Katharine Hepburn in a Cannon production? Yes, and though the color process on the photography is typically brackish and the technical aspects of "Grace Quigley" seem slapdash, this turns out to be a quirky, exceptionally funny piece about a hit-man's friendship with an elderly woman in New York. Reportedly, Hepburn and Nick Nolte clashed during filming, but you'd never suspect that from the finished returns (they have an easy rapport). The crux of the plot (that aged folks would rather die mercifully at the hands of a hired killer then live in loneliness or pain) was controversial in 1984--and still smacks of bad taste--yet director Anthony Harvey keeps the whole thing bubbling like the most genial of comedies. As for Kate, she's feisty as usual, but also delightfully daffy and loose; she's a team player. **1/2 from ****
18 Reviews
A Hit-man With Issues
bkoganbing23 September 2009
The third time was not the charm for the acting/directing team of Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Harvey. The two had been responsible for Kate's Oscar winning performance in The Lion In Winter and an acclaimed television version of The Glass Menagerie.
But gold went to brass in this black comedy, Grace Quigley about an old woman who sees a professional hit-man off her landlord. Truth be told the landlord was not the nicest guy in the world and there's no shock for the audience see the murder from Kate's point of view.
But Hepburn in the title role sees Nick Nolte as the hit-man as the solution to all her problems. She hasn't much reason to hang around this mortal coil with no family and friends taking the big trip, more it seems all the time. She blackmails Nolte into doing a hit on her, and maybe a few interested friends. And things get complicated there.
Kate also manages to pick a hit-man with issues. Nolte is in analysis and this new complication in his life is of interest to his doctor, Chip Zien. And Nolte who never had a family so to speak and the little old lady form one unusual bond that even Nolte's girl friend Kit Lefever can't break nor does she really want to.
This rather ordinary material is made much better by the sheer presence of Katharine Hepburn. She seems to be taking her Madwoman Of Chaillot character and Americanizing it in Grace Quigley. I doubt if a lesser actress could have made this palatable.
Grace Quigley marked the final performance of Walter Abel whose career stretched all the way back to World War I. Abel is one of the old folks just dying for Nolte's services.
Grace Quigley is primarily for Katharine Hepburn fans, I don't think it has too much appeal beyond that. Then again Kate has one big legion of fans.
But gold went to brass in this black comedy, Grace Quigley about an old woman who sees a professional hit-man off her landlord. Truth be told the landlord was not the nicest guy in the world and there's no shock for the audience see the murder from Kate's point of view.
But Hepburn in the title role sees Nick Nolte as the hit-man as the solution to all her problems. She hasn't much reason to hang around this mortal coil with no family and friends taking the big trip, more it seems all the time. She blackmails Nolte into doing a hit on her, and maybe a few interested friends. And things get complicated there.
Kate also manages to pick a hit-man with issues. Nolte is in analysis and this new complication in his life is of interest to his doctor, Chip Zien. And Nolte who never had a family so to speak and the little old lady form one unusual bond that even Nolte's girl friend Kit Lefever can't break nor does she really want to.
This rather ordinary material is made much better by the sheer presence of Katharine Hepburn. She seems to be taking her Madwoman Of Chaillot character and Americanizing it in Grace Quigley. I doubt if a lesser actress could have made this palatable.
Grace Quigley marked the final performance of Walter Abel whose career stretched all the way back to World War I. Abel is one of the old folks just dying for Nolte's services.
Grace Quigley is primarily for Katharine Hepburn fans, I don't think it has too much appeal beyond that. Then again Kate has one big legion of fans.
Right up there with the great "dark comedies" ...........
merklekranz22 September 2019
Great "black comedies" have one thing in common, great acting. Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon in "Harold and Maude", Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov in "Eating Raoul", George Segal and Ruth Gordon in "Where's Poppa?", Frances Fuller in "Homebodies", and definitely right up there is Katherine Hepburn and Nick Nolte in "Grace Quigley." The deadpan planning of "helping" the elderly move on" is played perfectly, and Nolte finds Grace's business plan to be quite profitable. In order for "dark comedy" to work it cannot be mean spirited, and "Grace" handles all the arrangements in a very dignified manner. Also, this is the only movie on the Planet that has a car chase with four hearses. Recommended for sure. - MERK
Kate Hepburn's Last Movie by Producers on Their Last Legs!
mike-92521 July 2002
Golan-Globus, something like that, and Cannon films: Ancient film producers from the early eighties when videocassettes were starting to change the nature of the American Movie Biz. Films had begun to boom!
