There's a Girl in My Soup

There's a Girl in My Soup
Original film poster
Directed by Roy Boulting
Produced by John Boulting
Mike J. Frankovich
Written by Terence Frisby
(play & screenplay)
Peter Kortner
(add'l dialogue)
Starring Peter Sellers
Goldie Hawn
Music by Mike D'Abo
Cinematography Harry Waxman
Edited by Martin Charles
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
 15 December 1970 (US)
21 December
(London premiere)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English, French
Box office $4.5 million (rentals)[1]

There's a Girl in My Soup is a 1970 British romantic comedy film based on the long running stage play, directed by Roy Boulting and starring Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn.[2][3] It was Sellers' last commercial success for several years.[4]

Plot

Robert Danvers is a vain, womanizing and wealthy host of a high-profile television cooking show. He meets Marion, a no-nonsense 19-year-old American hippie who has just broken up with her British rock musician boyfriend Jimmy. After a halting start, they begin an affair and she accompanies him on a trip to a wine-tasting festival in France, where she embarrasses him by insisting on drinking the wine and getting extremely drunk, but they go on to enjoy their time together on the coast in the South of France. However, when they return to London, Marion makes up with Jimmy and turns down a desperate proposal of marriage from Danvers. Throughout the film, Danvers' favourite line with women is: "My God, but you're lovely"—which, in the final scene after Marion has gone back to Jimmy and Danvers has made a date with another woman, he says to his own reflection.[5]

Cast

Production and accolades

The film is based on the stage comedy, There's A Girl In My Soup, written by Terence Frisby, produced by Michael Codron, directed by Bob Chetwyn and starring Donald Sinden, Barbara Ferris and Jon Pertwee.[6] It ran for six and a half years in the West End, from 1966 to 1973, including three years at the Globe Theatre (now The Gielgud) breaking records to become London's longest-ever running comedy.[3][4] This record was later broken by No Sex Please, We're British and then Run For Your Wife.[7][8]

Frisby's script won The Writer's Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Screenplay in 1970.[9] The movie introduced Christopher Cazenove, who later co-starred on Dynasty and the British TV series The Duchess of Duke Street, and Nicola Pagett, who played Elizabeth Bellamy on Upstairs, Downstairs.[10][11]

A novelisation of the film, written by Raymond Hitchcock, was published in 1971.[12]

Production

Film rights were bought in 1967 by Columbia and Nat Cohen.[13] Eventually Mike Frankovich became producer and the Boultings directed.[14]

Goldie Hawn signed in January 1969.[15]

Reception

There's a Girl in My Soup was the seventh most popular film at the British box office in 1970.[16]

Goldie Hawn was nominated for Best Actress at the BAFTA's for her work in this and Cactus Flower.[17]

Variety found the film "a delightful surprise: a rather simple legit sex comedy (by Terence Frisby) transformed into breezy and extremely tasteful screen fun";[18] Roger Greenspun in The New York Times however, dismissed the film as "without illumination or wit or good humor or good sense," and concluded, "The only performance to praise is that of Tony Britton, who, as Danvers's very much married publisher and friend, achieves a level of sophisticated pleasantness that actually, suggests comedy. Peter Sellers, on the other hand, is at his least inventive. And Goldie Hawn, who I think might be fun in another part, mostly indulges in bad habits with her too-expressive eyes. In fairness, both Miss Hawn and Mr. Sellers are handicapped by roles in which any attempt at a characterization must seem an imposition";[19] and more recently, Allmovie noted that "Soup was different in its day, as the heroine of the piece was not a Doris Day-type eternal virgin, but a sexual being who not only gives herself freely to a man but is upfront and unapologetic about her willingness. The movie has little going for it beyond this premise, and it wanders rather aimlessly, if agreeably, before abruptly resolving its insignificant conflicts."[20]

References

  1. ↑ "All-Time Film Rental Champs", Variety, 7 January 1976, pg 48.
  2. ↑ "There's a Girl in My Soup (1970) - BFI". BFI.
  3. 1 2 "There's a Girl in my Soup".
  4. 1 2 "There's A Girl In My Soup". Turner Classic Movies.
  5. ↑ Guide, British Comedy. "The British Comedy Society". British Comedy Guide.
  6. ↑ "The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film". google.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "Anthony Marriott: Playwright best known for the farce No Sex Please,". 2 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Gore-Langton, Robert (23 February 2017). "Comedy playwright Ray Cooney celebrates 85th birthday and 70 years in showbusiness".
  9. ↑ "Writers' Guild Awards 1970 - Writers' Guild of Great Britain".
  10. ↑ "Christopher Cazenove - Movies and Filmography - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  11. ↑ "Upstairs, Downstairs: Series 01 (1971) - - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  12. ↑ "There's a Girl in my Soup". trashfiction.co.uk.
  13. ↑ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Garas Loaned to Paramount Martin, Betty Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File); 19 November 1966; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times (1881-1990) pg. 23
  14. ↑ "There's a Girl in My Soup (1970) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  15. ↑ Bradford, Jack (January 13, 1969). "Hollywood". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  16. ↑ Peter Waymark. "Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas." Times [London, England] 30 December 1971: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.
  17. ↑ "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
  18. ↑ Staff, Variety (1 January 1971). "There's a Girl in My Soup".
  19. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/16/archives/screen-frisbys-theres-a-girl-in-my-soup-opens-miss-hawn-and-sellers.html
  20. ↑ "There's a Girl in My Soup (1970) - Roy Boulting - Review - AllMovie". AllMovie.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.