Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Chris Columbus
Produced by
Screenplay by
Based on Alias Madame Doubtfire
by Anne Fine
Starring
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Donald McAlpine
Edited by Raja Gosnell
Production
company
Blue Wolf Productions
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • November 24, 1993 (1993-11-24) (United States)
Running time
 125 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $25 million[1]
Box office $441.3 million[1]

Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Chris Columbus and written for the screen by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon, based on the novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It stars Robin Williams (who also served as a co-producer), Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, and Robert Prosky. It follows a recently divorced actor who dresses up as a female housekeeper to be able to interact with his children. The film addresses themes of divorce, separation, and the effect they have on a family.

The film was released in the United States on November 24, 1993.[2] It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup[3] and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Robin Williams was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor.

Although the film received mixed reviews during its original theatrical run, more recent reviews have been much more positive: the film placed 67th in the American Film Institute's "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs" list and 40th on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies of All Time." The original music score was composed by Howard Shore.

Plot

Daniel Hillard is a freelance voice actor in San Francisco. Although he is a devoted father to his three children Lydia, Chris, and Natalie, his wife Miranda considers him unreliable. One day, Daniel quits his job after a disagreement over a script and returns home to throw a birthday party for Chris despite Miranda's objections. Miranda gets angry and files for divorce, and the judge grants sole custody of the children to her, but tells Daniel if he can find a steady job and a suitable residence within three months, he and Miranda can share joint custody.

Daniel works to rebuild his life, getting a menial job at a local television station, and learns that Miranda is seeking a housekeeper to watch over the children. He secretly alters her classified ad form to keep other interested people away, and then uses his voice acting skills to call Miranda about the job, making them all undesirable applicants. He finally calls Miranda as a Scottish-accented nanny, whom he calls Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire, with strong credentials. Miranda is impressed and invites her for an interview. Daniel gets help from his brother Frank, a makeup artist, and Frank's partner Jack, to create a Mrs. Doubtfire costume, including a prosthetic mask to make him appear as an older woman.

Miranda hires Mrs. Doubtfire after the impressive interview. Upon returning to the apartment, Mrs Doubtfire is met by Mrs. Sellner, Daniel's court liaison, hoping to see Daniel and carry out her inspection of the apartment. This results in Daniel changing in and out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume to meet Mrs. Sellner's needs, which ultimately leads at one point to Daniel's mask flying out the window, then gets squashed by a garbage truck. He cleverly conceals his face by donning a "facial mask" from cake frosting in his fridge. Frank and Jack quickly make him a new and slightly older mask.

The children initially struggle with Mrs. Doubtfire's ways, but soon come around and thrive, and further, Miranda learns to become closer with her children. Daniel, as Mrs. Doubtfire, learns several household skills as part of the role, further improving himself. However, this has created another barrier for Daniel to see his children, as Miranda has put more trust into Mrs. Doubtfire than him, and she could never dismiss her. One night, Lydia and Chris discover Daniel's ploy, and while thrilled to have their father back, agree to keep his secret.

While working at the station, Daniel is seen by the station's CEO Jonathan Lundy playing with toy dinosaurs on the set of a cancelled children's show. Impressed by his voice acting and imagination, Lundy invites Daniel for a dinner to discuss giving him his own children's show to host. Daniel discovers this is to be on the same night and time as a planned birthday dinner for Miranda by her new boyfriend Stu Dunmeyer at the same restaurant, to which Mrs. Doubtfire has also been invited. Unable to change either appointment, Daniel decides to change in and out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume to attend both events. Daniel eventually gets drunk on whisky and starts making mistakes after changing in and out of costume, leading him to return to Lundy while in his costume by accident and quickly claim that "Mrs. Doubtfire" is his idea for the show. Stu starts choking on his dinner (after Daniel seasons Stu's meal with pepper, which Stu is allergic to), and Daniel, as Mrs. Doubtfire, gives him the Heimlich maneuver. The action causes the prosthetic mask to peel half off his face, revealing his identity, and horrifying Miranda.

At their next custody hearing, Daniel explains about how he met the judge's requirements as well as his actions. The judge is touched by Daniel's words, but also disturbed by his actions, and grants Miranda full custody, with Daniel having limited to supervised Saturday visitation. Without Mrs. Doubtfire, Miranda and her children become miserable, recognizing how much Mrs. Doubtfire improved their lives. They are surprised when the local station starts a new children's show Euphegenia's House which Daniel, as Mrs. Doubtfire, hosts. The show becomes a hit and starts airing across the country.

Miranda visits Daniel on set, admitting they were happier when he was involved, and agrees to change the custody rights. Soon after, Miranda and Daniel begin sharing joint custody, allowing Daniel to see the kids every day after school, essentially what he was able to do as Mrs. Doubtfire. As Daniel takes the kids out, Miranda watches an episode of Euphegenia's House where Mrs. Doubtfire answers a letter from a young girl whose parents have separated, saying it doesn't matter what arrangements families have, they will always love their children.