Enter two extraordinary actors: Katherine Hepburn and Nick Nolte.
Nolte had been appearing in commercial Hollywood productions for years, but he is a real actor and wanted to appear in quality productions.
The prospect of appearing with Great Katherine must have seduced him into working with these hopelessly exploitive producers and Cannon films. Kate looks great, her Parkinson disease notwithstanding, in the last theater movie she ever made. It appeared in 1984, when she was still in her seventies, her etched cheekbones intact, and her teeth still movie star white.
Here's the plot: Kate Hepburn watches as Hit-man Nick Nolte, just barely in his forties, kills her noxious landlord. Impressed, Kate who has been thinking of checking out herself decides to hire Nick to off her. Before long, complications ensue. The whole gerontological
group that Kate knows, including most of the unemployed aging actors in New York, want to leave the stage, as it were, themselves. They want to join Kate in that great actors home in the sky.
The Plot thread is helped when Kate invites a friend to join her by arranging a package deal to have them both killed by Nick. But Nick turns out to be a sensitive hit-man, not willing to go along with all of Kate's murderous fantasies. The plot eventually spirals out of control. Nick offs few of the older set, but becomes very popular with this group. After all, if this Golan-Globus (they're the producers) hadn't put together these two stars, Walter Abel probably would have died before he worked in another film. The same goes for many of the other actors in this film.
Toward the end, a cabbie keeps Kate's shoe as ransom for a cab fare she can't pay. Kate wants Nick to off the cabbie. But this black comedy has wandered to too many side alleys. Nick's psychiatrist warns him that Kate has unearthed his sensitive side, and he had better change his ways.
In the end, there is no plot-driven denouement to this tale. Nick and Kate spot an enormous throng of old folks looking for a way to end it all near her apartment, and decide to escape these growing responsibilities by lighting out for what passes for the territories in Manhattan.
So who's driving the cab they hail on the street? You guessed it, the cabbie who stole Kate's shoe. The hack looks at her surprised, looks even more apprehensively at Nick, and turns around to drive his fares where they want to go.
Nick and Kate have apparently won some sort of battle by getting the last laugh on the cabbie, and so the film ends with both of them alive and smiling in the back of the cab, all their problems solved. Its not a great ending, but a fair compromise to finish this wildly out-of-hand scenario.
Enter two extraordinary actors: Katherine Hepburn and Nick Nolte.
Nolte had been appearing in commercial Hollywood productions for years, but he is a real actor and wanted to appear in quality productions.
The prospect of appearing with Great Katherine must have seduced him into working with these hopelessly exploitive producers and Cannon films. Kate looks great, her Parkinson disease notwithstanding, in the last theater movie she ever made. It appeared in 1984, when she was still in her seventies, her etched cheekbones intact, and her teeth still movie star white.
Here's the plot: Kate Hepburn watches as Hit-man Nick Nolte, just barely in his forties, kills her noxious landlord. Impressed, Kate who has been thinking of checking out herself decides to hire Nick to off her. Before long, complications ensue. The whole gerontological
group that Kate knows, including most of the unemployed aging actors in New York, want to leave the stage, as it were, themselves. They want to join Kate in that great actors home in the sky.
The Plot thread is helped when Kate invites a friend to join her by arranging a package deal to have them both killed by Nick. But Nick turns out to be a sensitive hit-man, not willing to go along with all of Kate's murderous fantasies. The plot eventually spirals out of control. Nick offs few of the older set, but becomes very popular with this group. After all, if this Golan-Globus (they're the producers) hadn't put together these two stars, Walter Abel probably would have died before he worked in another film. The same goes for many of the other actors in this film.
