Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

Director:

Alan Rudolph

Writers (WGA):

Alan Rudolph (written by) &
Randy Sue Coburn (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

At the center of the circle is a woman ahead of her time.

Plot:

Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit...

Plot Keywords:

1950s | New York | Writing | Psychotherapy | Film Making

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Dorothy Parker
Campbell Scott	...	Robert Benchley
Matthew Broderick	...	Charles MacArthur
Peter Gallagher	...	Alan Campbell
Jennifer Beals	...	Gertrude Benchley
Andrew McCarthy	...	Eddie Parker
Wallace Shawn	...	Horatio Byrd
Martha Plimpton	...	Jane Grant
Sam Robards	...	Harold Ross
Lili Taylor	...	Edna Ferber
James LeGros	...	Deems Taylor
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Paula Hunt
Nick Cassavetes	...	Robert Sherwood
David Thornton	...	George S. Kaufman
Heather Graham	...	Mary Kennedy Taylor

Also Known As:

Mrs. Parker and the Round Table

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Germany:12 | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Algonquin Hotel - 59 W. 44th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Fine Line Features

Trivia:

Keith Carradine created the role of Will Rogers in "Will Rogers Follies" on Broadway, and he has a cameo in this movie as Will Rogers.

Quotes:

Paula Hunt: [to Mrs. Parker] You know, I think it's just as hard to get that look right in life as it is on the stage. Well, someone has to leave. If you ask me, it should be the person who already has their clothes on. But then, you're the writers. I'm just an actress.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game-On: (#3.2)" (1998)

The Dark Side of Fame...

I found this movie totally enjoyable from start to finish. Maybe because Jennifer Jason Leigh is one of the most superb actresses of our time (and of course ignored!!!). Or maybe because I love period pieces with lavish attention to detail in the costumes and production designing. Or maybe because I am always entertained by true stories of humanity. I think in this movie's case, it is all three. This is another portrait of the dark side of fame. Leigh did a wonderful job being Mrs. Dorothy Parker, a 1920s poet and magazine writer who drank (during prohibition New York) and caroused with a large, mouthy group of professionals in the writing and stage business. It's easy for anyone to relate to the lonliness Mrs. Parker feels in this boisterous "circle" of shallow, back-stabbing people. In spite of her gift for smooth, haunting, beautiful poetry (much of it recited in this movie), Mrs. Parker is not happy or fulfilled. Rather she is misunderstood, isolated and self-depreciating. She ends up losing a job over salary disputes, losing her husband to alcohol, and falling deeply and hopelessly in love with the married Charles McArthur (Matthew Broderick), who impregnates and betrays her. Mrs. Parker's only comfort in life is the friendship she has with Bob Benchley (an excellent Campbell Scott). Leigh, speaking with a facinating accent, brings sadness and cynicism to Mrs Parker with perfection.