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IMDbPro

Rhinoceros

  • 19741974
  • PGPG
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Rhinoceros (1974)
A boozing young man in love with his co-worker finds that everyone around him, even his pompous and condescending best friend, is changing into a rhinoceros.
Play trailer1:56
1 Video
12 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
A boozing young man in love with his co-worker finds that everyone around him, even his pompous and condescending best friend, is changing into a rhinoceros.A boozing young man in love with his co-worker finds that everyone around him, even his pompous and condescending best friend, is changing into a rhinoceros.A boozing young man in love with his co-worker finds that everyone around him, even his pompous and condescending best friend, is changing into a rhinoceros.
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Tom O'Horgan
  • Writers
    • Eugène Ionesco(play)
    • Julian Barry(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Zero Mostel
    • Gene Wilder
    • Karen Black
Top credits
  • Director
    • Tom O'Horgan
  • Writers
    • Eugène Ionesco(play)
    • Julian Barry(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Zero Mostel
    • Gene Wilder
    • Karen Black
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 24User reviews
    • 24Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:56
    Trailer

    Photos12

    Rhinoceros (1974)
    Alan Bates, Lee Marvin, Stacy Keach, Glenda Jackson, and Zero Mostel in The Iceman Cometh (1973)
    Rhinoceros (1974)
    Gene Wilder in Rhinoceros (1974)
    Gene Wilder and Karen Black in Rhinoceros (1974)
    Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel in Rhinoceros (1974)
    Zero Mostel in Rhinoceros (1974)
    Zero Mostel in Rhinoceros (1974)
    Gene Wilder in Rhinoceros (1974)
    Rhinoceros (1974)
    Rhinoceros (1974)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Zero Mostel
    Zero Mostel
    • John
    Gene Wilder
    Gene Wilder
    • Stanley
    Karen Black
    Karen Black
    • Daisy
    Joe Silver
    Joe Silver
    • Norman
    Robert Weil
    Robert Weil
    • Carl
    Marilyn Chris
    Marilyn Chris
    • Mrs. Bingham
    Percy Rodrigues
    Percy Rodrigues
    • Mr. Nicholson
    Robert Fields
    Robert Fields
    • Young Man
    Melody Santangello
    • Young Woman
    • (as Melody Santangelo)
    Don Calfa
    Don Calfa
    • Waiter
    Lou Cutell
    Lou Cutell
    • Cashier
    Howard Morton
    • Doctor
    Manuel Aviles
    • Busboy
    Anne Ramsey
    Anne Ramsey
    • Lady with Cat
    Lorna Thayer
    Lorna Thayer
    • Restaurant Owner
    Sheryl Deauville
    Sheryl Deauville
    • Woman in Black with Baby Carriage
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Tom O'Horgan
    • Writers
      • Eugène Ionesco(play)
      • Julian Barry(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      During the rehearsals of his transformation scene, Zero Mostel refused to break any of the props, wanting to leave the destruction until he was actually shooting the scene.
    • Quotes

      John: So, you finally managed to get here. You're late as usual, of course.

      Stanley: No, I...

      John: Our appointment was for eleven thirty. It's practically noon now.

      Stanley: I'm sorry John. Have I kept you waiting long?

      John: No. I just got here myself.

      Stanley: Oh, well, then I don't feel so bad.

      John: That's beside the point. I don't like to be kept waiting and since you're never on time, I always come late on purpose.

    • Connections
      Featured in No Small Parts: Anne Ramsey (2014)
    • Soundtracks
      What Did You Do To Yourself
      Music by Galt MacDermot

      Lyrics by Bill Dumaresq

      Sung by David Lasley

    User reviews24

    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    Rhino weirdness
    The main selling points for seeing 'Rhinoceros' were Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel. Both immensely gifted and much missed performers and their partnership in 'The Producers' deserves legendary status. The source material that 'Rhinoceros' will never be one of my favourites, but it is interesting and entertaining. That it is one of the films making up the American Film Theatre series was another interest point and did expect a fair bit.

    'Rhinoceros' to me is one of the weakest of this inconsistent series of films adapted from plays, one that started off so well but was very mixed from 'A Delicate Balance' onwards. Of the other films in the series, only 'Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris' is worse and the film is a not a patch on the earlier winners 'The Iceman Cometh' and 'The Homecoming'. 'Rhinoceros' definitely has its good things, but it primarily suffers from trying too hard and taking the wrong approach to the source material.

    As said, there are things done well. Wilder had always been a very funny and expressive performer and actor, he shows both here beautifully whether verbal or non-verbal. Mostel is larger than life, without dominating too much, and often riotous. His finest being his transformation scene. A very memorable scene, for Mostel's delivery and the very effective use of shadows and POV camera angles. Wilder and Mostel are a dream together, having lost none of what made their chemistry so memorable in 'The Producers'.

    Karen Black's honest performance is the standout of the rest of the cast, the overall standard of the rest of the cast being not bad at all. The dialogue is still fun, although there are a number of deviations and changes (most of the adaptations of the American Film Theatre series were actually quite faithful). There is some nice photography, particularly interesting in the transformation.

    However, a lot doesn't work. As said, 'Rhinoceros' does try too hard and is very bizarre. Absurdist humour is meant to be strange but usually not this strange, this film goes overboard to beating around the head degrees and like some incredibly weird, increasingly confused and uncomfortable dream that one can't wake up from. Cohesion is lost as a result and the tone felt muddled. Some of the imagery in the more bizarre scenes are pretty cheap and at odds with the dialogue. The pace can be too frantic but it also can be tedious from doing too little with its content. For example what makes the play so relevant and the political references are both too toned down and preachy, as well as now out of date.

    It would have been better too if the humour was delivered in a more deadpan way, that way it wouldn't have felt so over the top, strained and vulgar. A consequence of approaching from too farcical an approach and overdoing the farce. The music also dates the film and very of the time. There was a sense to me that 'Rhinoceros' didn't know what it wanted or was trying to be and was instead experimenting the entire time.

    Summing up, one-time watchable but the second weakest of this interesting but uneven series of films. 5/10.
    helpful•4
    1
    • TheLittleSongbird
    • Aug 2, 2021

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 21, 1974 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros
    • Filming locations
      • 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • The Ely Landau Organization Inc.
      • Cinévision Ltée
      • The American Film Theatre
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 44 minutes
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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