Toward the end, a cabbie keeps Kate's shoe as ransom for a cab fare she can't pay. Kate wants Nick to off the cabbie. But this black comedy has wandered to too many side alleys. Nick's psychiatrist warns him that Kate has unearthed his sensitive side, and he had better change his ways.
In the end, there is no plot-driven denouement to this tale. Nick and Kate spot an enormous throng of old folks looking for a way to end it all near her apartment, and decide to escape these growing responsibilities by lighting out for what passes for the territories in Manhattan.
So who's driving the cab they hail on the street? You guessed it, the cabbie who stole Kate's shoe. The hack looks at her surprised, looks even more apprehensively at Nick, and turns around to drive his fares where they want to go.
Nick and Kate have apparently won some sort of battle by getting the last laugh on the cabbie, and so the film ends with both of them alive and smiling in the back of the cab, all their problems solved. Its not a great ending, but a fair compromise to finish this wildly out-of-hand scenario.
Bizarre black comedy has its moments
aromatic-21 April 2000
This film has an offbeat premise, and many offbeat characters. The last theatrical release of Kate's career is neither a fitting nor typical valedictory -- and in that way, perhaps it is a fitting testimonial to Hepburn's career --- unconventional and poignant while always entertaining. Although the laughs are uneven and the subject matter may offend some, I found it entertaining and interesting.
"Coming Mr Flint!"
richardchatten6 June 2023
The coming together of such disparate talents as Katherine Hepburn, director Anthony Harvey and the dreaded team of Cannon supremos Golan & Globus yields certainly the most idiosyncratic treatment of assisted suicide since Edward G. Robinson went to meet his maker in 'Soylent Green' in this project long nurtured by Miss Hepburn which heats up the old chestnut about a citizen hiring a professional hitman to provide his services.
Miss Hepburn and Nick Nolte certainly make strange bedfellows as the client and her employee with quirky contributions from Walter Abel, Kip Le Fever, William Duell and Elizabeth Wilson.
Miss Hepburn and Nick Nolte certainly make strange bedfellows as the client and her employee with quirky contributions from Walter Abel, Kip Le Fever, William Duell and Elizabeth Wilson.
Good....but..... Not Good Enough .
happipuppi1314 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Yes,this was quite unfortunately Ms. Hepburn's last,1st billed,starring vehicle.
What a shame it is too! Despite a daring storyline and plot about elderly people who no longer want to live,the second 1/2 of this film gets hopelessly lost.
It loses it's direction and in a sense...chickens out from it's bold stance on assisted suicide and or mercy killings. While I don't favor such acts,I thought that Ms. Hepburn and all involved were making some sort of statement here.
Later she,regrets her act of helping her friends die by turning in the man she hired! The continuity of the film seems disrupted as well by shoddy editing and dialog. At least she got to be in 1994's Love Affair and her TV movies were even better.
A short appearance for Love Affair, but 100% better than this.
In one part of this Nick Nolte is looking all over the city for her and incredibly finds her on the roof of a building! What did he do? Go to the roof of every building in the city?
By the end of this I can't tell if they regret what they've done or are okay with it.
When I originally found this at my local Blockbuster Video, I considered it a stroke of luck but I guess I should have known by how dusty it was (and yes it honestly was!)that it hadn't been watched for a reason.
I love Ms. Hepburn's acting and I don't blame her for this fiasco nor Mr. Nolte. She's great as always but the second 1/2 does no justice to her abilities. I blame the writers,the producers,the directors and the studio especially, for not shelving this embarrassment to an otherwise great actress.
Avoid at all costs,unless you "really" love Katharine Hepburn so much,you'll watch her in anything! (END)
What a shame it is too! Despite a daring storyline and plot about elderly people who no longer want to live,the second 1/2 of this film gets hopelessly lost.
It loses it's direction and in a sense...chickens out from it's bold stance on assisted suicide and or mercy killings. While I don't favor such acts,I thought that Ms. Hepburn and all involved were making some sort of statement here.
Later she,regrets her act of helping her friends die by turning in the man she hired! The continuity of the film seems disrupted as well by shoddy editing and dialog. At least she got to be in 1994's Love Affair and her TV movies were even better.
A short appearance for Love Affair, but 100% better than this.
