Being There (1979)

Director:

Hal Ashby

Writers:

Jerzy Kosinski (novel)
Jerzy Kosinski (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

19 December 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Getting there is half the fun; being there is all of it!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Gardener | Washington D.C. | Businessman | Television | U.S. President

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 15 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

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)
Ernest McClure	...	Jeffrey (as Ernest M. McClure)
Kenneth Patterson	...	Perkins
Richard Venture	...	Wilson
Arthur Grundy	...	Arthur
W.C. 'Mutt' Burton	...	Lewis
Henry B. Dawkins	...	Billings
Georgine Hall	...	Mrs. Aubrey
Nell P. Leaman	...	Constance
Villa Mae P. Barkley	...	Teresa
Alice Hirson	...	First Lady
James Noble	...	Kaufman
Timothy Shaner	...	Presidential Aide
William F. Williams	...	Presidential Aide
Bill Dance	...	Presidential Aide (as William Dance)
Jim Aar	...	Presidential Aide
William Lubin	...	Presidential Aide
Gerald C. McNabb Jr.	...	Woltz
Hoyt Clark Harris Jr.	...	Riff
Ned Wilson	...	Honeycutt
Stanley Grover	...	Baldwin
John Harkins	...	Courtney
Katherine De Hetre	...	Kinney (as Katherine DeHetre)
William Larsen	...	Lyman Stuart
Jerome Hellman	...	Gary Burns
Arthur Rosenberg	...	Morton Hull
Sam Weisman	...	Colson
Fredric Lehne	...	TV Page
Gwen Humble	...	TV Guest
Laurie Jefferson	...	TV Reporter
Allen Williams	...	Other Reporter
Janet Meshad	...	Other Reporter
Paul Marin	...	Other Reporter
Melendy Britt	...	Sophie
Hanna Hertelendy	...	Natasha Skrapinov
Elya Baskin	...	Karpatov
Than Wyenn	...	Ambassador Gaufridi (as Thann Wyenn)
Richard McKenzie	...	Ron Stiegler
Sandy Ward	...	Senator Slipshod
Danna Hansen	...	Mrs. Slipshod
Mitch Kreindel	...	Dennis Watson
Richard Seff	...	Pallbearer
Terrence Currier	...	Pallbearer
Leon Greenberg	...	Pallbearer
Austin Hay	...	Pallbearer
Mark Hammer	...	Pallbearer
Maurice Copeland	...	Pallbearer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hal Ashby	...	Man at File Cabinet at the Washington Post (uncredited)
Basil Hoffman	...	Man in Commercial (uncredited)
Jerry Jensen	...	General (uncredited)
Alexandria Walsh	...	Court Reporter (uncredited)

Directed by
Hal Ashby

Writing credits
Jerzy Kosinski		(novel)
Jerzy Kosinski		(screenplay)
Robert C. Jones		uncredited

Produced by
Andrew Braunsberg	....	producer
Charles Mulvehill	....	associate producer (as Charles B. Mulvehill)
Jack Schwartzman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Johnny Mandel

Cinematography by
Caleb Deschanel

Film Editing by
Don Zimmerman

Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster

Production Design by
Michael D. Haller		(as Michael Haller)

Art Direction by
James L. Schoppe		(as James Schoppe)

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton		(as Robert Benton)

Costume Design by
May Routh

Makeup Department
Edie Panda	....	hair stylist: Shirley MacLaine
Charles H. Schram	....	makeup artist: Peter Sellers (as Charles Schram)
Vivienne Walker	....	hair stylist: Peter Sellers
Frank Westmore	....	makeup artist: Shirley MacLaine

Production Management
Charles Mulvehill	....	production manager (as Charles B. Mulvehill)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Hamburger	....	first assistant director (as David S. Hamburger)
Toby Lovallo	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Irving Dion	....	propmaker foreman
Charles McKinlay	....	propmaker foreman
Ray Mercer Jr.	....	property master
Richard Reseigne	....	construction coordinator
Arthur Shippee	....	assistant property master (as Arthur Shippee Jr.)
Larry Verne	....	construction foreman
John Villarino	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Mike Villarino	....	propmaker (uncredited)
Randal Woodward	....	set painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Don Coufal	....	boom operator
Norval D. Crutcher	....	sound effects editorial staff
Samuel C. Crutcher	....	sound effects editorial staff
Gary S. Gerlich	....	sound effects editorial staff
Victoria Martin	....	sound effects editorial staff
Donald O. Mitchell	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Don Mitchell)
Frank E. Warner	....	supervising sound effects editor (as Frank Warner)
Jeff Wexler	....	production sound mixer
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Walter A. Gest	....	sound re-recordist (uncredited)
Rick Kline	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Bill Nicholson	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Jack Snyder	....	sound engineer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Don Hansard	....	process coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Sidney Ray Baldwin	....	still photographer (as Sidney Baldwin)
Craig Denault	....	first assistant camera
Clyde Hart	....	key grip
Gary Holt	....	gaffer
Harry C. Howard	....	video engineer
Louis Mahler	....	video playback operator
Pete Martinez	....	video playback operator (as Peter Martinez)
Nick McLean	....	camera operator
Ken Nishino	....	second assistant camera (as Kenneth Nishino)
Dianne Schroeder	....	special photography

