Ponicsan (screenplay)
Darryl Ponicsan (novel)

Release Date:

7 April 1974 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

She's 32. She drinks too much. She hustles pool. She's got a 10-year old mulatto son. She's got a different boyfriend every night. She's in trouble. And he's in love.

Plot:

A lonely Navy sailor falls in love with a hooker and becomes a surrogate father figure for her son during...

Plot Keywords:

Navy | Illegitimate Son | Shore Leave | Sex | Nudity

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

James Caan	...	John Baggs Jr.
Marsha Mason	...	Maggie Paul
Kirk Calloway	...	Doug
Eli Wallach	...	Lynn Forshay
Burt Young	...	Master at Arms
Bruno Kirby	...	Alcott (as Bruce Kirby Jr.)
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Miss Watkins
Dabney Coleman	...	Executive Officer
Fred Sadoff	...	Dr. Osgood
Allan Arbus	...	Drunken Sailor
Jon Korkes	...	Dental Corpsman
Don Calfa	...	Lewis
Ted D'Arms	...	Cook
Sally Kirkland	...	Fleet Chick
Diane Schenker	...	Nurse

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Belgium:KNT | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Company:

Sanford

Trivia:

James Caan appeared six years later almost identically in sailors garb for an uncredited cameo in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979) as the sailor who throws the first punch in the ballroom fight sequence.

Quotes:

Lynn Forshay: Let me give you one piece of advice, one old salt to another... Ah, to hell with advice.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

You're So Nice To Be Around

Great flick

When Cinderella Liberty was released I'd only been out of the Navy about a year, so I was automatically biased in favor of it. I happened across the film on AMC this morning, and was pleased to see that it holds up well. James Caan is perfect as the lifer-by-default, a guy apparently motivated by inertia and the need for a job rather than any driving patriotic force. Marsha Mason is likewise great as the whore-with-a-heart (not necessarily a heart of gold), and the boy who plays her son is superb. Eli Wallach is flawless as the lifer left over from the old "Rocks and Shoals" Navy, a genuinely tough era much more closely-related to life in the 19th century than the 21st. If you want a look at enlisted life in the Navy, especially in the early 70's (yes, they did allow mustaches and a bit of hair in those days), I would recommend this film wholeheartedly.