10 | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster by John Alvin | |
Directed by | Blake Edwards |
Written by | Blake Edwards |
Produced by | Blake Edwards Tony Adams |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Frank Stanley |
Edited by | Ralph E. Winters |
Music by | Henry Mancini |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $5-6 million [1] |
Box office | $107 million [2] |
10 is a 1979 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Robert Webber, and Bo Derek. It was considered a trendsetting film at the time of its release and became one of the year's biggest box-office hits. The film follows a middle-aged man who becomes infatuated with a young woman whom he has never met, leading to a comic chase and an encounter in Mexico.
During a surprise 42nd birthday party for the wealthy and famous composer George Webber thrown by his actress girlfriend Samantha Taylor, George finds that he is coping badly with his age. From his car, George glimpses a bride on her way to be married and is instantly obsessed with her beauty. Following her to the church, he crashes into a police cruiser, is stung by a bee and nearly disrupts the wedding ceremony.
Later that night, Sam and George argue over his treatment of women and his habit of spying on the intimate acts of a neighbor with his consent.
George visits the minister who performed the wedding and learns that the woman is Jenny Miles, daughter of a prominent Beverly Hills dentist. The following day, while spying on his neighbor, George hits himself with the telescope and falls down an embankment, causing him to miss Sam's phone call. Still obsessed with Jenny, he schedules a dental appointment with her father and learns that Jenny and her husband David have gone to Mexico for their honeymoon. The effects of a comically implausible amount of treatment accompanied by a heavy dose of novocaine, aggravated by immediate heavy drinking, leave George completely incoherent. Sam finally reaches him on the phone, but mistakes him for an intruder and calls the police, who hold George at gunpoint while trying to understand his gibberish. George visits his neighbor's house to take part in an ongoing orgy, but Sam spots him through his telescope, widening the rift between them.
George impulsively boards a plane to follow the newlyweds to their exclusive resort in Mexico. In the bar, George encounters old acquaintance Mary Lewis, who lacks self-confidence. When they attempt a fling, Mary interprets George's inadequacy in bed as confirmation of her own insecurities.
At the beach, George sees Jenny in a swimsuit and is awestruck again by her beauty. Noticing that her husband has fallen asleep on a surfboard, George rents a catamaran and rescues David, making him a hero. Sam sees George on a TV newscast and tries to contact him unsuccessfully. David is hospitalized with sunburn, allowing Jenny and George to spend time alone together. Jenny smokes marijuana and seduces George, but he is horrified when Jenny takes a call from David and casually informs him of George's presence. George is even more confused with David's complete lack of concern. Jenny explains she is in an open marriage and married David only because of pressure from her conservative father. George leaves after realizing that Jenny sees their tryst as nothing more than a casual fling.
After flying home, George reconciles with Sam by performing an apologetic new song and demonstrating greater maturity. He suggests getting married, but they agree they should first work on arguing less and making love more. George takes an idea from Jenny when he starts Boléro on his phonograph (lasting 15+1⁄4 minutes, an appropriate duration for lovemaking), and he makes love with Sam in full view of the neighbor's telescope, though the neighbor has already stopped watching out of frustration that he provides erotic entertainment for George and gets nothing in return.
Dudley Moore was a last-minute replacement for George Segal. [3] Edwards sued Segal and won $270,000. [4]
10 was released by Warner Bros. on October 5, 1979, opening in 706 theaters. [5] It was released on DVD through Warner Home Video on May 21, 1997, and a Blu-ray edition was released on February 1, 2011. The supplemental material consists of the original theatrical trailer and a four-minute promotional documentary, present on both media.
10 opened at number one in the United States, grossing $3,526,692 ($14.8 million in 2023) for its opening weekend. The film went on to make a total of $74,865,517 ($232 million in 2023) in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 1980, making it one of the top-grossing films released in 1979. [5] Worldwide, it grossed over $107 million. [2] It received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 68% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 6.50/10. The site's consensus states: "Blake Edwards' bawdy comedy may not score a perfect 10, but Dudley Moore's self-deprecating performance makes this midlife crisis persistently funny." [6] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 68% based on reviews from seven critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [7]
Vincent Canby of The New York Times described 10 as "frequently hilarious", praising the performances by Moore and Andrews and concluding that the film "is loaded with odd surprises." [8] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a four-star review, calling it "one of the best films Blake Edwards has ever made." [9] He named 10 one of the best films of 1979, ranking it 10th on his yearly top-ten list. [10] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune called the film "a very funny comedy that couldn't be more serious about the plight of its lead character." He also noted that the film "turns out to be a gentle essay on the problems of male menopause." [11]
The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list. [12]
Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
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Academy Awards | Best Original Score | Henry Mancini | Nominated |
Best Original Song | "It's Easy to Say": Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Robert Wells | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | |
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Dudley Moore | Nominated | |
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Julie Andrews | Nominated | |
Best Original Score – Motion Picture | Henry Mancini | Nominated | |
New Star of the Year – Actress | Bo Derek | Nominated | |
Jupiter Awards | Best International Actress | Nominated | |
National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Film | 4th Place | |
Best Director | Blake Edwards | 4th Place | |
Best Screenplay | 5th Place | ||
Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Comedy – Written Directly for the Screenplay | Nominated |
Bo Derek's role shot her to instant stardom and status as a sex symbol. Her beaded and plaited cornrow hairstyle in the film was widely copied. [13] [14]
The film also brought renewed fame to the one-movement orchestral piece Boléro by Maurice Ravel, whose music was still under copyright at the time. As a result of the film, sales of Boléro generated an estimated $1 million in royalties and briefly made Ravel the best-selling classical composer 40 years after his death. [15] Derek appeared in a 1984 film named Bolero , titled to capitalize upon the piece's renewed popularity.
