Julia (1977)

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Lillian Hellman (novel)
Alvin Sargent (writer)

Release Date:

20 January 1978 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The story of two women whose friendship suddenly became a matter of life and death.

Plot:

At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Writer | 1930s | Hat | Railway Station

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Lillian Hellman
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Julia
Jason Robards	...	Dashiell Hammett
Maximilian Schell	...	Johann
Hal Holbrook	...	Alan Campbell
Rosemary Murphy	...	Dorothy Parker
Meryl Streep	...	Anne Marie
Dora Doll	...	Woman Passenger
Elisabeth Mortensen	...	Girl Passenger
John Glover	...	Sammy
Lisa Pelikan	...	Julia (younger)
Susan Jones	...	Lillian (younger)
Cathleen Nesbitt	...	Grandmother
Maurice Denham	...	Undertaker
Mark Metcalf	...	Pratt

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Indonesia:Dewasa | Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Central Station, Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Meryl Streep's movie debut.

Goofs:

Plot holes: The plot of the entire film revolves around the restrictions in pre-WWII Nazi Germany on the import of foreign (such as American) currency. There was no such restriction. Stable foreign currency was welcomed in an era when extreme inflation was a recent memory.

Quotes:

Johann: If you cannot do it, do not do it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

One of the Most Compelling Trainrides of Cinema

I'm no fan of either leads' politics and found it ironic that Miss Hellman actually disputed the movie depicting her having searched for Julia's baby- when in fact, virtually the entire plot was Miss Hellman's fiction. She'd never even met the 'real' Julia (one Dr. Muriel Gardiner) nor did 'Julia'/Dr. Gardiner have any baby in the 1930's but Miss Hellman undoubtedly admired the work Dr. Gardiner did and wished she could have been a part of that. This movie and the book Miss Hellman wrote that it was based on would be more of a wish-fullfillment than anything.

All that said,though, it was quite a great testament to the power of friendship (and that's ALL it was but that alone was strong enough) that saw Lillian seek out acceptance and accolades in the very society that she'd first been dazzled by via her girlhood visits with Julia- yet this aerified society was exactly what Julia herself would spend her entire life fleeing and trying to do right by the larger world. Strange that even in their girlhood, the cars and wardrobe was depicted as being no earlier than the 1920's- yet the movie makes it clear that at least 20 years had elapsed when everything came to a head c.1938!

So many unanswered questions raised here! Why were Julia's grandparents and mother so estranged from her that they refused to recognize her best friend or even acknowledge her death? Who was Mr. Johannes and what would he have done had Lillian not opted to volunteer for the mission- even with her obnoxious friends trying to tag along/talk her out of it? Quite fitting that they used one of the last steam engine locomotives from that time for that movie- the steam added to the sinister and mystery of the operation! What exactly did Lillian's train compartment companions know about the mission and Lillian herself? Was it more than just the importance of Lillian wearing the lambskin hat and using the fine chocolate bon-bons to divert the German Customs' attention? Who was it who removed the money from the lambskin hat while she and Julia were in the beer hall? The fact that these are fictional characters doesn't mean these questions aren't worth pondering!

What a remarkable reunion between the Lillian and Julia- as though they both knew they had so much to say to each other but too little time to say it yet still were able to communicate more in that single conversation than many friends who have a lifetime together! And an interesting touch that the single trainride and meeting of Mr. Johannes seemed to have impacted Lillian even more than all the years she'd survive Julia and Dashell yet would continue to dominate her life!

The only thing that brings it down any is Miss Hellman having pretended her remarkable story was fact.