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IMDbPro

Butterflies Are Free

  • 19721972
  • PGPG
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:40
1 Video
26 Photos
ComedyDramaMusic
A blind man moves into his own apartment against the wishes of his overprotective mother and befriends the freethinking young woman next door.A blind man moves into his own apartment against the wishes of his overprotective mother and befriends the freethinking young woman next door.A blind man moves into his own apartment against the wishes of his overprotective mother and befriends the freethinking young woman next door.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
    • Milton Katselas
    • Leonard Gershe(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Goldie Hawn
    • Edward Albert
    • Eileen Heckart
    • Milton Katselas
    • Leonard Gershe(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Goldie Hawn
    • Edward Albert
    • Eileen Heckart
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 50User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar

    Videos1

    Butterflies Are Free
    Trailer 2:40
    Watch Butterflies Are Free

    Photos26

    1 sheet movie poster
    Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Edward Albert in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn, Edward Albert, and Eileen Heckart in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn, Edward Albert, and Eileen Heckart in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
    Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert in Butterflies Are Free (1972)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Goldie Hawn
    Goldie Hawn
    • Jill
    Edward Albert
    Edward Albert
    • Don
    Eileen Heckart
    Eileen Heckart
    • Mrs. Baker
    Paul Michael Glaser
    Paul Michael Glaser
    • Ralph
    • (as Michael Glaser)
    Michael Warren
    Michael Warren
    • Roy
    • (as Mike Warren)
    Charlene Jones
    • Girl in Mod Shop
    • (uncredited)
    Jessica Rains
    • 1st Girl
    • (uncredited)
    Paul Ryan
    Paul Ryan
    • Man in Mod Shop
    • (uncredited)
    Debralee Scott
    Debralee Scott
    • Girl in Opening Credits
    • (uncredited)
    Sandra Vacey
    • Girl in Mod Shop
    • (uncredited)
      • Milton Katselas
      • Leonard Gershe(screenplay) (play)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Eileen Heckart was nominated for the 1970 Tony Award for Supporting or Features Actress in a Drama for "Butterflies are Free" but lost to co-star Blythe Danner. She recreated her stage role in this movie version, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. This time, she won.
    • Goofs
      At 1:42:19, the position of Don's hand on the ladder changes.
    • Quotes

      Mrs. Baker: [interrogating Jill about being divorced] How long were you married?

      Jill: Six days.

      Mrs. Baker: And on the seventh day you rested?

      Jill: No, I split.

    • Connections
      Featured in Romantic Comedy (2019)
    • Soundtracks
      Butterflies Are Free
      Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (as Steve Schwartz)

    User reviews50

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    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.
    helpful•11
    2
    • bkoganbing
    • Oct 12, 2006

    FAQ5

    • What is 'Butterflies Are Free' about?
    • Is 'Butterflies Are Free' based on a book?
    • What does the title mean?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 1972 (United States)
      • United States
      • Sony Movie Channel (United States)
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • 1355 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Frankovich Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 49 minutes
      • Mono

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