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Being There (1979) 8.0
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 |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Peter Sellers | ... | ||
| Shirley MacLaine | ... | ||
| Melvyn Douglas | ... |
Benjamin Rand
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| Jack Warden | ... |
President 'Bobby'
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| Richard Dysart | ... | ||
| Richard Basehart | ... |
Vladimir Skrapinov
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Ruth Attaway | ... |
Louise
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| David Clennon | ... |
Thomas Franklin
(as Dave Clennon)
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Fran Brill | ... |
Sally Hayes
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| Denise DuBarry | ... |
Johanna Franklin
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Oteil Burbridge | ... |
Lolo
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Ravenell Keller III | ... |
Abbaz
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Brian Corrigan | ... |
Policeman by White House
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Alfredine P. Brown | ... |
Old Woman asked for lunch
(as Alfredine Brown)
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Don Jacob | ... |
David
(as Donald Jacob)
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Edit
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
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. Written by Scott Renshaw <as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Taglines:
A story of chance See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
19 December 1979 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Chance See more »Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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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]
See more »
Written by Richard Strauss (uncredited)
Arranged and Performed by Eumir Deodato
Courtesy of CTI Records
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Finnish certificate # 88400 delivered on 31-7-1980. See more »Goofs
When Eve enters Chance's room as he is eating breakfast in bed, the napkin beneath his chin changes position back and forth between shots. See more »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]
See more »
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. See more »Soundtracks
"Also Sprach Zarathustra"Written by Richard Strauss (uncredited)
Arranged and Performed by Eumir Deodato
Courtesy of CTI Records
See more »
On the face of it, this was always going to be a cinematic treat. Hal Ashby, who in my opinion had the greatest sense of humour in Hollywood directing Peter Sellers, one of the finest comic actors of all time.
What i didn't expect was an excellent supporting cast with superb performances from Shirley MacLaine and Melvyn Douglas and a watertight script from Kosinski. What gave me the biggest pleasure was Ashby's subtle portrayal of his own politics. Sellers' character's rise and rise is set against, in the beginning at least, images of the socially deprived. In most of Ashby's films there is a strong sense of the anti-establishment but what is brilliant in this movie is that Ashby gets inside the establishment to ridicule it and yet at the same time bring across a strong sense of humanity in the richer character's isolation and loneliness.
Politics or not Ashby's perfect pacing bring the best out of Sellers whose film career, Strangelove aside, was hit and miss. This movie is definitely a hit from the most underrated film director Hollywood has ever had the arrogance to forget to miss.