A Safe Place (1971)

A strange young woman lives in a fantasy world where she can never grow up.

Director:

Henry Jaglom

Writer:

Henry Jaglom

Stars:

Tuesday Weld, Orson Welles, Jack Nicholson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tuesday Weld	...	Susan / Noah
Orson Welles	...	The Magician
Jack Nicholson	...	Mitch
Phil Proctor	...	Fred (as Philip Proctor)
Gwen Welles	...	Bari
Dov Lawrence	...	Larry
Fanny Birkenmier	...	The Maid
Rhonda Alfaro	...	Little Girl in Rowboat
Sylvia Zapp	...	Susan at Age 7
Rachel Harlow	...	Noah's Friend (as Richard Finnochio)
Barbara Flood	...	Noah's Friend
Roger Garrett	...	Noah's Friend
Jordon Hahn	...	Noah's Friend
Francesca Hilton	...	Noah's Friend
Julie Robinson	...	Noah's Friend

Storyline

A disturbed young woman - a former for child of the 60's, named Noah lives alone in New York, where she's retreated into her past, yearning for lost innocence., searching for a "safe place." As a child, she met a magician in Central Park who gave her magical objects. She's romantically involved with 2 different men; Fred's practical but dull, and Mitch is dynamic sexy - her ideal fantasy partner, but neither man's able to totally fulfill her needs.

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Plot Keywords:

hippie | new york city | magic | free spirit | experimental | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 October 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un lugar seguro

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBS Productions, Columbia Pictures, The Rainbow Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anaïs Nin said of 'A Safe Place,' "'A Safe Place' is a masterpiece! All the subtle dreams and fantasies which color our experience are captured on film for the first time. Henry Jaglom is the magician of America Cinema."

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Quotes

Magician: Last night... in my sleep... I dreamed that I was sleeping. And dreaming in this sleep that I had awakened... I fell asleep.

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Crazy Credits

As the song credits are given at the end, every song is given a vocalist credit except for Fred Astaire for "I'm Old-Fashioned". The song title simply passes without vocalist credit as the rest of the songs are given such a credit.

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Connections

Featured in Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983)

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Soundtracks

It's a Big, Wide Wonderful World
Written by John Rox
Performed by Buddy Clark

User Reviews

A beautiful relic of its time

Only in the post-"Easy Rider" early 1970s could a film like this be made by a major Hollywood studio. Totally devoid of anything resembling a plot, "A Safe Place" will probably seem incomprehensible to most. But if you already have an appreciation for the 1950s-1960s works of Fellini, Antonioni or Godard, come on in. You'll feel right at home in this "Safe Place."

Henry Jaglom was the unsung hero amongst the circle of friends that brought us "Head," "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces," and several other lesser-known classics of the era. Jaglom is more responsible for the success of "Easy Rider" than Dennis Hopper, as he took Hopper's three-hour cut--a mishmash of flashbacks, flash-forwards and art- damaged nonsense--and shaped it into the legendary film it is today. His close relationship with Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, and others gave him a chance to write and direct his own movie for Columbia Pictures.

Jaglom in turn delivered this dream narrative starring Tuesday Weld as a young woman who copes by retreating into isolationism and fantasy. Orson Welles pops up here and there as a magician who represents a physical emodiment of her retreat from the world. Or does he only exist in her head?

It's best not to ask questions like that. Free your mind, sit back, and take in the feeling and mood. Where Hopper failed with his cut of "Easy Rider" and "The Last Movie", Jaglom effortlessly succeeds with such lofty and artsy ambitions. "A Safe Place" coasts by like a gentle dream in an afternoon nap--full of beautiful, detached imagery, illogical but comforting.

"A Safe Place" is a beautiful relic of a brief time in American cinema. Even Jaglom-- always on the fringe of mainstream cinema--would never make anything like this again, as he later developed the documentary/verite style which has become his trademark.