Cast

Production

The San Francisco house used for exterior shots of the film, photographed several days after Robin Williams's death. A fan-made tribute to Williams can be seen at its front steps.

Chicago was the studio's first choice for filming. However, as two new television series (ER and Chicago Hope) had a lease with the city during the subsequent time period, production was relocated to San Francisco. Various locations in the city were used during filming. Parts were filmed at the studios of television station KTVU in Oakland. Street signs for the intersection near the "Painted Lady" home, Steiner, and Broadway, were visible onscreen.

The exact address 2640 Steiner Street 37°47′38.07″N 122°26′10.78″W / 37.7939083°N 122.4363278°W / 37.7939083; -122.4363278 became a tourist attraction for some time after the film's release.[4] Following Williams's death by suicide on August 11, 2014, the house became an impromptu memorial.[5] All interior filming for the home took place in a Bay Area warehouse converted for sound stage usage. Williams's character, Daniel Hillard, lived upstairs from Danilo Bakery at 516 Green Street; his children attended a school at Filbert and Taylor.

The makeup for Mrs. Doubtfire's appearance took four hours to apply.[6] Williams later recounted how he used to walk through San Francisco dressed in full makeup and costume as Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire, and on one occasion, visiting a sex shop to buy a large dildo and other toys.[7] The restaurant scene was filmed at Bridges Restaurant & Bar, in Danville, California.[8]

The score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore.

Release

The film was released in the United States on November 24, 1993, and was rated PG-13.[9]

In January 1994, when released in the United Kingdom, the film received a certificate of 12 which, at the time, completely refused access to children under the age of 12 at cinemas. This resulted in cinemas requesting their local authorities to override the decision of the British Board of Film Classification, after having to turn down disappointed families. In February 1994, The Independent reported that the censors refused to give the film a U or PG certificate, and gave it a 12 instead, which was due to 20th Century Fox refusing to remove three controversial lines.[10]

After the film's distributors requested the BBFC to reconsider a compromise was reached in which the film was re-rated PG, with the thirteen seconds of sexual innuendos cut, and it was re-released in May 1994. The cut version was also used in subsequent VHS and DVD releases in the United Kingdom. In November 2012 the distributors resubmitted the uncut version to the BBFC and the 12 certificate was reinstated for home video along with a 12A certificate for cinema release in 2014.[11][12] On March 4, 2013, the uncut version was released on Blu-ray and downloads in the United Kingdom.

Deleted scenes

Over 30 minutes of deleted scenes were omitted from the final cut of the film, some of which were featured in the 2008 DVD release of Mrs. Doubtfire called the "Behind-the-Seams Edition."[13] These include an entire subplot featuring Daniel's conflict with his nosy neighbor Gloria (Polly Holliday) and an extended scene at Bridges restaurant. In 2016 three further scenes, included in the aforementioned 2013 Blu-Ray release, were released online[14] to much fanfare and praise for Robin Williams.[15][16] These included a scene where Daniel and Miranda fight at Lydia's spelling bee competition and a confrontation scene with Miranda after Daniel's identity is revealed at the restaurant.

Reception

Box office

The film earned $219,195,243 in North America, along with $222,090,952 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $441,286,195,[1] making it the highest grossing cross-dressing film.[17] It became the second-highest-grossing film of 1993, behind only Jurassic Park.[18][19] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 52.6 million tickets in the US.[20]

Critical reception

At the time of its release, several critics compared Mrs. Doubtfire unfavorably with Some Like It Hot (1959) and others who viewed the film favorably noted its similarity to Tootsie (1982).[21]

On Rotten Tomatoes, Mrs. Doubtfire has a rating of 71%, based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's critical reception reads:

On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 53 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating 'mixed or average reviews'.[24]

Accolades

In 2000, the American Film Institute placed the film on its 100 Years...100 Laughs list, where it was ranked #67.[25]

Cancelled sequel

In 2001, Mrs. Doubtfire 2 began being developed by Bonnie Hunt, even though Anne Fine had not written any follow-up novels to Alias Madame Doubtfire, but writing did not begin until 2003. Robin Williams was set to return in disguise as an old nanny. Due to problems with the script, re-writing began in 2006, as Williams was unhappy with the plot, and the sequel was again scrapped later that year. The film was expected to be released in late 2007, but following further script problems, the sequel was declared scrapped in December 2006.[26]

In 2006, in an Newsday interview, Williams said the sequel was indefinitely scrapped. Stating his reasons:

In December 2006, during an interview on BBC Radio 1 by DJ Edith Bowman, Williams said that if it was not going to be done right, then it was not worth doing, and that there would not be a sequel with him in it.

