Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)

After spending three years in an asylum, a washed-up actor views a minor assignment from his old director in Rome as a chance for personal and professional redemption.

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Charles Schnee (screenplay), Irwin Shaw (novel)

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Cyd Charisse

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirk Douglas	...	Jack Andrus
Edward G. Robinson	...	Maurice Kruger
Cyd Charisse	...	Carlotta
George Hamilton	...	Davie Drew
Daliah Lavi	...	Veronica (as Dahlia Lavi)
Claire Trevor	...	Clara Kruger
James Gregory	...	Brad Byrd
Rosanna Schiaffino	...	Barzelli
Joanna Roos	...	Janet Bark
George Macready	...	Lew Jordan
Mino Doro	...	Tucino
Stefan Schnabel	...	Zeno
Vito Scotti	...	Assistant Director
Tom Palmer	...	Dr. Cold Eyes
Erich von Stroheim Jr.	...	Ravinksi (as Erich Von Stroheim Jr.)

Storyline

Former film star Jack Andrus is released from a sanitarium where he has lived for the previous three years, suffering from alcoholism, a traumatic automobile accident, and a severe mental breakdown. He's been offered two weeks of work in Rome by Maurice Kruger, his old director, who himself is near the end of his fading career and under pressure from his parsimonious Italian producer to finish his picture on time and under budget. Jack is also pressed from a manipulative ex-wife, a rising but self-destructive young star, the director's shrewish wife, and a temperamental Italian diva who requires handling with kid gloves. When the Kruger suffers a heart attack, Andrus views the opportunity as a last chance at the redemption of his personal life and professional career.

---

Plot Keywords:

italy | singing | circular staircase | stairway | nymphomaniac | 

---

Taglines:

Another Town... Another Kind Of Love... and one he couldn't resist... the other he couldn't escape!

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

September 1962 (UK)

Also Known As:

2 Weeks in Another Town

Filming Locations:

Excelsior Hotel, Via Vittorio Veneto, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$3,959,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,000,000, 31 December 1962

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,500,000, 31 December 1962

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The airplane Jack boards at the end of the film is a Douglas DC-8, named "Amerigo Vespucci", with registration I-DIWA. It flew with Alitalia from 1960 to 1977.

---

Goofs

In most of Jack's driving scenes, his steering inputs, or lack thereof, don't match what's going on in the rear-projection background. This is most obvious when he goes on his drunken, reckless drive with Carlotta as his passenger.

---

Quotes

Lew Jordan: Jack, got a minute?
Jack Andrus: I'm in a hurry.
Lew Jordan: Too much of a hurry to make a lot of money?
Jack Andrus: Lew, some other time. I'm rushing to the hospital.
Lew Jordan: Well, I'll walk you to the door. How long before you finish this job?
Jack Andrus: It's already finished, except for two days of retakes.
Lew Jordan: Good, you're available. I can close the deal now. You know how much finishing this picture means to Davie. Yesterday he was poison. Today we can pick and choose.
Jack Andrus: We?
Lew Jordan: Yeah. Didn't you know? Davie made it clear. On his next picture, you direct. ...
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

The following acknowledgment appears on screen in the opening credits: "We are grateful to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, copyright owners, for permission to use the Academy Award statuette."

---

Connections

Referenced in The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

---

Soundtracks

Auld Lang Syne
(uncredited)
Words written by Robert Burns in 1788 to traditional Scots song
Sung by Kirk Douglas and Edward G. Robinson at Al Fresco cafe

User Reviews

Love that title!

You gotta love the title "Two Weeks in Another Town." It's fabulous. As for the movie...it's a big budget, sprawling color extravaganza that's either a sequel or a prequel to "The Bad and the Beautiful" depending upon whom you speak to. Kirk Douglas stars as Jack, a has-been, alcoholic actor who, fresh from the asylum, is summoned to Rome by his guru, the director Maurice Kruger (Edward G. Robinson). Also in Rome is the wife that drove Jack into an alcoholic stupor, the seductive Carlotta (Cyd Charisse). Initially all Jack is to do is direct the dubbing of Kruger's film so he can finish on time and satisfy the Italian producer - but things become more involved.

I can't agree with one comment that this is the veiled story of Tyrone Power, Linda Christian, and Darryl F. Zanuck, with circumstances changed to protect the guilty. Certainly the promiscuity aspects are similar; Ty took up with Anita Ekberg, magazine editor Mary Roblee, etc., and Linda, well-known for her exploits like the Cyd Charisse character, had an affair with Edmund Purdom. And Power was certainly tied to Zanuck. However, the story is pretty Hollywood generic; one could probably make the case for other actors' marriages and connection to directors and/or producers.

"Two Weeks" is also way over the top, which is what Minnelli intended: old Roman gluttony. It's a feast of scenery, big acting, and a wild, dramatic story, which peaks with Douglas and Charisse in a fast car careening through Rome.

Kirk Douglas is great as an actor returning to his past, only to find there's nothing there of use. Robinson turns in a excellent performance as a tough yet insecure director who cheats on his emotionally abusive and abused wife yet depends on her like a child its mother. Trevor as the wife is appropriately hurt, angry, and downright vicious. George Hamilton plays an up and coming actor - as one comment noted, this is a stretch; he doesn't really register. Charisse gets costar billing but doesn't have much to do but laugh evilly, wear glamorous clothes, and look seductive. She succeeds.

"Two Weeks in Another Town" is certainly worth a look, though it was hard for this viewer to connect with any of the characters. I think it stands alone as neither a prequel or sequel to "The Bad and the Beautiful" as a story of what it's like to make films in another time - and in another town.