Cactus Flower | |
---|---|
Written by | Abe Burrows. Based on a play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy |
Characters | Stephanie Julian Igor Toni |
Date premiered | 8 December 1965 |
Place premiered | Royale Theatre, New York City |
Original language | English |
Genre | Comedy |
Setting | Manhattan |
Cactus Flower is a farcical play by Abe Burrows. [1] It played for years on Broadway before being adapted by I.A.L. Diamond into a 1969 feature film directed by Gene Saks.
Based on the play Fleur de cactus by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, the comedy focuses on the relationship between young, wild Toni and her older, married lover Julian, a dentist. Convinced the two have no future together, Toni attempts suicide, and a guilt-ridden Julian rashly proposes he leave his wife so the couple can be together. However, Julian has never revealed to Toni that his "marriage" is actually an elaborate lie concocted to keep Toni at arm's length. Toni refuses to break up his household without first meeting and talking with Julian's soon-to-be-ex, so Julian enlists the aid of his shy spinster assistant Stephanie to pose as his non-existent wife. Complications arise when Toni decides the two must find her a new beau so everyone concerned can live happily ever after.
After two previews, the Broadway production, directed by Burrows, opened on December 8, 1965, at the Royale Theatre. [2] There it ran for two years and nine months before transferring to the Longacre, for a total run of 1,234 performances, ending on November 23, 1968. The original cast included Lauren Bacall, Barry Nelson, Brenda Vaccaro, and Burt Brinckerhoff. Lloyd Bridges, Kevin McCarthy, and Betsy Palmer were replacements later in the run. Both Vaccaro and Brinckerhoff were nominated for Tony Awards for their featured performances.
The play was adapted for film several times: first in 1969 as the Egyptian movie Half an Hour of Marriage, (Arabic: نص ساعة جواز"); then, the same year, as Cactus Flower with Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn (for which Hawn won an Academy Award); in 2005 as a Bollywood movie Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya? (Why did I fall in love?) with Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen and Katrina Kaif; and again in 2011, as Just Go With It starring Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston and Brooklyn Decker.
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Cactus Flower (1969).
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1961 musical by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name. The story concerns young, ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch, who, with the help of the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, rises from window washer to chairman of the board of the World Wide Wicket Company.
Barry Nelson was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.
Maxwell Caulfield is a British actor. He has appeared in Grease 2 (1982), Electric Dreams (1984), The Boys Next Door (1985), The Supernaturals (1986), Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989), Waxwork 2 (1992), Gettysburg (1993), Empire Records (1995), The Real Blonde (1997), The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997), and in A Prince for Christmas (2015). In 2015, Caulfield toured Australia with his wife Juliet Mills and sister-in-law Hayley Mills in the comedy Legends! by Pulitzer Prize winner James Kirkwood. He voiced James Bond in the video game James Bond 007: Nightfire (2002).
Brenda Buell Vaccaro is an American stage, film and television actress. In a career spanning over half a century, she received one Academy Award nomination, three Golden Globe Award nominations, four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and three Tony Award nominations.
Sam Levene was an American Broadway, films, radio, and television actor and director. In a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in over 50 comedy and drama theatrical stage productions. He also acted in over 50 films across the United States and abroad.
Jack Weston was an American actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1976 and a Tony Award in 1981.
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was built for real-estate developer Irwin S. Chanin. It has 1,100 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
Abe Burrows was an American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage. He won a Tony Award and was selected for two Pulitzer Prizes, only one of which was awarded.
Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by David Dhawan. It is a remake of the 1969 American film, Cactus Flower which was an adaptation of the 1965 play of the same name by Abe Burrows, itself based on the French play Fleur de cactus by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy.
There's a Girl in My Soup is a 1970 British romantic comedy film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn. It was written by Terence Frisby based on the 1966 stage play of the same name by Terence Frisby.
Gene Saks was an American director and actor. An inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame, his acting career began with a Broadway debut in 1949. As a director, he was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning three for his direction of I Love My Wife, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues. He also directed a number of films during his career. He was married to Bea Arthur from 1950 until 1978, and subsequently to Keren Saks from 1980 to his death in 2015.
Forty Carats is a play by Jay Presson Allen. Adapted from the French original by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, the comedy revolves around a 40-year-old American divorcee who is assisted by a 22-year-old when her car breaks down during a vacation in Greece. Their ensuing romantic interlude changes from a brief encounter to a potentially serious relationship when he turns up on her New York City doorstep to take her 17-year-old daughter on a date. Finding the attraction between them still irresistibly strong, she must overcome her resistance to a May–December romance while contending with her mother, ex-husband, and a real estate client who wants to discuss more than business.
Cactus Flower is a 1969 American screwball comedy film directed by Gene Saks, and starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn, who won an Academy Award for her performance.
Rick Lenz is an American actor, author and playwright. Lenz is known for his performances in the films Cactus Flower (1969), The Shootist (1976), and Melvin and Howard (1980).
Burton Field Brinckerhoff is an American actor, director, and producer. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his role as Igor in the play Cactus Flower (1965–1968), a Daytime Emmy Award for directing an episode of the television series The ABC Afternoon Playbreak (1973), and three Primetime Emmy Awards for directing episodes of the television series Lou Grant (1978–1982).
Jenni Barber is an American actress and singer best known for her performances in musical theatre and for her role as Lisa Heffenbacher on The Electric Company.
Cactus Flower may refer to:
Pierre Barillet was a French playwright.
Jean-Pierre Grédy, often anglicised as Gredy was a French playwright.