Rachel, Rachel (1968)

Rachel is a 35 year old school teacher who has no man in her life and lives with her mother. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out, she begins to have to make decisions about her life and where she wants it to go.

Director:

Paul Newman

Writers:

Stewart Stern (screenplay), Margaret Laurence (novel)

Stars:

Joanne Woodward, James Olson, Kate Harrington

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joanne Woodward	...	Rachel Cameron
James Olson	...	Nick Kazlik
Kate Harrington	...	Mrs. Cameron
Estelle Parsons	...	Calla Mackie
Donald Moffat	...	Niall Cameron
Terry Kiser	...	Preacher
Frank Corsaro	...	Hector Jonas
Bernard Barrow	...	Leighton Siddley
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Rev. Wood
Nell Potts	...	Rachel as a child
Shawn Campbell	...	James
Violet Dunn	...	Verla
Beatrice Pons	...	Florence
Dortha Duckworth	...	Mae (as Dorothea Duckworth)
Simm Landres

Storyline

Thirty-five year old spinster and virgin Rachel Cameron is a sad, lonely woman. She lives in the small town of Japonica, Connecticut where she grew up. She teaches second grade at Japonica Elementary School and lives with her highly demanding widowed mother (her funeral director father passed away fourteen years ago) in the same apartment above a funeral home where she grew up, despite the home now not owned by them. Rachel often uses her mother as an excuse not to do things. Rachel represses her emotions, and is prone to daydreaming to envision alternate paths for herself in certain situations if she only had the nerve to do those things. Even when Nick Kazlik, a childhood acquaintance who has returned to Japonica for a summer visit with his family, makes it clear that he wants to have fun with her while he's in town, she can't act on his request out of fear of the unknown. But after a couple of incidents with her only real friend Calla Mackie, who is a fellow teacher at the school, ...

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | elementary school | connecticut | based on novel | school | 

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Taglines:

If you passed her on the street you wouldn't notice her. On the screen she is unforgettable.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 August 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Jest of God

Filming Locations:

Bethel, Connecticut, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kayos Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the 1966 novel "A Jest of God" by Margaret Laurence.

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Goofs

Rachel's hair pattern changes in two continuous shots on the hospital bed. The front camera angle shows her hair in front of her ears but the side camera shows her hair behind her ears.

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Quotes

Rachel Cameron: [On the phone with her mother in the room] Hello?
Nick Kazlik: [On the other line] Hello.
Rachel Cameron: Oh, hello!
Nick Kazlik: My folks are away for the weekend. So, I thought maybe you'd like to play house. We got, like, three bedrooms, so we can chase each other from room to room between... you know.
Rachel Cameron: I mean, yes, I'd love to read that book. That sounds very interesting. Can you get it from the public library?
Nick Kazlik: Oh, you can't talk, right?
Rachel Cameron: Right. At this moment, I'm Venus observed.

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Connections

Referenced in Stella (1990)

User Reviews

Newman's Own

Both the camera and the man behind it were obviously in love with the actress on screen, and, that actress, Joanne Woodward, was arguably never better than she was in "Rachel, Rachel," husband-Paul-Newman's first directing effort. The low-key story involves a woman who reaches the middle of her life and realizes that she has yet to start living. Trapped in a small apartment above a funeral parlor with her whining possessive mother, Rachel is a schoolteacher with daydreams of having a life and children of her own.

Rachel's emotions are written on Woodward's face in a way few actresses have ever conveyed feeling. Words are superfluous, because the actress's subtle shifts of expression reveal the woman's raw vulnerability and, eventually, her sexual and emotional awakening. A course in film acting could be taught with this film as the primer. Although Kate Harrington, James Olson, and Estelle Parsons provide able support, the film is Woodward's showcase, and Newman's sturdy direction does not detract from his star. The shifts between Rachel's present and her memories and dreams are seamless, clear, and illuminating rather than distracting.

The film requires patience, but that does not imply boring, but rather leisurely paced, much like life in a small town that lies off the main roads. Getting to know another person requires time, and Rachel is worth knowing. "Rachel, Rachel" is a not to be missed minor masterwork with a performance that will haunt and linger in memory indefinitely. Newman never surpassed his directing here, and few actresses have surpassed Woodward's achievement either.