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Being There
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Being There (1979) More at IMDbPro »

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Being There (1979) -- One of Peter Sellers finest and final roles as an unassuming gardener who is mistaken for a brilliant philosoper

Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   21,941 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 2% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Hal Ashby
Writers:
Jerzy Kosinski (novel)
Jerzy Kosinski (screenplay)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Being There on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
19 December 1979 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Comedy more
Tagline:
Getting there is half the fun; being there is all of it! more
Plot:
Chance, a simple gardener, has never left the estate until his employer dies. His simple TV-informed utterances are mistaken for profundity. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 10 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(22 articles)
DVD Playhouse--July 2009
 (From The Hollywood Interview. 8 July 2009, 1:32 AM, PDT)

Lookin' to Get Out (Extended Version) - DVD Review
 (From Monsters and Critics. 2 July 2009, 7:39 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
The Great Peter Sellers more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Peter Sellers ... Chance

Shirley MacLaine ... Eve Rand

Melvyn Douglas ... Benjamin Turnbull 'Ben' 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)
Donald Jacob ... David
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Chance
more
Runtime:
130 min
Country:
USA
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Netherlands:AL | South Africa:PG | Finland:K-11 (2001: new rating) | Finland:K-12 (before new act of 2001) | France:U | 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
Company:
BSB more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Henry B. Dawkins, who plays Billings-the X-Ray Technician, really was an X-Ray Technician. He was the head of the Radiology Department at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (in Asheville, North Carolina, one of the shooting locations of this film) in the early 1990's. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: 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. 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]
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Camilla (1994) more
Soundtrack:
Different Ways more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
75 out of 110 people found the following comment useful:-
The Great Peter Sellers, 2 June 2004
Author: (caspian1978@hotmail.com) from Attleboro, MA

Peter Sellers should have taken home the Academy Award for his role in Being There. A lifetime of comedies behind him, Sellers ended his career as an actor and a comic legend with this classic. Hard to believe that this was made over 20 years ago, it is still as funny as ever. Since then, no other comedian has captured the raw talent of comedy that Sellers could create. The silent comedy and the physical comedy that Sellers made was not only timeless but funnier than most of the comedy we see in film today. Second to maybe his role in Lolita and in the Pink Panther series, Sellers is not only funny, but gives his best performance in Being There. A terrific story with interesting and real characters, Being There is a delight.

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Message Boards

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Chance's Origins? dekkard8
Cheryl Hines pappasat
what's with females under 18? fernandomassuy
The Bloopers. hallsha-1
Love the fashion comment about trends zurichpoet
Question about the pea-eyed lawyer. zurichpoet
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