In one part of this Nick Nolte is looking all over the city for her and incredibly finds her on the roof of a building! What did he do? Go to the roof of every building in the city?
By the end of this I can't tell if they regret what they've done or are okay with it.
When I originally found this at my local Blockbuster Video, I considered it a stroke of luck but I guess I should have known by how dusty it was (and yes it honestly was!)that it hadn't been watched for a reason.
I love Ms. Hepburn's acting and I don't blame her for this fiasco nor Mr. Nolte. She's great as always but the second 1/2 does no justice to her abilities. I blame the writers,the producers,the directors and the studio especially, for not shelving this embarrassment to an otherwise great actress.
Avoid at all costs,unless you "really" love Katharine Hepburn so much,you'll watch her in anything! (END)
gallows humor
SnoopyStyle6 February 2022
Grace Quigley (Katharine Hepburn) is a struggling senior living in New York City. She witnesses a professional hit performed by hitman Seymour Flint (Nick Nolte). She hides in his car. She had tried to commit suicide and sees him as a solution. She comes up with the idea to 'help' other suicidal seniors.
This is supposed to be a black comedy. It's in here somewhere. The characters are definitely oddballs coming out of left field. It's not actually funny and I don't know if it's actually fun. It has the underlying layer of sadness. I'm just not sure if this dark premise is a fun one.
This is supposed to be a black comedy. It's in here somewhere. The characters are definitely oddballs coming out of left field. It's not actually funny and I don't know if it's actually fun. It has the underlying layer of sadness. I'm just not sure if this dark premise is a fun one.
Katherine's scored a hit....which turned out to be a flop....
mark.waltz20 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
"Old age ain't for sissies", the legendary Bette Davis once said, and here, the equally legendary Katharine Hepburn takes on the same viewpoint, even though at one point, she's ready to throw the towel in. The actress, legendary for taking winter morning swims in freezing water, celebrated being in films for over 50 years by starring in this dark comedy where an ailing elderly woman happens to witness a hit man (Nick Nolte) on duty and stalks him in order to convince him to do her in to unveil her of her ailments. She's sick of being tired, sick of being old, and definitely sick of being sick. But she suddenly gets a new lease on life when she finds herself being needed for what she sees as her old age purpose. That purpose? Aiding unwitting members of the senior community by killing them off "gently" simply to unveil them of their woes. They are all in agreement, some of them choosing their own deaths or allowing it to be a surprise. But of course, Katie isn't a murderer at heart, even if her intentions are good, and when things get a little too awry, she's desperate to get out.
Anthony Harvey, whose direction of "The Lion in Winter" helped bring Kate her third Oscar, wasn't so lucky here, and this film has had a precarious release history. Its initial release only lasted a week, and re-edited, it wasn't a success, either. Of the supporting actors, Elizabeth Wilson, William Duell, Paula Trueman and Truman Gaige stand out, with Wilson stealing every scene she is in as the most determined member of the group who desires to go out in a blaze of glory. This certainly is not a film for people who are sensitive to death, especially when it concerns their elderly family members. You won't think of the song "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" in the same way again after seeing this movie.
Anthony Harvey, whose direction of "The Lion in Winter" helped bring Kate her third Oscar, wasn't so lucky here, and this film has had a precarious release history. Its initial release only lasted a week, and re-edited, it wasn't a success, either. Of the supporting actors, Elizabeth Wilson, William Duell, Paula Trueman and Truman Gaige stand out, with Wilson stealing every scene she is in as the most determined member of the group who desires to go out in a blaze of glory. This certainly is not a film for people who are sensitive to death, especially when it concerns their elderly family members. You won't think of the song "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" in the same way again after seeing this movie.
As one reviewer said, it has its moments.
planktonrules27 October 2022
"Grace Quigley" is a very, very dark comedy...so much so that I can guarantee it will offend some people. My problem with it wasn't the sick plot...more that the film seems to have needed a slight re-write as the film's mood and focus seemed inconsistent.
Grace (Katharine Hepburn) is a tired old woman...and, particularly, tired of life. So when she witnesses a hitman (Nick Nolte) killing her hateful landlord, instead of going to the police or ignoring it, she approaches the killer and offers him a business proposition. She wants him to kill her and her other elderly friends who, like her, are tired of living. Believe it or not, this IS a comedy.
