Who Am I This Time? (2 Feb. 1982)

From a short story by Kurt Vonnegut. Christopher Walken is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever he takes a part in a local amateur theater production, he becomes the part completely-... See full summary »

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writers:

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (story), Neal Miller

Stars:

Susan Sarandon, Christopher Walken, Robert Ridgely

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Susan Sarandon	...	Helene Shaw
Christopher Walken	...	Harry Nash
Robert Ridgely	...	George Johnson
Dorothy Patterson	...	Doris
Caitlin Hart	...	Lydia
Les Podewell	...	Les
Aaron Freeman	...	Andrew
Jerry Vile	...	Albert
Paula Frances	...	Minnie
Mike Bacarella	...	Stage Manager
Ron Parady	...	Vern
Debbi Hopkins	...	Christie
Maria Todd	...	Heather
Sandy McLeod	...	Flirt #1
Edie Vonnegut	...	Flirt #2

Storyline

From a short story by Kurt Vonnegut. Christopher Walken is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever he takes a part in a local amateur theater production, he becomes the part completely--while on stage. Susan Sarandon is new in town, a lonely itinerant telephone company employee. On a whim, she auditions for and gets the part of Stella to Walken's Stanley when the theater group does A Streetcar Named Desire. Before anyone realizes the growing affection between Helene and Stanley, she falls deeply in love with the sexy brute, not knowing what the real man is like.

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Plot Keywords:

audition | hardware store | telephone company | clerk | actress | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 1982 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Evanston, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rubicon Film Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

53 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The quotations recited by the actors in the various plays, from "Cyrano" to "A Streetcar named Desire" to "The Importance of Being Earnest", are often paraphrased. In the opening act, we watch Harry Nash deliver the final lines of "Cyrano," which were taken not from the well-known translations of the standard texts, but from the film adaptation Cyrano de Bergerac with translation by Brian Hooker. Edmond Rostand's final two words in the original French were "My panache!" which is usually used in translations. Hooker's version changes it to "My white plume!" Another slight variation occurs in the final lines, when Helene accepts Harry's proposal of marriage and says, "I hope that after we marry, you'll always look at me just like this... especially in front of other people!" In the original play by Oscar Wilde, the line is "I hope you will always look at me just like that, especially when there are other people present."

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Quotes

[George finds Harry in the hardware store. They are both nervous: George because he will be directing a play for the first time, Harry because he is always nervous. First thing, Harry spills a box of nails from the shelf and they crash upon the floor]
George Johnson: Anyway, I suppose you heard about the, uh, the next play!
[pause. Harry's face is blank, giving nothing away, good or bad]
George Johnson: Well, they asked me to direct, Harry! And I, I know you've only worked with Doris before, so I hope that isn't a problem.
[...]

User Reviews

Spectacular!!

If I had to to describe this in one word, it would be; Spectacular! This contains possibly the best acting that i have ever seen in my life. I wouldn't hesitate for even a second to recommend this to someone. I didn't think it was possible for a film to out shine the story, but here i have been proved wrong. Once again, Spectacular!