Casting Department
David Welch	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tony Faso	....	wardrobe: men (as Anthony Faso)
Suzanne Grace	....	wardrobe: women

Editorial Department
Rebecca Einfeld	....	apprentice film editor
Mireille Machu	....	editorial consultant
Mark Warner	....	assistant editor
Ron Lambert	....	color timer (uncredited)
Steven Ramirez	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Jim Henrikson	....	music editor
James Thatcher	....	musician: French horn (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Michael McDuffee	....	assistant transportation coordinator
Gerald R. Molen	....	transportation coordinator (as Jerry Molen)

Other crew
Edle Bakke	....	script supervisor
Charles Clapsaddle	....	production assistant
Pablo Ferro	....	title designer
Michael Flowers	....	production assistant
Michael Jeffery	....	assistant: Peter Sellers
Loretta Lorden	....	secretary to the director
Don Mischer	....	director: "Gary Burns Show" video segment
Gregory Palmer	....	production assistant
Spencer Quinn	....	location manager
Ken Ryan	....	accountant (as Kenneth Ryan)
Dianne Schroeder	....	video researcher
Teresa Stokovic	....	production office coordinator
Beverly Walker	....	unit publicist
Anne Dutter	....	subtitles: original version with French subtitles (uncredited)
Georges Dutter	....	subtitles: original version with French subtitles (uncredited)
Stuart Neumann	....	location manager (uncredited)
Jerry Whittington	....	location scout (uncredited)

Production Companies

• BSB
• CIP
• Lorimar Film Entertainment
• NatWest Ventures
• Northstar Media

Distributors

• United Artists (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• Adams Filmi (1980) (Finland) (theatrical)
• ITC (1980) (UK) (theatrical)
• CBS Video (1982) (USA) (video) (CED VideoDisc)
• CBS/Fox Video (1984) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1984) (USA) (TV)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1993) (Finland) (TV)
• Artédis (1995) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (USA) (DVD) (deluxe edition)
• Madadayo Films (2011) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Bros (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Argentina Video Home (????) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Showtime Video (????) (Finland) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Bill Dance Casting  extras casting
• C. D.  Italian dubbing by
• Location Video  video playback
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:AA (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 (1980) | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:6 | Canada:14A | Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | South Africa:PG | France:U

Filming Locations:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company:

BSB

Trivia:

In different versions, the end credits are either shown over retakes of Chance saying a line that was not in the movie (the message from Raphael, restored to the home video version) or shown over TV white noise. Peter Sellers was at the film's screening at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival and was furious with director Hal Ashby and the producers for including the outtakes version of the end credits at this performance as well as the audience's reaction to them. This incident may have finally made the producers change their minds. When the film opened soon after in Australia in late May 1980, the entire end credits were removed from all prints (leading to a deafening thud on the soundtrack after the film's final line). These prints were all replaced with versions including the "white noise" end credits, including the film's main theme by composer Johnny Mandel.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

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]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 37th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1980) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Different Ways

A well-kept secret

This film is an absolute jewel. The main character, played by Peter Sellers, is the exact opposite of the film itself. Chauncey/Chance is simple, vapid, unconcerned and utterly unselfconscious, yet he radiates an image of being ponderous, calculating, and complex. The film is deceptively straightforward and uncomplicated on the surface, but is rich and complex upon reflection. The film is very enigmatic (even the title seems to make no sense, even though it seems like it should) and lends itself to interpretation. This is one of those films that you have to talk about after seeing it, and you'll find endless points of view to consider. More than that, however, this film is historically fascinating. Taken as a whole, the movie, the book, the behind the scenes intrigue, the place it holds in the careers of the Stars, the writers and the directors, makes this an exceptionally interesting and enjoyable film.