I thought the setup for the film wasn't bad at all, but over time the movie seemed to lose its focus. Also a few times I thought the film could have done things better...either by making the film much more serious OR much less serious.
I noticed someone said that this dark film is better than an equally dark movie, "Harold and Maude". Well, I'd never say that..."Harold and Maude" is a classic and bears re-watching. "Grace Quigley", on the other hand, is just okay and is a film I am glad I saw...once.
Grace (Katharine Hepburn) is a tired old woman...and, particularly, tired of life. So when she witnesses a hitman (Nick Nolte) killing her hateful landlord, instead of going to the police or ignoring it, she approaches the killer and offers him a business proposition. She wants him to kill her and her other elderly friends who, like her, are tired of living. Believe it or not, this IS a comedy.
I thought the setup for the film wasn't bad at all, but over time the movie seemed to lose its focus. Also a few times I thought the film could have done things better...either by making the film much more serious OR much less serious.
I noticed someone said that this dark film is better than an equally dark movie, "Harold and Maude". Well, I'd never say that..."Harold and Maude" is a classic and bears re-watching. "Grace Quigley", on the other hand, is just okay and is a film I am glad I saw...once.
Some good scenes but overall a little bleak
calorne19 April 2024
The best two scenes in the film in my view are where Katherine Hepburn is standing up for herself in the face of scoundrels. The first, a mean spirited landlord and the second, a sneaky and avaricious taxi driver. These scenes have passion and spark. The rest of the film was a rather hum drum and occasionally bleak dark comedy/farce.
The concept has the bare bones of a very funny dark comedy, but the execution was not terribly successful here because the dialogue and action is not witty enough.
For a witty dark comedy that is not a million miles away in terms of its theme, I would suggest Throw Moma from the Train.
I read in one of the reviews that the two leads did not get on and that reviewer considered that this didn't show in the film. I think it did show, as the scenes with Hepburn and Nolte appeared rather forced to me.
The concept has the bare bones of a very funny dark comedy, but the execution was not terribly successful here because the dialogue and action is not witty enough.
For a witty dark comedy that is not a million miles away in terms of its theme, I would suggest Throw Moma from the Train.
I read in one of the reviews that the two leads did not get on and that reviewer considered that this didn't show in the film. I think it did show, as the scenes with Hepburn and Nolte appeared rather forced to me.
A delightful black comedy about assisted suicide.
Tom Murray26 September 2002
Grace Quigley (Katherine Hepburn), an elderly woman, witnesses a hit man, Seymour Flint (Nick Nolte), in action. She finds that he has dropped his wallet and learns his identity. She then blackmails him into killing her, since she is elderly and has no reason to live but lacks the courage to take her own life. However he quickly develops a fondness for her, as a surrogate mother and so can not kill her. Instead they start assisting in the suicides of friends of Grace who no longer wish to live. The film is black comedy at its best and is one of my favourite films. The characters are likable and, wierdly, we end up rooting for them to die. Nolte's role as a sentimental hit man and his relationship with Grace are particularly amusing. This film is not for those who have a strong repugnant feeling against suicide but if you enjoy the bizarre, then you may very well like this film. If you do, then you could also like Harold and Maude.
The version I watched of Grace Quigley was okay since it was pretty uneven
tavm19 December 2019
After a couple of decades of only knowing about this film, I finally saw this from a DVD I borrowed from the library. Katharine Hepburn stars in the title role as an elderly woman who witnesses a murder and makes a deal with hitman Nick Nolte to do the same for some of her friends who are lonely and depressed. I'll just now say there are some funny parts and some good dramatic ones but it's uneven especially when it gets to the end. I know there's an alternate version that might be better but this one was for the most part pretty okay...
Grace Quigley
BandSAboutMovies14 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
One of Katharine Hepburn's last leading roles in a motion picture was in a Cannon movie. Yes, that's true. It's in a black comedy in which she has tried suicide twice before hiring Nick Nolte to be the hitman who brings about her demise. Before that, however, they help her friends get past their old age by, well, death.
