"American Playhouse" Who Am I This Time? (1982)

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writers:

Neal Miller (writer)
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (story)

TV Series:

"American Playhouse" (1982)

Original Air Date:

2 February 1982

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Plot:

From a short story by Kurt Vonnegut. Christopher Walken is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever...

Plot Keywords:

Telephone Company | Audition | Hardware Store | Actor | Oscar Wilde

Cast

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

Runtime:

55 min | Argentina:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Evanston, Illinois, USA

Company:

Rubicon Film Productions Ltd.

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 or any of the other standard texts, but from the film adaptation Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) 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."

Quotes:

[after trying to audition, Helene leaves the room, sobs, and then returns]
Helene Shaw: I'm terrible, aren't I?
George Johnson: No! No, you're not, you're fine.
Helene Shaw: [attempting a laugh] No, I'm not. It was awful. I...
George Johnson: You were...
Helene Shaw: - It's like I'm a walking ice-box or something.
Doris: Oh, nobody could look at you and say that, dearie.
Helene Shaw: When people get to know me, that's when they *do* say it. I don't want to be the way that I am. I just can't help it. I feel like I'm in... Well, when I get to know somebody nice, you know, like, like in real life? I feel like I'm in... Like I'm...
[She lifts her hands and mimes being trapped in glass]
Helene Shaw: ...in some, some kind of, um, a bottle, a-a-as though I can't touch that person, no matter how hard I try. I know what this play is about. I know what's Stella's feeling, I -
[...]

Play Within A Play

An early work for actors Christopher Walken, Susan Serandon, and director Jonathan Demme. A great story adapted from Kurt Vonnegut. This is a very sweet story of two shy people finding each other and expressing themselves through commonly known dialogue from different plays. An adorable pair with great chemistry.