Being There (1979)

Chance, a simple gardener, has never left the estate until his employer dies. His simple TV-informed utterances are mistaken for profundity.

Director:

Hal Ashby

Writers:

Jerzy Kosinski (novel), Jerzy Kosinski (screenplay),

Stars:

Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas

Won 1 Oscar. Another 15 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Sellers	...	Chance
Shirley MacLaine	...	Eve Rand
Melvyn Douglas	...	Benjamin Rand
Jack Warden	...	President 'Bobby'
Richard Dysart	...	Dr. Robert Allenby
Richard Basehart	...	Vladimir Skrapinov
Ruth Attaway	...	Louise
David Clennon	...	Thomas Franklin (as Dave Clennon)
Fran Brill	...	Sally Hayes
Denise DuBarry	...	Johanna Franklin
Oteil Burbridge	...	Lolo
Ravenell Keller III	...	Abbaz
Brian Corrigan	...	Policeman by White House
Alfredine P. Brown	...	Old Woman asked for lunch (as Alfredine Brown)
Don Jacob	...	David (as Donald Jacob)

Storyline

A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television. After a run in with a limousine, he ends up a guest of a woman (Eve) and her husband Ben, an influential but sickly businessman. Now called Chauncey Gardner, Chance becomes friend and confidante to Ben, and an unlikely political insider.

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Plot Keywords:

gardener | washington d.c. | businessman | television | u.s. president | 

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Taglines:

A story of chance

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Genres:

Drama | Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Italian

Release Date:

19 December 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chance

Filming Locations:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

BSB, CIP, Lorimar Film Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Sellers was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor. Some said the reason Sellers lost was because of the outtakes at the very end of the movie as the credits are rolling. Sellers himself later said the outtakes "broke the spell" of the movie.

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Goofs

When Chance is watching himself on the large screen in the store window display, he uses his home remote control to try and change the channels on that set, but it controls another TV instead. However the remote is of the earlier "ultrasonic" technology, and these sound waves DO NOT pass through glass at the required strength needed to work. Those of us born before the movie can recall that jiggling your keys would make a remote controlled TV unwittingly change channels, or turn off and on. At about this same time the now common "infrared" RCs were coming out, albeit at outrageous prices. These signals CAN in effect pass through glass, despite some losses due to reflection. For the scene to be technically correct they should have used an IR remote, which would not make those "ringing bell" metallic sounds.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Chance the Gardener: Good morning, Louise.
Louise: He's dead, Chance. The old man's dead.
Chance the Gardener: I see.
[Chance goes back to watching TV]

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Crazy Credits

Under the end titles of the theatrical release are outtakes of Peter Sellers as Chance recounting the encounter with Abbaz. Sellers breaks character and laughs during each attempt. The lines do not appear in the movie. Certain versions of the film have credits with white text on a black background without the outtakes.

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Connections

Features The Price Is Right (1972)

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Soundtracks

"It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"
Performed by Fred Rogers

User Reviews

Sellers deserves the Oscar not hanks,

When I first saw Being There I was all of 10 years old, and for some reason, I loved it. And yet I could never exactly say why. Several years latter while looking for another movie, I happen across this video and read the review. Chance Gardner played charmingly by Peter Sellers, ( I think that is what the reviewer wrote) stumbles his way into the upper crest where he is mistaken for someone with deep knowledge of the world. Other reviews point out this movie is cynical characterization of self absorbed people in politics and media. As a kid I didn't get that, and now on further reflection what I liked about this movie was how these people where drawn to Chances innocence. In some ways Forrest Gump tried to attempt to tell this story line, but only manages to rehash old stereotypes. Being There depicts in clever, real characters who use a veil of politeness to cover up a cynicisim they have of their world and their own power. But for a kid and maybe why it has a cult following is because the heart of the show, whats addicting about is no matter how self absorbed we become, our best nature is drawn to a simple life, absent of complications. After watching the movie again, the dark comedy is more apparent, but I am happy to say that in the "Life and death of Peter Sellers", Sellers himself interpreted the character as I thought of it when I was kid. Gardner is a man who is sublimely content with no past and no future, and therefore no worries. As a kid I kind of new that as innocence. So if you rent this movie don't just see it as a black comedy, but also see it how a kid might, and for that matter how Peter Sellers saw it.