Directed by Anthony Harvey (They Might Be Giants, The Lion In Winter), the subject matter of this movie worried Cannon, who asked that the end of the film be reshot - Nolte's Seymour drowns when he tries to save Hepburn's Grace when she walks into the ocean - so that it ended on a happier note. They also shortened the name from The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley, because when you realize that name may come off as a bit, oh, Aryan.
The story of how this was made is more interesting than the finished product: A. Martin Zweiback tossed a 25-page treatment over George Cukor's garden gate in 1972. Strangely, that's where Hepburn was recuperating from surgery. She found the script, loved it and tried to get it made with Steve McQueen. It took seven years to get it to Columbia and Nick Nolte stepped in, but left, and then came back by 1983, but Columbia now backed out. And that's where Cannon comes in, with Zweiback slated to direct.
However, Anthony Harvey, who had worked with Hepburn on The Lion in Winter and The Glass Menagerie - and on the TV movie This Can't Be Love after this film - had been injured in a car accident and his career had suffered. Hepburn promised he could direct her next film and Zweibeck stepped aside as long as he and his wife would be credited as executive producers and allowed to come to the set.
Harvey didn't want them near his movie and threatened to quit, but the Zweibacks didn't have any involvement in the movie until they saw the premiere at Cannes where everybody hated the final film.
Directed by Anthony Harvey (They Might Be Giants, The Lion In Winter), the subject matter of this movie worried Cannon, who asked that the end of the film be reshot - Nolte's Seymour drowns when he tries to save Hepburn's Grace when she walks into the ocean - so that it ended on a happier note. They also shortened the name from The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley, because when you realize that name may come off as a bit, oh, Aryan.
The story of how this was made is more interesting than the finished product: A. Martin Zweiback tossed a 25-page treatment over George Cukor's garden gate in 1972. Strangely, that's where Hepburn was recuperating from surgery. She found the script, loved it and tried to get it made with Steve McQueen. It took seven years to get it to Columbia and Nick Nolte stepped in, but left, and then came back by 1983, but Columbia now backed out. And that's where Cannon comes in, with Zweiback slated to direct.
However, Anthony Harvey, who had worked with Hepburn on The Lion in Winter and The Glass Menagerie - and on the TV movie This Can't Be Love after this film - had been injured in a car accident and his career had suffered. Hepburn promised he could direct her next film and Zweibeck stepped aside as long as he and his wife would be credited as executive producers and allowed to come to the set.
Harvey didn't want them near his movie and threatened to quit, but the Zweibacks didn't have any involvement in the movie until they saw the premiere at Cannes where everybody hated the final film.
One of the best dark comedies ever
jhtreble17 March 2006
I have watched Grace Quigley a couple of times (on VHS) and found myself laughing out loud each time. It really is one of the best dark comedies around. I've recommended it to several friends who never heard of the movie and after watching it have come back to thank me. I don't think it ever made it to DVD, which is too bad. I would happily buy the DVD if it becomes available. Nolte and Hepburn are terrific.
The final solution is the best part of the plot. Hepburn and Nolte meet up in the most unusual way. Hepburn plays the part of the old woman who is fed up with her difficult life and wants to end it all. Nolte is a 'hit man' and Hepburn tries to hire him to do herself in. Being such a lovable old lady causes a conflict and Nolte cannot bring himself to do it... The end result a booming business with the most unorthodox product for 'sale'.
If you are in the mood for a good laugh, this is one that you should not miss.
The final solution is the best part of the plot. Hepburn and Nolte meet up in the most unusual way. Hepburn plays the part of the old woman who is fed up with her difficult life and wants to end it all. Nolte is a 'hit man' and Hepburn tries to hire him to do herself in. Being such a lovable old lady causes a conflict and Nolte cannot bring himself to do it... The end result a booming business with the most unorthodox product for 'sale'.
If you are in the mood for a good laugh, this is one that you should not miss.
