Bobby Deerfield (1977)

Bobby Deerfield, a famous American race car driver on the European circuit, falls in love with the enigmatic Lillian Morelli, who is terminally ill.

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

Alvin Sargent (screenplay), Erich Maria Remarque (novel)

Stars:

Al Pacino, Marthe Keller, Anny Duperey

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Bobby
Marthe Keller	...	Lillian
Anny Duperey	...	Lydia
Walter McGinn	...	The Brother
Van Doude	...	The Flutist
Gérard Hernandez	...	Carlos Del Montanaro
Stephan Meldegg	...	Karl Holtzmann
Norm Nielsen	...	The Magician (as Norm Nielson)
Romolo Valli	...	Uncle Luigi
Jaime Sánchez	...	Delvecchio (as Jaime Sanchez)
Mickey Knox	...	Tourist
Dorothy James	...	Tourist
Guido Alberti	...	Priest In The Garden
Monique Lejeune	...	Catherine Modave
Steve Gadler	...	Bertrand Modave

Storyline

Bobby Deerfield, a famous American race car driver on the European circuit, falls in love with the enigmatic Lillian Morelli, who is terminally ill.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | hixploitation | love | race car | formula 1 | 

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Taglines:

Who is Bobby Deerfield? No one really knew. Not the crowds who cheered him. Not the women who made love to him. Not the family who reached out to him. No one until now. No one until her.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

3 November 1977 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Um Momento, Uma Vida

Filming Locations:

Circuit de Magny-Cours, Nevers, Nièvre, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$9,300,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,300,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros., First Artists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby Digital (DVD version)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Hal Erickson at Allmovie, the film was "pared down to 99 minutes by director [Sydney] Pollack for cable-TV consumption". Premium movie channels, like Cinemax and HBO, show the complete 124-minute version.

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Quotes

Lillian Morelli: You're such a turtle!
Bobby Deerfield: Turtle?
[she nods]
Bobby Deerfield: Nobody's ever called me that before. A turtle.
Lillian Morelli: Perhaps you are the world's fastest turtle, but just the same, you are a ...
Lillian Morelli, Bobby Deerfield: turtle!

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Alternate Versions

25 minutes of the film were cut for the network TV showings; premium movie channels (such as Cinemax) show the complete 124 min version.

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Connections

Referenced in Stella Street: The Agony of Choice (2000)

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Soundtracks

Boo-Hoo!
Music by Carmen Lombardo and John Jacob Loeb
Words by Edward Heyman
Sung by Al Pacino and Marthe Keller

User Reviews

Heaven Has No Favorites

When Bobby Deerfield was marketed in the USA it was sold to the public as a racing picture like Grand Prix or Le Mans. I well remember the advertisements for it. The European racing scene however is only a background for an Erich Maria Remarque novel on which the film is based. It is a very typical Remarque story about doomed people.

Remarque was one of the most pessimistic of 20th century writers. His best known work however usually has a war background. He spent his entire life trying to out do his first great success All Quiet On The Western Front. Such other work as Three Comrades and Arch of Triumph which were also filmed had a war background or post or pre-war if you will.

The novel Bobby Deerfield is based on Heaven Has No Favorites and came out in 1961 and its protagonist was not an American. My guess is that in order to film it and insure box office the protagonist was changed to an American and a rising American star was cast. Al Pacino plays the title role, an American driver on the European circuit who is self involved in his career. In fact he goes visiting another injured driver, not out of any tremendous concern for him, but to find out information about the crash because he's driving the exact same type of car.

While at the hospital he meets Marthe Keller who leaves the hospital with him. She's a terminal tuberculosis patient and she wants to experience a little of life before it's too late. His kind of risk taking profession appeals to her. It takes a while, but the two develop a relationship.

Which was paralleled in real life between Al Pacino and Marthe Keller and that certainly helped the film a lot. Keller joins Ingrid Bergman from Arch of Triumph and Margaret Sullavan in Three Comrades as yet another of Remarque's doomed heroines. And like in war Pacino's in a job where his number can come up any time.

The film was shot on location in France. Sydney Pollack showed some of the style he did while making that other Oscar winning romantic film Out of Africa. The French countryside is captured beautifully.

Still I think it was bad for American audiences to expect another Grand Prix in Bobby Deerfield. There was enough racing scenes in the film to satisfy racing fans, maybe. But make no mistake, this is a tender romantic story and a good one.