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Only When I Laugh

  • 1981
  • R
  • 2h
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
Kristy McNichol and Marsha Mason in Only When I Laugh (1981)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:53
2 Videos
11 Photos
ComedyDrama

A Broadway actress fresh out of rehab navigates sobriety, her career, demanding daughter, and supporting her troubled friends' personal crises.A Broadway actress fresh out of rehab navigates sobriety, her career, demanding daughter, and supporting her troubled friends' personal crises.A Broadway actress fresh out of rehab navigates sobriety, her career, demanding daughter, and supporting her troubled friends' personal crises.

  • Director
    • Glenn Jordan
  • Writer
    • Neil Simon
  • Stars
    • Marsha Mason
    • Kristy McNichol
    • Ed Moore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.4/10
    1.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Glenn Jordan
    • Writer
      • Neil Simon
    • Stars
      • Marsha Mason
      • Kristy McNichol
      • Ed Moore
    • 19User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 2 wins & 8 nominations total

    Videos2

    Only When I Laugh
    Trailer 2:53
    Only When I Laugh
    Only When I Laugh: Leaving The Hospital
    Clip 1:28
    Only When I Laugh: Leaving The Hospital
    Only When I Laugh: Leaving The Hospital
    Clip 1:28
    Only When I Laugh: Leaving The Hospital

    Photos10

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    Top cast33

    Edit
    Marsha Mason
    Marsha Mason
    • Georgia
    Kristy McNichol
    Kristy McNichol
    • Polly
    Ed Moore
    • Dr. Komack
    Joan Hackett
    Joan Hackett
    • Toby
    James Coco
    James Coco
    • Jimmy
    Nancy Nagler
    • Heidi
    Dan Monahan
    Dan Monahan
    • Jason
    David Dukes
    David Dukes
    • David
    Ellen La Gamba
    • Receptionist
    Michael A. Ross
    • Paul
    • (as Michael Ross)
    Venida Evans
    Venida Evans
    • Nurse Garcia
    Tom Ormeny
    Tom Ormeny
    • Kyle
    Peter Coffield
    Peter Coffield
    • Mr. Tarloff
    John Bennett Perry
    John Bennett Perry
    • Actor (Lou)
    Byron Webster
    Byron Webster
    • Tom
    Ken Weisbrath
    • Waiter
    Jane Atkins
    • Doreen
    Henry Olek
    Henry Olek
    • George De Vane
    • Director
      • Glenn Jordan
    • Writer
      • Neil Simon
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews19

    6.41.7K
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    Featured reviews

    ctheslayer

    Palpable Transition from Stage to Screen

    Only When I Laugh is the film version of Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady. Unfortunately, the title isn't the only difference. While the original play deals with the seriousness of substance abuse and co-dependancy, its film counterpart plays it more for laughs - think The Goodbye Girl II, complete with the lead character's change in occupation from cabaret singer to stage actress and the same neurotic frenzy Marsha Mason brought to the role of Paula McFadden. It's the story of Georgia, a recovering alcoholic fresh from rehab, who's teenage daughter Polly decides to come live with her. While the two are working out the whole mother-daughter bit, Georgia finds herself too caught up in the miserable lives of her gay, unsuccessful actor friend Jimmy and her vain yet insecure rich, female best friend Tobey. There are some fantastic performances in this film, especially Joan Hackett as Tobey. Neil Simon, known for memorable monologues, wrote some his finest for the play, and they transfer quite well to film.
    9edwagreen

    Only When I Laugh-It Hurts So Much to Be So Good ***1/2

    Another marvelous Marsha Mason performance as a recently returning actress from rehabilitation.

    Neil Simon's script is as crisp and vivid as ever. Too bad that both Miss Mason and Diane Keaton's performance in "Reds" were overlooked by the Academy when the Oscar went to the sentimental Katharine Hepburn for "On Golden Pond." Academy members were apparently voting for Henry Fonda for best actor in record numbers and just went down the line for Hepburn as well. What a shame.

    The film deals with the frustrations and hopes of 3 people and that doesn't even include a worthy performance by Kristy McNichol as the daughter.

    As the gay actor, desperately trying to succeed, the late James Coco was excellent. In the supporting category, he is well matched by the late Joan Hackett, tremendous as Mason's best friend, whose marriage is apparently falling apart.Those glittering grayish clothes that she wore expressed her emotions so well. No one could also wear those poncho outfits that Mason wore. They depicted a troubled, but independent lady.