Strange & somber defeatist comedy
michaelberanek27521 May 2023
This little unpolished gem from Cannon films almost defies definition with its frankly depressing premise and it's superannuated director and actors. It's no surprise it never found mainstream box office or even critical success at least in the mangled form it was largely released in. Talking Pictures TV ran the Ultimate Solution of... version - generally considered a good later screenplay fix. What can I say, it's one for movie nerds perhaps but with the spirited work of the great Nolte and Hepburn one can be assured it gets carried through safely, even over the several rough patches in a production that has the rather cheap and gaudy feel of 80s television, but don't let that disguise the fact this is a deadly serious drama about the futility of old age, with some jokes. There are just enough minor gags and sweet moments to prevent the viewer from sticking one's own head in the proverbial oven before the movie is out. Of course there's tongue in cheek elements and it's ultimately ambiguous morally, and even with Katherine's rather disturbing real-life Parkinson's on display, playing a desperate suicidal granny, one might forget she went on to live for two more golden decades, well after this film sort of had quietly died in its sleep with hardly a trace of collective memory. There's enough humour in the history of this much maligned film alone to give it a patient and respectful look. I admire it's quirkiness and subversive attitude, giving the polite finger to the whole entertainment film establishment in a way, an anti-epitaph for many of the crew, but done in such a humane and quietly charismatic way.
Seymour! Mother!
mmallon44 April 2015
Old Hollywood stars who were still working by the 1980's where usually appearing in films dealing with old age (On Golden Pond, Tough Guys, The Whales of August). Grace Quigley was one such film and would be Katharine Hepburn's last starring role in a theatrical film. The movie's alternative title is 'The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley' although I'm assuming that title is less commonly used since it echoes a certain 20th-century atrocity.
Starring alongside Nick Nolte, Grace Quigley has a Harold and Maude element of a young man and an old woman becoming an unlikely team but the Hal Ashby comparison doesn't end there as I've read several sources stating he was originally set to direct the project. The plot of the film involves retired widow Grace Quigley and hitman Seymour Flint getting together through a series of events (and eventfully he adorably starts calling her mom) and starting their own assisted suicide enterprise. Yes, that's the plot. Grace Quigley is one of my favourite dark comedies with much of the film's humour coming from the characters talking so casually about killing themselves as if it's something they do every day as well as the inclusion of possibly the happiest funeral ever.
The film has a pro-assisted suicide message with one scene involving Grace's neighbour played by William Duell telling Seymour about dying with dignity and her unwillingness to go to a retirement home as well as "dying in front of a TV set". In one of the more serious moments of the film, Grace takes Seymour to a retirement home to show him the horrors. I applaud the film for having the courage to make these unapologetic statements about one's right to take their own life and society's treatment of the elderly. As Grace Quigley was a pet project for Katharine Hepburn she must have strongly believed in the issues raised in the film (and a sequel was even planned!).
I also recommend looking up Grace Quigley's UK VHS cover art. The film I not actually that action-packed (although there is one brief car chase) but I still say it is the single greatest piece of home video artwork ever created.
Starring alongside Nick Nolte, Grace Quigley has a Harold and Maude element of a young man and an old woman becoming an unlikely team but the Hal Ashby comparison doesn't end there as I've read several sources stating he was originally set to direct the project. The plot of the film involves retired widow Grace Quigley and hitman Seymour Flint getting together through a series of events (and eventfully he adorably starts calling her mom) and starting their own assisted suicide enterprise. Yes, that's the plot. Grace Quigley is one of my favourite dark comedies with much of the film's humour coming from the characters talking so casually about killing themselves as if it's something they do every day as well as the inclusion of possibly the happiest funeral ever.
The film has a pro-assisted suicide message with one scene involving Grace's neighbour played by William Duell telling Seymour about dying with dignity and her unwillingness to go to a retirement home as well as "dying in front of a TV set". In one of the more serious moments of the film, Grace takes Seymour to a retirement home to show him the horrors. I applaud the film for having the courage to make these unapologetic statements about one's right to take their own life and society's treatment of the elderly. As Grace Quigley was a pet project for Katharine Hepburn she must have strongly believed in the issues raised in the film (and a sequel was even planned!).
I also recommend looking up Grace Quigley's UK VHS cover art. The film I not actually that action-packed (although there is one brief car chase) but I still say it is the single greatest piece of home video artwork ever created.
