Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writer:

Nicholas Martin

Stars:

Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 39 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meryl Streep	...	Florence Foster Jenkins
Hugh Grant	...	St Clair Bayfield
Simon Helberg	...	Cosmé McMoon
Rebecca Ferguson	...	Kathleen
Nina Arianda	...	Agnes Stark
Stanley Townsend	...	Phineas Stark
Allan Corduner	...	John Totten
Christian McKay	...	Earl Wilson
David Haig	...	Carlo Edwards
John Sessions	...	Dr. Hermann
Brid Brennan	...	Kitty
John Kavanagh	...	Arturo Toscanini
Pat Starr	...	Mrs Vanderbilt
Maggie Steed	...	Mrs James O'Flaherty
Thelma Barlow	...	Mrs Oscar Garmunder

Storyline

Florence Foster Jenkins, an heiress from NYC, always wanted to be a concert pianist and play Carnegie Hall. An injury in her youth deterred that dream, so she sets out to sing her way to Carnegie Hall, knowing the only way to get there would be, "Practice, practice, practice". Her husband supports her venture, and Florence Foster Jenkins' performance at Carnegie Hall becomes a truly historic event.

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Plot Keywords:

bad singing | carnegie hall | singing out of tune | concert | heiress | 

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Taglines:

Every voice deserves to be heard.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief suggestive material.

Details

Official Sites:

KinoPoisk.ru (Russian) Official site

Country:

UK France

Language:

English German Italian Russian

Release Date:

12 August 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Florence

Filming Locations:

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$29,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,601,313, 12 August 2016, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$27,370,107, 23 October 2016

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,080,000, 12 August 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Qwerty Films,Pathé Pictures International,BBC Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (some footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story of Florence Foster Jenkins was first adapted into a play in 1994, when writer Terry Speed created "Precious Few," about Jenkins and the English novelist Ronald Firbank. It premiered at the Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 2005, Jenkins's story inspired a stage play in West End London, entitled "Glorious!", and another on Broadway, entitled "Souvenir". "Glorious!" has since been translated into 27 languages, and performed in more than 40 countries worldwide.

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Goofs

The U.S. flag flying at Carnegie Hall has 50 stars, although the United States had only 48 states at the time.

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Quotes

St Clair Bayfield: [Doing breathing exercises with Florence before a concert]
St Clair Bayfield: Blow the candles out.
Florence Foster Jenkins: [breathes feebly]
St Clair Bayfield: Hate the candles!

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Connections

Featured in Honest Trailers: The Oscars 2018 (2018)

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Soundtracks

Oh! Susanna
Written by Stephen Foster
Performed by Carl Davis & Stefan Bednarczyk
Arranged by Terry Davies

User Reviews

The fat lady sings!

A kind of 'companion piece' to THE KING'S SPEECH. After the monarch who couldn't speak publicly we are invited to meet the soprano who should never have sung to an audience. This is the more-or-less true story of the 1940s New York socialite who seemingly did not know how monumentally awful her singing was. Florence Foster Jenkins was a Woman of Substance in more than one sense: a mega-rich heiress, built like a leaking sandbag and possessed of an immense ego.

It's a gift of a part, and Meryl Streep goes for it at full throttle, combining elements of Ethel Merman, Hyacinth Bucket and Nellie Melba to stupendous effect. The supporting cast are also given juicy roles to wallow in and, boy, do they wallow! Hugh Grant's lightweight shtick works perfectly for Florence's second husband, who openly keeps a mistress but dotes like a puppy-dog on his ailing wife, indulging her musical delusion with a passion that fully matches her own. David Haig plays Florence's vocal coach in the manner of a pantomime horse.

Simon Helberg steals many a scene as her gay accompanist who finds it hard to keep a straight face but comes to be caught up in the typhoon of Florence's enormous self-belief. There are some delicious cameos among the members of the New York elite who support the fantasy with varying degrees of sincerity. The finale, Florence's sell-out concert at Carnegie Hall is a comedic if not exactly a musical triumph.

This is a slight story, crisply scripted, elegantly photographed and stylishly directed (by Stephen Frears). Streep steams through it like an ocean liner – there's more than a hint of Queen Mary the 'former first lady' as well as Queen Mary the excessively luxurious vessel. Yet another Oscar could easily come her way. In Dustin Hoffman's QUARTET I felt slightly cheated that the principals never actually sang. Here you look forward with a kind of awed dread to the moments when the fat lady sings!