In August 2010, on Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Williams again brought up the topic of a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire. He blamed the script not being right as the reason why a sequel was not made. He claimed the script had been written three times and failed, and there was no mention of any ongoing work on the project. Furthermore, in December 2011, during an interview by Moviehole, Williams stated again that the chances of a sequel are "highly unlikely."

In 2011, Williams said:

In 2014,[29] Chris Columbus stated, in turn:

In April 2014, it was announced that a sequel was in development at 20th Century Fox. Williams and Columbus were expected to return, and Elf screenwriter David Berenbaum was hired to write the script.[30] However, after Williams’ death in August 2014, plans for a sequel were permanently cancelled.[31]

Stage adaptation

On January 22, 2015, Entertainment Weekly reported that a musical adaptation of Mrs. Doubtfire was in the works, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by David Zippel, and a book by Harvey Fierstein.[32] Producer Kevin McCollum had previously spoken to the New York Times in 2013 about the 1993 movie's musical prospects, noting that the plot was 'tailored for Broadway audiences'.[33] However, in 2016, Menken told Digital Spy that the project was put on 'creative hiatus', citing changes in the creative team as the problem.[34] Nevertheless, in 2018 McCollum revealed that the adaptation was still aiming for a Broadway bow, but with an entirely different creative team which includes Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick composing the score, and John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick writing the book. Tony award-winner Jerry Zaks was also announced as the director of the show. Dates, casting, and theatre information has yet to be announced by Fox Stage Productions.[35]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Mrs. Doubtfire". Box Office Mojo. 24 November 1993. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Awards for Mrs. Doubtfire. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  4. ↑ Shot on This Site, William A. Gordon, Citadel, 1995, p.39.
  5. ↑ "Robin Williams memorial grows outside 'Mrs. Doubtfire' house"
  6. ↑ Jessica Probus. "The Actual Makeup From "Mrs. Doubtfire" Was Even More Intense Than You Realized". Buzzfeed.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  7. ↑ Christopher Hooton (2014-08-12). "Robin Williams, dressed as Mrs Doubtfire, walks into a sex shop… - News - Films". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  8. ↑ Lipsky, Jessica (January 7, 2011). "Mrs. Doubtfire lives on in Danville memories". Pleasonton Weekly. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Mrs Doubtfire TV spot". You Tube. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Film stars lost for words: But why does Mrs Doubtfire have to swear? asks David Lister". 13 February 1994. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "MRS. DOUBTFIRE (1993)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  12. ↑ "Case study into the film's rating history in the UK". bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2015. (see extension under the feature icon)
  13. ↑ Curt Fields (2008-02-29). "Go Behind The Seams of 'Mrs. Doubtfire'". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  14. ↑ Chris Graham (2016-02-11). "'Lost' scenes from Mrs Doubtfire prompt fresh tributes to Robin Williams". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  15. ↑ Jacob Stolworthy (2017-02-08). "Rare deleted scenes show Mrs Doubtfire was nearly the most heartbreaking film of all time". The Independent. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  16. ↑ Jake Polden (2017-07-26). "Robin Williams fans get unexpected treat as deleted scenes from classic family film Mrs Doubtfire emerge online - prompting flood of fresh tributes". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  17. ↑ "Arts & Media". Guinness World Records 2007 (UK ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. 2006. p. 182. ISBN 1-904994-11-3.
  18. ↑ Fox, David J. (1994-02-01). "Mrs. Doubtfire' Still the Champ". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  19. ↑ Fox, David J. (1994-01-04). "Mrs. Doubtfire Takes the Holiday". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  20. ↑ "Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Papa's Got A Brand New Drag". Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  22. ↑ "Review at Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  23. ↑ "Go behind the scenes with 'Mrs. Doubtfire'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  24. ↑ "Mrs. Doubtfire—Metacritic". Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  25. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  26. ↑ "Williams Rejects Mrs. Doubtfire Sequel". WorstPreviews.com. 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  27. ↑ Brunton, Richard (December 5, 2006). "Williams says no Mrs Doubtfire 2". Filmstalker. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
  28. ↑ "MRS. DOUBTFIRE 2 in Development; Robin Williams Will Return". 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  29. ↑ UK, The Huffington Post (2014-04-17). "'Mrs. Doubtfire' Sequel In The Works?'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  30. ↑ Kit, Borys (April 16, 2014). "'Mrs. Doubtfire' Sequel in the Works at Fox 2000 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  31. ↑ Sperling, Nicole (August 11, 2014). "Robin Williams leaves behind four upcoming films". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Alan Menken confirms he's working on a 'Mrs. Doubtfire' musical". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-09-11.
  33. ↑ Healy, Patrick. "Hollywood's Big Bet on Broadway Adaptations". Retrieved 2018-09-11.
  34. ↑ "Mrs. Doubtfire: The Musical has been put on hold". Digital Spy. 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2018-09-11.
  35. ↑ "Creative team for Mrs. Doubtfire musical announced". Playhouse.press. Retrieved 2018-09-11.
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