In 2003, it was announced that Blake Edwards would direct a remake to be titled 10 Again for MDP Worldwide, but the project was abandoned. [16]
Blake Edwards was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-performers in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe from 1960 that created a boom in satiric comedy. With a member of that team, Peter Cook, Moore collaborated on the BBC television series Not Only... But Also. As a popular double act, Moore's buffoonery contrasted with Cook's deadpan monologues. They jointly received the 1966 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance and worked together on other projects until the mid-1970s, by which time Moore had settled in Los Angeles to concentrate on his film acting.
Arthur is a 1981 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Steve Gordon. It stars Dudley Moore as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress but ends up falling for a common working-class young woman from Queens. It was the sole film directed by Gordon, who died in 1982 of a heart attack at age 44.
I Am Sam is a 2001 American drama film co-written and directed by Jessie Nelson. It stars Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianne Wiest, Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Richard Schiff, Loretta Devine and Laura Dern.
Boléro is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. It is one of Ravel's most famous compositions. It was also one of his last completed works before illness diminished his ability to write music.
Bo Derek is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before deciding to pursue acting on the advice of a talent agent she met through the actress Ann-Margret, who was acquainted with both of her parents. In 1972, she auditioned for a role in the romantic drama film Once Upon a Love (1973), which was directed by her future first husband, John Derek, and eventually released as Fantasies in 1981. In addition to Fantasies, she went on to star in three more John Derek-directed films: Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), Bolero (1984), and Ghosts Can't Do It (1989), all of which were critically panned.
S.O.B. is a 1981 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards, starring Julie Andrews, Richard Mulligan, Robert Preston, Larry Hagman, Robert Vaughn, Robert Webber, Loretta Swit, Shelley Winters, and William Holden in his final film role. The film was produced by Lorimar and was released by Paramount Pictures on July 1, 1981.
Blind Date is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger. Blind Date earned mostly negative reviews from critics, but was a financial success and opened at number one at the box office.
The Forgotten is a 2004 American science fiction psychological thriller film directed by Joseph Ruben and starring Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard, Linus Roache, and Anthony Edwards.
Micki & Maude is a 1984 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Dudley Moore. It co-stars Tony Award-winning actress and dancer Ann Reinking as Micki and Amy Irving as Maude.
Trail of the Pink Panther is a 1982 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers. It is the seventh film in The Pink Panther series, the first film in the series following Sellers's death and also the last in which he appeared as Inspector Clouseau. Sellers died 18 months before production began; his performance consists entirely of scenes from previous films. The newly shot material in the film stars Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet searching for the missing Clouseau – and running afoul of the inspector's enemies who do not wish to see him return.
John Derek was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He appeared in such films as Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men, Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950), and The Ten Commandments (1956). He was also known for launching the career of his fourth wife, Bo Derek.
Derek and Clive was a double act of comedic characters created by Dudley Moore (Derek) and Peter Cook (Clive) in the 1970s. The performances were captured on the records Derek and Clive (Live) (1976), Derek and Clive Come Again (1977), and Derek and Clive Ad Nauseam (1978), as well as in a film documentary, Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979). Upon release, more than 100,000 copies of Derek and Clive (Live) were sold in the United Kingdom.
Tarzan, the Ape Man is a 1981 American adventure film directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek, Miles O'Keeffe, Richard Harris, and John Phillip Law. The screenplay by Tom Rowe and Gary Goddard is loosely based on the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but from the point of view of Jane Parker.
Into the Blue is a 2005 American action-thriller film directed by John Stockwell. The film stars Paul Walker and Jessica Alba with Scott Caan, Ashley Scott, Josh Brolin and James Frain in supporting roles, and focuses on a group of divers who go treasure hunting and find a sunken plane filled with illicit shipments. The film was co-distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and Columbia Pictures.
Ghosts Can't Do It is a 1989 romantic fantasy comedy film, the last film written and directed by John Derek, and starring Bo Derek and Anthony Quinn, with Julie Newmar and Leo Damian in supporting roles.
Curse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film and a continuation of The Pink Panther series of films created by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. The film was one of two produced concurrently following the death of the series' star Peter Sellers. Whereas the previous film Trail of the Pink Panther made use of unused footage of Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and starred Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet, Curse attempted to relaunch the series with a new lead, Ted Wass, as inept American detective Clifton Sleigh, assigned to find the missing Inspector Clouseau.
Bolero is a 1984 American romantic drama film written and directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek. The film centers on the protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity.
Rough Cut is a 1980 American heist film written by Larry Gelbart, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Burt Reynolds, Lesley-Anne Down and David Niven. It was based on the novel Touch the Lion's Paw (1975) by Derek Lambert.
Fast Break is a 1979 American sports comedy film directed by Jack Smight and produced by Stephen Friedman. The film stars Gabe Kaplan as David Greene, Harold Sylvester as D.C. and Bernard King as Hustler. The film was Kaplan's big-screen debut, although he had made earlier appearances on television sitcoms and movies, and was one of the first film appearances of Laurence Fishburne.