Nadine (1987)

Director:

Robert Benton

Writer:

Robert Benton (written by)

Release Date:

7 August 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The cops want HER. The killers want HIM. THEY want a divorce. Ain't love grand!

Plot:

In 1950s Texas, a woman trying to recover sexy photos of herself and divorce her husband witnesses a murder and uncovers corrupt land dealings.

Plot Keywords:

Texas | 1950s | Murder | Map | Lingerie

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Vernon Hightower
Kim Basinger	...	Nadine Hightower
Rip Torn	...	Buford Pope
Gwen Verdon	...	Vera
Glenne Headly	...	Renée Lomax
Jerry Stiller	...	Raymond Escobar
Jay Patterson	...	Dwight Estes
William Youmans	...	Boyd
Gary Grubbs	...	Cecil
Mickey Jones	...	Floyd
Blue Deckert	...	Mountain
Harlan Jordan	...	Sheriff Rusk
Norman Bennett	...	Reverend
James N. Harrell	...	Deacon (as James Harrell)
John William Galt	...	Officer Lloyd
Joe Berryman	...	Reporter
Linwood P. Walker II	...	Janitor
Ray Walker	...	T.V. Announcer
Shelby Brammer	...	Michelle
Loyd Catlett	...	Charley Draper
Sidney Brammer	...	Estes' Girlfriend
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Priscilla Cory	...	Salesgirl (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Benton

Writing credits
Robert Benton		(written by)

Produced by
Arlene Donovan	....	producer
Wolfgang Glattes	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Howard Shore

Cinematography by
Néstor Almendros		(director of photography) (as Nestor Almendros)

Film Editing by
Sam O'Steen

Casting by
Howard Feuer

Production Design by
Paul Sylbert

Art Direction by
Peter Landsdown Smith
Cary White

Set Decoration by
Lee Pall

Costume Design by
Albert Wolsky

Makeup Department
Rick Provenzano	....	hair stylist: Kim Basinger

Production Management
Wolfgang Glattes	....	unit production manager
Ted Zachary	....	executive in charge of production (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ronald M. Bozman	....	first assistant director (as Ron Bozman)
Kyle McCarthy	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Derek R. Hill	....	lead man
Mark Hite	....	lead man
Ronald W. Moore	....	cars coordinnator
Robert A. Sturtevant	....	construction foreman

Sound Department
Stan Bochner	....	supervising sound editor
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Adam Fredericks	....	apprentice sound editor
Lori Kornspun	....	assistant sound editor
Stephen Mackey	....	boom operator
Sanford Rackow	....	sound editor
David M. Ronne	....	production sound mixer
Ahmad Shirazi	....	assistant sound editor
Stan Ginsel	....	sound transferer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Roy L. Downey	....	special effects supervisor
Jack Monroe	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Mark Sullivan	....	special visual effects

Stunts
Michael Adams	....	stunts (as Mike Adams)
Diamond Farnsworth	....	stunt coordinator
Diamond Farnsworth	....	stunts
Steve Geray	....	stunts
Diane Hetfield	....	stunts
Rex Rossi	....	stunts
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunts
Greg Walker	....	stunts
Rock A. Walker	....	stunts (as Rock Walker)
Loyd Catlett	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Brink Brydon	....	lamp operator
Russell Caldwell	....	lamp operator
Jerry DeBlau	....	gaffer
Richie Ford	....	best boy
Steve George	....	second assistant camera
Peter Girolami	....	gaffer: reshoots
Bob Hall	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Andy 'Eagle' Padilla	....	grip (as Andy Padilla)
Ron Phillips	....	still photographer
Robert T. Prate	....	best boy grip
Tom Prate	....	key grip
Don Reddy	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Darryl M. Athons	....	costumer
Harry Curtis	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Kris Cole	....	assistant film editor
Richard Nord	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Suki Buchman	....	assistant music editor
Suzana Peric	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Shane Greedy	....	production driver
Lonnie Nelson	....	driver
Phil Schriber	....	driver: Ms. Basinger
Bobby Sconci	....	mechanic

Other crew
Sandra Lee	....	consultant to Robert Benton
Anne Rapp	....	script supervisor
Sjon Ueckert	....	location manager

Production Companies

• ML Delphi Premier Productions
• TriStar Pictures

Distributors

• Prooptiki (1987) (Greece) (theatrical)
• CBS / Fox Video (1989) (Greece) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• TriStar Pictures

Other Companies

• H&R Motion Picture Catering  catering
• Optical House, The  opticals
• Otto Nemenz International  Arriflex cameras provided by
• Trans / Audio  post-production services

Also Known As:

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | France:U | Sweden:15 | USA:PG (certificate #28341) | West Germany:12 | Australia:M | Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba)

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

ML Delphi Premier Productions

Trivia:

The framed picture of Jeff Bridges in a uniform is taken from The Last Picture Show (1971).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Vernon is on the ladder crawling across to the second house, he says what sounds like his own name or 'Vera.' It's definitely not 'Nadine.' The CC says "Darling" but it sure doesn't sound like it.

Quotes:

Buford Pope:Why is it you work your butt off all your entire life just to get ahead, and it takes a couple of nitwits about ten minutes to screw the whole thing up?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Frame on the Wall: The Making of 'The Door in the Floor' (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

SINCE I FOUND YOU

The Best Texas Comedy in 30 Years

Let me begin by saying I am just astonished to see the low average of viewer comments for this splendid movie. I just have to figure the commenters are a bunch of Yankees who never set foot in the South and have no feel for the slow, quiet humor that this fine film represents.

But even that cultural adjustment doesn't explain the complete failure of these other reviewers to appreciate a really finely drawn comedy, from beginning to end. This is a wonderful work by the fine writer and director Robert Benton, who defies the axiom, Comedy is hard. He makes it look easy.

What he did was simple, looking back, but so very hard for most people to do: He set up a funny plot and kept it funny from one scene to another, by keeping it low key and letting the characters carry the humor lightly, one slightly ridiculous moment after the other, thus avoiding the great comedic danger: You can kill comedy by overworking it.

Benton takes a plausible story about some Texas corruption and discovered maps with some amusing twists to it and jacks it up with some great dialogue and some fine actors -- mostly Southern, as it happens: the fine actor Rip Torn (birth name, Ripley J. Torn, Jr., Texas) and Kim Basinger (Alabama). Robert Benton himself is from Waxahatchie, Texas, and wrote the screenplay with full knowledge and confidence of the plausibility of the plot and the reality of his characters.

Folks, I know lots of people like these characters. So do you. Good people, simple people, women who on the phone who soon ask, How's yer Mom 'n 'em? And Benton has given them a moment of great adventure and humor.

A few gems: Jeff Bridges: "I'm not in the Vernon Darlin' business anymore." Basinger naming her early fetus Doris Isabel and talking to her. Rip Torn: "Why is it you work your butt off all your life to get ahead and it takes two nitwits about ten minutes to screw the whole thing up." And in her most glorious beauty, Glenne Headley as the girlfriend, full of Texas spunk.

I truly pity the Yankees and Californians west of Bakersfield who cannot see the beauty of this film. But you know what? We don't need you. This movie is like Elvis. It will live forever.