Rachel, Rachel (1968)

Rachel is a lonely school teacher who lives with her mother. When a man from the big city asks her out, she starts thinking about where she wants her life 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 & 6 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 being 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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

lesbian subtext | sexual initiation | friendship between women | domineering mother | teacher | 

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Taglines:

Who cares about a 35 year old maiden?

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The uncredited baby on the beach with Rachel at the end of the film is Claire Newman, then age 2, whose face is never shown because she was crying throughout most of the scene; the waves lapping against the shore scared her, as she didn't yet know how to swim.

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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: Oh, guess who invited me for supper tonight, and I said "No". The groper.
Calla Mackie: He probably serves rat. Come on up after, I bought you a... a nothing gift.
Rachel Cameron: What?
Calla Mackie: A companion that needs taking care of. But unlike your mother, it doesn't talk back.

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Alternate Versions

Joanne Woodward's character's name, Rachel, is changed to Jennifer for the Italian version in order to make it sound more American

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Connections

Referenced in Stars of the Silver Screen: Paul Newman (2015)

User Reviews

Conservative Rachel and libertine Rachel

Joanne Woodward effectively plays a bored and boring middle-aged school teacher who still lives with her mother at a funeral home in Connecticut. She's on the verge of mental collapse, but hides it well and pretends everything's okay. A guy from her childhood comes to town from the big city (James Olson) and her appetite for change comes to the fore.

This potent drama was Paul Newman's first stab at directing and it's the best cinematic depiction of the inward struggle of flesh and spirit -- id and superego -- I've ever seen. This struggle explains why it's called "Rachel, Rachel." Rachel is experiencing the undercurrent conflict between spiritual and carnal impulses. She's stuck between goody-goody Rachel and libertine Rachel and is therefore in living limbo. Various outside factors encourage this lifeless state: Disturbing childhood memories of living in a funeral home, a mother who essentially views Rachel as her personal servant and a genuine friend who's love is starting to become unhealthy (Estelle Parsons).

The film features a mind-blowing pentecostal church sequence that lasts 10-12 minutes. I can't believe Newman had the cojones to include this scene and it's pulled off expertly with Terry Kiser as the guest preacher who "speaks in tongues," which is what Calla (Parsons) tells Rachel when it's reveal that he's the speaker. Parsons is fabulous here, by the way.

Due to the subject matter and the fact that this is a drama there are some boring stretches, so you have to be in the mood for a serious drama. Nevertheless, the film deserves credit for having the gonads to show real life and refusing to be politically correct -- an amazing drama.

In case you didn't know, Newman and Woodward were husband & wife for 50 years, up to his death in 2008.

The film runs 101 minutes and was shot in Connecticut.

GRADE: A-

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1