A Touch of Class (1973)

Romantic comedy about a pair of clandestine lovers in a London-Spain tryst.

Director:

Melvin Frank

Writers:

Melvin Frank, Jack Rose

Stars:

George Segal, Glenda Jackson, Paul Sorvino

Won 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Segal	...	Steve Blackburn
Glenda Jackson	...	Vickie Allessio
Paul Sorvino	...	Walter Menkes
K Callan	...	Patty Menkes
Cec Linder	...	Wendell Thompson
Michael Elwyn	...	Cecil
Mary Barclay	...	Martha Thompson
Nadim Sawalha	...	Night Hotel Manager
Ian Thompson	...	Derek
Ève Karpf	...	Miss Ramos (as Eve Karpf)
David de Keyser	...	Doctor Alvarez (as David De Keyser)
Gaye Brown	...	Dora French
Carl Oatley	...	Bell Boy
Rebecca De Los Reyes	...	Rent-A-Car Clerk
Felipe Solano	...	Airline Clerk Malaga

Storyline

American Steve Blackburn, in the insurance business, is married with two kids. Vickie Allessio, a self described design "stealer" for a knockoff fashion house, is a recent divorcée with two kids. Steve and Vickie are running into each other more and more in their day to day lives in London before even knowing who the other is, which suits them both fine, as when they do finally officially meet, Steve is up front that he wants to have an affair with her, Steve who has had affairs in the past whenever his wife Gloria, who is from old money, isn't around which is currently the case as she is in the States visiting her parents. Vickie, in turn, is up front that she is amenable to a no-strings affair with him under specific circumstances, namely that it be at least a classy short term affair, meaning no cheap motels, and preferably a weekend away somewhere warm. Able to arrange a business trip to Málaga, Spain, for a week, Steve convinces Vickie to change their agreed weekend to a week and...

---

Plot Keywords:

female stockinged feet | female stockinged legs | taupe pantyhose | pantyhose | neo screwball comedy | 

---

Taglines:

They had the perfect love affair. Until they fell in love.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Glenda Jackson was not present at the Academy Awards Ceremony when she won her Best Actress Oscar for A Touch of Class (1973). The film's writer-director-producer Melvin Frank accepted the gong on her behalf. Lost and Found (1979) was the pair's first cinema movie collaboration since Jackson's Oscar win for Best Actress in a Leading Role

---

Goofs

At 7:08, when Vickie gets out of the cab, the position of the window changes.

---

Quotes

Man Hailing Cab at End: Taxi!
Vickie Allessio: Oh!
Man Hailing Cab at End: Would you care to share it?
Vickie Allessio: Are you married?
Man Hailing Cab at End: Yeah.
Vickie Allessio: You take it.

---

Connections

Referenced in Rewind This! (2013)

---

Soundtracks

All That Love Went to Waste
Written by George Barrie and Sammy Cahn
Performed by Madeline Bell

User Reviews

Bittersweet

Bittersweet comedy helped immeasurably by the chemistry of the stars and the skill of their performances. Glenda is brash and delicate in equal measure, George bombastic but good natured. While it shows the pitfalls of infidelity it doesn't judge its characters for their choices and actually presents all the relationships, including Glenda's gay assistant's, evenhandedly rather surprising for the 70's. As far as her receiving an Oscar for this performance, she's sprightly and more relaxed than she usually was on screen but I doubt that even she expected to grab the prize for what is a customary solid job but hardly extraordinary.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

25 May 1973 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Touch of Class

Filming Locations:

London Heathrow Airport, London Borough of Hillingdon, London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$18,312,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brut Productions, Gordon Film Productions, Joseph E. Levine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1