In Search of Gregory

Last updated

In Search of Gregory
In Search of Gregory.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Peter Wood
Written by Tonino Guerra
Lucile Laks
Produced by Joseph Janni
Edward Joseph
Daniele Senatore
Starring Julie Christie
Cinematography Otto Heller
Giorgio Tonti
Edited by John Bloom
Music by Ron Grainer
Production
companies
Universal Pictures
Vera Films
Vic Films Productions
Distributed by Rank Film Distributors (UK)
Universal Pictures (US)
Release date
13 February 1969
Running time
90 minutes
CountriesItaly
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

In Search of Gregory is a 1969 British-Italian drama film directed by Peter Wood and starring Julie Christie. [1]

Contents

Plot

Catherine Morelli goes to the latest wedding of her father, Max, who in turn wants to introduce her there to a potential suitor, Gregory Mulvey, an American friend of both himself and her brother. Gregory is not to be found, so Catherine starts fantasizing about the missing American based on the face of a man she saw on a billboard.

Cast

Production

In Search of Gregory was the last of the four movies Christie made while under contract to Joseph Janni, who produced Billy Liar (1963), which provided her breakout role as Liz, and Darling (1965), the movie which made her a star and brought her a Best Actress Oscar in 1966. Those two films, as was the Janni-produced Far From the Madding Crowd , were directed by John Schlesinger, whereas Peter Wood helmed this picture.

Michael Sarrazin, who was under contract to Universal, had to drop out of the role of Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy (1969) that brought Jon Voight an Best Actor Oscar nomination due to a commitment to appear in this production. (Ironically, Midnight Cowboy was directed by Schlesinger, the filmmaker who discovered Christie and steered her towards stardom, who wound up winning the Academy Award for Best Director.)

Despite In Search of Gregory being a box office flop and forgotten while Midnight Cowboy went on to become a smash hit and a classic, Sarrazin expressed no regrets for the turn his career took. [2]

It was the last picture produced by Universal's European production company, and was shot in the summer of 1968. [3] The movie wasn't released for more than a year after the production was completed, having its New York premiere in May 1970. [4]

Reception

Roger Greenspun in the New York Times panned the picture, though he did praise John Hurt for being a talented actor. "In Search of Gregory fails not so much from the stupidity of its plot as from the dim timidity of its inventions.... [E]very crucial incident dulls and strains, and does not excite, the imagination." [1]

The TV Guide review is negative. "The film tries to be a Pinter-style psycho-drama but doesn't make it." [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Midnight Cowboy</i> 1969 film directed by John Schlesinger

Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted by Waldo Salt from the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with supporting roles played by Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Salt and Barnard Hughes. Set in New York City, Midnight Cowboy depicts the unlikely friendship between two hustlers: naïve prostitute Joe Buck (Voight) and ailing con man Rico Rizzo (Hoffman), referred to as "Ratso".

<i>Darling</i> (1965 film) 1965 film by John Schlesinger

Darling is a 1965 British romantic drama film directed by John Schlesinger from a screenplay written by Frederic Raphael. It stars Julie Christie as Diana Scott, a young successful model and actress in Swinging London, toying with the affections of two older men, played by Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey. The film was shot on location in London, Paris and Rome and at Shepperton Studios by cinematographer Kenneth Higgins, with a musical score composed by Sir John Dankworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Delpy</span> French-American actress, director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter (born 1969)

Julie Delpy is a French-American actress, filmmaker, composer, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa (1990), Voyager (1991), Three Colours: White (1993), the Before trilogy, An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), and 2 Days in Paris (2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Christie</span> British actress (born 1940)

Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has appeared in six films ranked in the British Film Institute's BFI Top 100 British films of the 20th century, and in 1997, she received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Schlesinger</span> English film and stage director (1926–2003)

John Richard Schlesinger was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood, often directing films dealing frankly in provocative subject matter, combined with his status as one of the only openly-gay directors working in mainstream films.

<i>Last Summer</i> (1969 film) 1969 film by Frank Perry

Last Summer is a 1969 teen drama film directed by Frank Perry and written by his then-wife Eleanor Perry, based on the 1968 novel of the same name by Evan Hunter. It stars Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison, and Catherine Burns. The film follows the exploits of four teenagers during a summer vacation on Fire Island, New York.

