Being There (1979)

A simple, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful businessman and an insider in Washington politics.

Director:

Hal Ashby

Writers:

Jerzy Kosinski (novel), Jerzy Kosinski (screenplay)

Stars:

Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas

Won 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Sellers	...	Chance
Shirley MacLaine	...	Eve Rand
Melvyn Douglas	...	Benjamin Rand
Jack Warden	...	President 'Bobby'
Richard Dysart	...	Dr. Robert Allenby
Richard Basehart	...	Vladimir Skrapinov
Ruth Attaway	...	Louise
David Clennon	...	Thomas Franklin (as Dave Clennon)
Fran Brill	...	Sally Hayes
Denise DuBarry	...	Johanna Franklin
Oteil Burbridge	...	Lolo
Ravenell Keller III	...	Abbaz
Brian Corrigan	...	Policeman by White House
Alfie Brown	...	Old Woman asked for lunch (as Alfredine Brown)
Don Jacob	...	David (as Donald Jacob)

Storyline

Simple-minded gardener Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. home of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television. After a run-in with a limousine, he ends up a guest of Eve and her husband Ben, an influential but sickly businessman. Now called Chauncey Gardner, Chance becomes friend and confidante to Ben, and an unlikely political insider.

---

Plot Keywords:

gardener | businessman | washington d.c. | television | politics | 

---

Taglines:

Getting there is half the fun; being there is all of it!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA West Germany

Language:

English Russian Italian

Release Date:

26 May 1980 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Being There

Filming Locations:

937 M Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$30,177,511

Company Credits

Production Co:

BSB, CIP, Lorimar Film Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Buffy Sainte-Marie can be seen in one of the TV shows Chance watches. She appears with Big Bird.

---

Goofs

When Eve enters Chance's room as he is eating breakfast in bed, the napkin beneath his chin changes position back and forth between shots.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Chance the Gardener: Good morning, Louise.
Louise: He's dead, Chance. The old man's dead.
Chance the Gardener: I see.
[Chance goes back to watching TV]

---

Crazy Credits

Under the end titles of the theatrical release are outtakes of Peter Sellers as Chance recounting the encounter with Abbaz. Sellers breaks character and laughs during each attempt. The lines do not appear in the movie. Certain versions of the film have credits with white text on a black background without the outtakes.

---

Alternate Versions

CBS edited 3 minutes from this film for its 1984 network television premiere.

---

Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Kick-Ass/Death at a Funeral/The Joneses (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Different Ways
Performed by Buffy Sainte-Marie and Caroll Spinney

User Reviews

A great work from two great men

On the face of it, this was always going to be a cinematic treat. Hal Ashby, who in my opinion had the greatest sense of humour in Hollywood directing Peter Sellers, one of the finest comic actors of all time.

What i didn't expect was an excellent supporting cast with superb performances from Shirley MacLaine and Melvyn Douglas and a watertight script from Kosinski. What gave me the biggest pleasure was Ashby's subtle portrayal of his own politics. Sellers' character's rise and rise is set against, in the beginning at least, images of the socially deprived. In most of Ashby's films there is a strong sense of the anti-establishment but what is brilliant in this movie is that Ashby gets inside the establishment to ridicule it and yet at the same time bring across a strong sense of humanity in the richer character's isolation and loneliness.

Politics or not Ashby's perfect pacing bring the best out of Sellers whose film career, Strangelove aside, was hit and miss. This movie is definitely a hit from the most underrated film director Hollywood has ever had the arrogance to forget to miss.