    This is an excellent case study of 3 friends in turmoil and how they try to cope while supporting each other emotionally. Trouble is that Georgia (Marsha Mason) allows herself to fall back and drink again. She says that as a youngster she wanted to be another Susan Hayward. She sure is crying tomorrow and smashing up her life.
    6johnflorencesullivan

    Evocative but unrealistic

    This movie is a window into another era. Although overall snappy and dramatic, it was marred by a strange deviation from reality. The lead character, Georgia Hines (Marsha Mason) plays an alcoholic, but in this world Alcholics Anonymous doesn't exist. It's difficult to believe the actress would spend 12 weeks in rehab and that they'd release her to just slide back into the world without the support of AA, which in New York at that time was thriving, with several hundreds of meetings. So it didn't seem to really reflect the realities of alcoholism whatsoever. Toby Hackett has a charming old-world voice that echoed very much that of Jean Arthur. Kristy McNichol is winsome, but again, it's difficult to believe that any daughter of a real alcoholic would have that much devotion to a drunk parent during the teen years. Despite these unrealistic aspects of the disease of alcoholism, the movie nevertheless was engaging and evocative.
    7jjnxn-1

    Good Marsha, Middling Simon

    Lesser Neil Simon dramedy with a fine performance from Marsha Mason. The problem is that her character is so selfish it's difficult to sympathize with her and since she's the focus of the piece that's vital. The result is that you feel detached from the proceedings. Purportedly Marsha's character Georgia was based on Judy Garland but as written she has none of Judy's enchantress qualities that made her often maddening behavior tolerable to her intimates for so many years. Georgia is thorny without the magnetism or charm that would compensate for her petty, difficult and sometimes cruel behavior.

    Joan Hackett gives her customarily excellent performance for which she was Oscar nominated but the part isn't award worthy. Still since this was her final feature film role before her death it nice that she was so honored for her many years of quality work. James Coco was similarly acknowledged and his part is more fleshed out but he has likewise had better roles. Kristy McNichol, at the height of her fame when this was made, surely took the project on feeling it would be a good showcase for her but except for one confrontation scene her character doesn't make much impact and it seems the script doesn't know what it wants her to be.

    Not a bad film but for being a Neil Simon project the script is missing an incisiveness that is the hallmark of his better work.
    8jamie-81

    Simon, Mason, Coco, Hackett, and McNichol - How Can You Go Wrong!

    Marsha Mason's performance of a lifetime - snubbed by the academy. This was by far her best performance since The Goodbye Girl. This film was not your ordinary Niel Simon flick. A tour-de-force with all the elements: Tears, Laughter, and each character going through their own seperate turmoil. James Coco is great as the gay wannabe actor/best friend. Joan Hackett is brilliant as Toby Landau, the aging Park Avenue beauty, who dreads growing old. Ms. Hackett won a Golden Globe for her performance in this film. Oscar nominations for Mason, Hackett, and Coco. Too bad none of them won.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      James Coco became the first actor to be nominated for both an Academy Award and a Razzie for the same performance. Coco won neither award. The only people to repeat this have been Amy Irving for Yentl (1983) and Glenn Close for Hillbilly Elegy (2020).
    • Goofs
      In one of the opening scenes when Marsha Mason's character is leaving the "Betty Ford Clinic" of the time, there is an employee, Sandy, who passes her by the stairs says good-bye but addresses her as Mrs. Simon instead Mrs. Hines the character's real name.
    • Quotes

      Jimmy: You're a lousy liar!

      Jimmy: I am a wonderful liar! I'm only lousy when I lie to you!

    • Alternate versions
      NBC edited 24 minutes from this film for its 1984 network television premiere.
    • Connections
      Featured in Sneak Previews: Continental Divide, Mommie Dearest, Only When I Laugh, Body Heat, First Monday in October (1981)
    • Soundtracks
      Heart
      from Damn Yankees (1958)

      Music and Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross

      Performed by Kristy McNichol (uncredited) and Nancy Nagler (uncredited)

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    FAQ18

    • How long is Only When I Laugh?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 25, 1981 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Neil Simon's Only When I Laugh
    • Filming locations
      • New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Rastar Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $25,524,778
    • Gross worldwide
      • $25,524,778
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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