I watched the full-lenght version back in 1991. Here's what I remember.
DwightFry11 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
In November 1991, this movie was aired on TV in Spain (I'm certain of the date because there's currently a videotape-ripped TV ad for it on YouTube). It was dubbed into Spanish, common practice on the country's TV, but it was definitely the full-lenght version, as I discovered much later when finding the most common cut online and comparing the completely different openings both versions have. I was not aware of that version being so obscure, as since it was on TV I guessed it would be the default one, but no info seems to be found online about anything else from it than the original drowning ending, which this definitely had. But I'll post what else I remember, just in case people might find it interesting.
My memory is a bit hazy since it was quite a long time ago, hence why I'm posting this as a comment instead of as a trivia item or an alternate versions listing. Can't be positive on all the details. But in any case, the opening was completely different and much more surreal. It stuck with me all these years.
Instead of the footage of Katharine Hepburn wandering around the streets of New York (I'm not sure if that footage appeared later in the movie or not), it opened with a scene set on an old time train, in what appeared to be around the 1920s. Hepburn's character was there, travelling with her family, which if I remember correctly included a younger couple, either daughter and son-in-law or son and daughter-in-law, and two twin kids around 10 or 12 years old, dressed in those old-time sailor suits kids used to wear in those days. All looking pretty happy. They arrived at a beach, and then someone, either Hepburn or another family member, walked into the water and drowned. Turns out it was a dream Hepburn was having, which seemed to haunt her all the time since the movie went back to the drowning footage at several spots of the story, and which of course fits with the original ending. That scene had the credits over it, which had more ornate lettering than the common version, and I'm pretty sure the onscreen title was "The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley".
I'm not aware of it being on TV again ever since, and as far as I know the current DVD version that can be found in Spain is the common shorter cut. But I assume the long version is what played in cinemas back then, and what was released on videotape as well. A company called CB Films (whose logo, and not Cannon's, did open the TV screening) released it on video, and used videotapes can be found on auction sites from time to time. Of course, they're still the Spanish dub, so I don't know how valuable they might be.
The movie itself? To be honest I didn't much care for it, found it too mean-spirited, but that might be because I was too young to get the intended satire. I didn't bother to watch the cut version due to its terrible reputation, but if I ever come across the full version again I'd be willing to give it another chance, if only out of curiosity. I wish I knew it was that rare, I would have taped and kept it!
My memory is a bit hazy since it was quite a long time ago, hence why I'm posting this as a comment instead of as a trivia item or an alternate versions listing. Can't be positive on all the details. But in any case, the opening was completely different and much more surreal. It stuck with me all these years.
Instead of the footage of Katharine Hepburn wandering around the streets of New York (I'm not sure if that footage appeared later in the movie or not), it opened with a scene set on an old time train, in what appeared to be around the 1920s. Hepburn's character was there, travelling with her family, which if I remember correctly included a younger couple, either daughter and son-in-law or son and daughter-in-law, and two twin kids around 10 or 12 years old, dressed in those old-time sailor suits kids used to wear in those days. All looking pretty happy. They arrived at a beach, and then someone, either Hepburn or another family member, walked into the water and drowned. Turns out it was a dream Hepburn was having, which seemed to haunt her all the time since the movie went back to the drowning footage at several spots of the story, and which of course fits with the original ending. That scene had the credits over it, which had more ornate lettering than the common version, and I'm pretty sure the onscreen title was "The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley".
I'm not aware of it being on TV again ever since, and as far as I know the current DVD version that can be found in Spain is the common shorter cut. But I assume the long version is what played in cinemas back then, and what was released on videotape as well. A company called CB Films (whose logo, and not Cannon's, did open the TV screening) released it on video, and used videotapes can be found on auction sites from time to time. Of course, they're still the Spanish dub, so I don't know how valuable they might be.
The movie itself? To be honest I didn't much care for it, found it too mean-spirited, but that might be because I was too young to get the intended satire. I didn't bother to watch the cut version due to its terrible reputation, but if I ever come across the full version again I'd be willing to give it another chance, if only out of curiosity. I wish I knew it was that rare, I would have taped and kept it!
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