Hugh A. Robertson was an American film director and editor, born in Brooklyn, of Jamaican parents. While Robertson was credited as an editor for only three films, Midnight Cowboy earned him the BAFTA Award for Best Editing and a nomination for the Academy Award for Film Editing, making him the first African American person to be nominated for an Oscar in the editing category.

Anthony Samuel Selby was an English actor. He was best known for his roles as Clive Mitchell in EastEnders, Corporal Percy Marsh in Get Some In!, and Sabalom Glitz in Doctor Who.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Miles</span> American actress (1924-2019)

Sylvia Miles was an American actress. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Farewell, My Lovely (1975).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Sarrazin</span> Canadian actor (1940-2011)

Michael Sarrazin was a Canadian actor. His most notable film was They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.

<i>Sunday Bloody Sunday</i> (film) 1971 British drama film by John Schlesinger

Sunday Bloody Sunday is a 1971 British drama film directed by John Schlesinger, written by Penelope Gilliatt, and starring Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, Murray Head and Peggy Ashcroft. It tells the story of a free-spirited young bisexual artist and his simultaneous relationships with a divorced recruitment consultant (Jackson) and a gay Jewish doctor (Finch).

<i>Lonesome Cowboys</i> 1968 film

Lonesome Cowboys is a 1968 American Western film directed by Andy Warhol and written and produced by Paul Morrissey. The film is a satire of Hollywood Westerns, and was initially screened in November 1968 at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where it won the Best Film Award. On May 5, 1969, it was shown for initial viewings at the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre in New York City.

<i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i> (1967 film) 1967 British film

Far from the Madding Crowd is a 1967 British epic period drama film adapted from Thomas Hardy's 1874 book of the same name. The film, starring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Terence Stamp and Peter Finch, and directed by John Schlesinger, was Schlesinger's fourth film. It marked a stylistic shift away from his earlier works exploring contemporary urban mores. The cinematography was by Nicolas Roeg and the soundtrack was by Richard Rodney Bennett. He also used traditional folk songs in various scenes throughout the film.

Ann Bishop Roth is an American costume designer. She has designed the costumes of various prominent films, and has been nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, winning twice for The English Patient (1996) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). In the 2023 movie Barbie, Roth, at 91 years old, appears onscreen to share a pivotal scene with Barbie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Jabara</span> American songwriter

Paul Frederick Jabara, was an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He was born to a Lebanese family in Brooklyn, New York. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar-winning "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday (1978), as well as "No More Tears ", Summer's international hit duet with Barbra Streisand. He also co-wrote the Weather Girls' iconic hit "It's Raining Men" with Paul Shaffer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerome Hellman</span> American film producer (1928–2021)

Jerome Hellman was an American film producer. He is best known for being the 42nd recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture for Midnight Cowboy (1969). His 1978 film Coming Home was nominated for the same award.

Jim Clark was a British film editor and film director. He has more than forty feature film credits between 1956 and 2008. Clark directed eight features and short films. Among his most recognized films are Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man (1976), The Killing Fields (1984), and Vera Drake (2004). In 2011, Clark published Dream Repairman: Adventures in Film Editing, a memoir of his career.

<i>Hellzapoppin</i> (film) 1941 American musical comedy film

Hellzapoppin' is a 1941 American meta-musical comedy film, and an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name that ran on Broadway from 1938 to 1941. The film is directed by H. C. Potter and distributed by Universal Pictures. Although the entire Broadway cast was initially slated to feature in the film, the only performers from the stage production to appear in the film were lead actors Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, and the specialty act Whitey's Lindy Hoppers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Janni</span> Italian-born British film producer

Joseph Janni was a Jewish Italian-British film producer best known for his work with John Schlesinger. He was born in Milan, Italy and became interested in filmmaking while at university.

Richard John Gregson was a British talent agent, film producer and screenwriter.

References

  1. 1 2 Greenspun, Roger. "Wood's 'In Search of Gregory' Opens". nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  2. "In Search of Gregory: Trivia". IMDb. Internet Movie Datatbase. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  3. Haber, Joyce (July 2, 1968). "Julie and Michael". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 8.
  4. 1 2 "In Search of Gregory Reviews". tvguide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved November 12, 2023.