An Unmarried Woman (1978)

A wealthy woman from Manhattan's Upper East Side struggles to deal with her new identity and her sexuality after her husband of sixteen years leaves her for a younger woman.

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writer:

Paul Mazursky

Stars:

Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, Michael Murphy

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jill Clayburgh	...	Erica
Alan Bates	...	Saul Kaplan
Michael Murphy	...	Martin
Cliff Gorman	...	Charlie
Patricia Quinn	...	Sue (as Pat Quinn)
Kelly Bishop	...	Elaine
Lisa Lucas	...	Patti
Linda Miller	...	Jeannette
Andrew Duncan	...	Bob
Daniel Seltzer	...	Dr. Jacobs
Matthew Arkin	...	Phil
Penelope Russianoff	...	Tanya
Novella Nelson	...	Jean
Raymond J. Barry	...	Edward
Ivan Karp	...	Herb Rowan

Storyline

Erica is unmarried only temporarily, in that her successful, wealthy husband of seventeen years has just left her for a girl he met while buying a shirt in Bloomingdale's. This movie shows Erica coming to terms with the break-up, while revising her opinions of herself, redefining that self in its own right rather than as an extension of somebody else's personality, and finally going out with another man. Erica refuses to drop everything for Saul, an abstract expressionist painter, simply out of love for him, because he expects her to. It is not so much loneliness that is her problem, and the problems that men, flitting around this newly "available" woman like moths round a flame, bring to her sense of independence.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | marital separation | divorce | sex scene | bare breasts | 

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Taglines:

She laughs, she cries, she feels angry, she feels lonely, she feels guilty, she makes breakfast, she makes love, she makes do, she is strong, she is weak, she is brave, she is scared, she is... an unmarried woman.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Penelope Russianoff (Tanya the therapist) was an actual therapist, and the counseling sessions were filmed in her apartment on West 86th Street, where she saw her patients. She wrote several help books in the 1970s.

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Goofs

During Erica's second visit to Tanya, the plants behind Erica change places with each shot. For straight ahead shots of only Erica, the small cactus is on the right. In angled shots, showing both women, the small cactus is on the left.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Martin and Erica are jogging along the river]
Martin: Jesus Christ! Look at this - my sneaker's ruined!
Erica: They're only thirty-five dollars.
[Erica takes Martin's shoe and cleans it off for him]
Martin: Fucking city's turning into one big pile of DOG SHIT!
[shouting at passing traffic]
Martin: Come on out and take a crap on me - everybody else is. Fuck.
[Martin lights a cigarette]
Erica: ...been jogging for 2 1/2 miles - you're giving yourself lung cancer.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

For Betsy

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Connections

Referenced in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life: Fall (2016)

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Soundtracks

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
(1976) (uncredited)
Written by Leo Sayer and Vini Poncia
Performed by Leo Sayer

User Reviews

A rare thing: an American film for and about adults

Briefly, this is one of the few American films I have seen that is remotely a realistic depiction of how basically intelligent, decent, middle-class adults behave in a long-term relationship (in this case a marriage of sixteen years) when they break up. I almost felt as though I were watching a reality show from that era. This is how people behave, without much heroism or great insight into themselves or others; often with a "cluelessness" that defines our humanity more tellingly than our pride would like to hear. (An aside to the previous commenter: I have seen this sort of thing, close-up and personal, and this is pretty much how people act: it reminded me very much of how a couple with whom I was very close broke up, and the aftermath, in the decade before this film was made. And the man had been having an affair for several years before it happened, not just one: the woman had not a clue.) My only complaint is that the story ends far too soon and far too happily. But it is an American film (sigh!), so one most not expect too much: we just "cannot bear very much reality"!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 March 1978 (Canada)

Also Known As:

An Unmarried Woman

Filming Locations:

Eat Restaurant, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$24,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Major Studio Partners, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1