Butterflies Are Free (1972)

A blind man moves into his own apartment against the wishes of his overprotective mother and befriends the freethinking young woman next door.

Director:

Milton Katselas

Writers:

Leonard Gershe (screenplay), Leonard Gershe (play)

Stars:

Goldie Hawn, Edward Albert, Eileen Heckart

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Goldie Hawn	...	Jill
Edward Albert	...	Don
Eileen Heckart	...	Mrs. Baker
Paul Michael Glaser	...	Ralph (as Michael Glaser)
Michael Warren	...	Roy (as Mike Warren)

Storyline

All Don Baker wants is a place of his own away from his over-protective mother. Don's been blind since birth, but that doesn't stop him from setting up in a San Francisco apartment and making the acquaintance of his off-the-wall, liberated, actress neighbor Jill. Don learns the kind of things from Jill that his mother would never have taught him! And Jill learns from Don what growing up and being free is really all about.

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Plot Keywords:

blind man | actress | underwear | peeping tom | overbearing mother | 

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Taglines:

I could love you if you'd let me.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Butterflies Are Free

Filming Locations:

1355 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Frankovich Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original Broadway production of "Butterflies Are Free" by Leonard Gershe, after twelve previews, opened at the Booth Theater on 21st October 1969, where it ran for 1128 performances, until it closed on 2nd July 1972.

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Goofs

At 1:42:19, the position of Don's hand on the ladder changes.

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Quotes

Mrs. Baker: [Jill says she has to go to an audition] Then you're an actress?
Jill: Well, yeah.
Mrs. Baker: Might I have seen you in anything, besides your underwear?
Jill: Um, not unless you went to Beverly Hills High School. I was in The Mikado. I played Yum-Yum.
Mrs. Baker: [laughing] Yes, I'm sure you did.

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Connections

Referenced in 42nd Street Memories: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Notorious Street (2015)

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Soundtracks

Take Me Home, Country Roads
Music and Lyrics by John Denver, Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert
Published by Cherry Lane Music Co.
Sung by Edward Albert

User Reviews

Overprotective Mama

This film version of Leonard Gershe's Butterflies are Free which ran for 1128 performances on Broadway from 1969 to 1972 transfers the location from Greenwich Village in Manhattan to the hippest areas of San Francisco circa the Seventies. Eileen Heckart and Paul Michael Glaser, later Starsky on Starsky&Hutch retain their original roles.

Replacing Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner in the leads are Edward Albert and Goldie Hawn. This was Edward Albert's film debut and Hawn was following up the Oscar she won for Cactus Flower. Both of them fit their parts perfectly.

But I can hardly see anyone else in the role of Albert's overprotective Mama than Eileen Heckart. Though she's only in the film in the second half, Heckart really dominates the proceedings. So much so she got an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress that year. Heckart also avoids the usual stereotyping as the mom, but she does register real concern for her kid going out in the world.

Edward Albert is her twenty something son who is trying to break free from his mom and is now living in an apartment that has a connecting door to the next apartment which is occupied by free spirited hippie chick, Goldie Hawn. Of course the key here is that Albert is blind, blind from birth. They develop into quite the romance that Heckart tries to break up.

Do love Goldie's fashion sense. See the episode where she takes Albert out of the apartment and clothes shopping. Remember those seventies fashions? Straight off the rack or the body of Barry Williams as Greg Brady.