One Special Night

Last updated
One Special Night
One Special Night.jpg
Based onA Winter Visitor play by Jan Hartman
Written byNancey Silvers
Directed by Roger Young
Starring James Garner
Julie Andrews
Music by Richard Bellis
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersJim Green
Allen Epstein
Mark Bacino
ProducerAlbert Salzer
Cinematography Guy Dufaux
EditorBen Weissman
Running time92 minutes
Production companyGreen/Epstein Productions
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseNovember 28, 1999 (1999-11-28)

One Special Night is a 1999 American made-for-television drama film directed by Roger Young, adapted by Nancey Silvers from the play A Winter Visitor by Jan Hartman, and starring James Garner and Julie Andrews. The plot involves two strangers, a construction contractor (Garner) and a Pediatric Cardiologist (Andrews), who take refuge in a small abandoned cabin during a stormy winter night and, despite their many differences, they become undeniably drawn to one another. This was Garner's and Andrews' third film pairing as romantic leads, after The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Victor Victoria (1982).

Contents

Plot

Contractor Robert Woodward visits his ill wife at a nursing home on Thanksgiving Day, while Dr. Catherine Howard, whose husband recently died, winds up at the same nursing home. They meet for the first time despite living within miles of each other for years. Following an approaching blizzard, Catherine offers Robert a ride home when she learns that he is stranded. The pair gets off to a rocky start as Catherine tries to maneuver the car through the storm and Robert barks directions. The car careens off the road into a snow bank. Robert and Catherine trek through the blizzard and take shelter in an empty cabin to wait out the storm.

The next morning, they are discovered by one of his daughters and her husband. who give Catherine a ride back to her home. On the following Sunday, Catherine drives to Murray's, a restaurant both she and Robert frequent. She orders his suggested Chocolate Chip pancakes and waits for him. Robert also drives to Murray's, but upon arriving, he receives a call informing him his wife has fallen ill again.

Robert hosts the wake for his wife, who passed on that Sunday. Both of his daughters are there, with Lori sitting on the kitchen floor and crying. Her sister Jaclyn comes over and comforts her. Lori is eight months pregnant and has discovered her husband has been cheating.

Later, Catherine receives a phone call to let her know that a young lady is going into a troubled labor. She drives to the hospital only to find that Robert is the one who called her. She is asked if it was okay, she then stands to head to see the daughter

Robert asks Catherine if she went to the diner that Sunday. Lying, she replies that she didn't, that she had been too busy. Robert explains he was called away before he could go inside. Then she discovers that his wife died that day. At his SUV, Robert pulls out a box with a necklace inside, which turns out to be the necklace Catherine lost earlier, then shows her the scarf she'd tied on the tree near where she lost it.

With Catherine having Christmas Day off, Robert takes her through the icy roads. His SUV gets stuck near the same place where they were stranded earlier. Robert and Catherine walk to the cabin, where they see smoke from the chimney. Robert breaks another window before letting Catherine in, and upon being questioned by her, Robert explains that he bought the cabin from the previous owners as an emergency vacation home should he get stranded again. Catherine and Robert kiss in the living room, ending the movie.

Cast

Production

One Special Night was filmed in various locations throughout the Montreal area in Quebec. Simply Cold. - Simplement froid. - panoramio.jpg
One Special Night was filmed in various locations throughout the Montreal area in Quebec.

One Special Night marked the third film pairing of longtime friends James Garner and Julie Andrews as romantic leads, after The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Victor Victoria (1982). [2] It was Garner's 21st television movie, and his first since The Rockford Files: Shoot Out at the Gold Pagoda in 1997 as well as Andrews' first assignment since she underwent throat surgery after her stage comeback in the 1995 Broadway musical version of Victor/Victoria. [1] Andrews's husband, veteran director Blake Edwards, was originally attached to direct the project but he eventually withdrew, citing a scheduling conflict. [1] Director Roger Young took over from him. [1]

Filming took place over five weeks in Montreal during the winter of 1998-1999. [2] Shooting locations include off-island suburb Terrebonne and St. Mary's Hospital. [2] Andrews was initially worried about working again after her surgery, especially since the filming location required her to work "in such cold, bone dry weather," which at times dipped to 29 degrees below zero. [1] [2] Although there was plenty of real snow, Garner mentioned that the wind was so strong at times that the filmmakers had to use some artificial snow to ensure it would show up on camera. [2]

Critical reception

John Leonard, writing for New York magazine, described One Special Night as "a trifle slower and more than a trifle thicker, but still game. Skip this at your own peril. Not for nothing do they play some Ella Fitzgerald [...] Nancy Silvers and Roger Young deliver, as screenwriter and director. They get us to the clinch we need. And if there isn’t a tear in our eye when we finally arrive, we should probably give up on ourselves." [3] New York Times critic Ron Wertheimer found that the film "lives up to its title. These dependable performers can still generate enough sparks to warm two hours on Sunday night." He noted that "CBS has wisely found the stars a script about opposites attracting, one that subtly nudges memories of the pair's two movies, The Americanization of Emily in 1964 and Victor/Victoria in 1982. This film cannot stack up to those, and it doesn't try to. But it does offer a sweet tale of autumnal romance that your heart will believe." [4] In a retrospective review for Entertainment Weekly , Marcus Jones wrote about the film: "A lesser-known project in Dame Julie Andrews' oeuvre, this TV movie still packs on the charm with her opposite James Garner as two strangers who take refuge in a cabin during bad winter weather and fall in love." [5]

Ratings

Broadcast on November 28, 1999, One Special Night drew one of the highest ratings for any television movie that was broadcast during the season, with an estimated 25.9 million viewers tuning in Sunday night. [6] In April 2000, The Los Angeles Times reported that the film was the second-biggest made-for-TV movie of "that sweeps period." [7] According to The New York Post , it would remain the top-rated scripted television movie until Darnell Martin's drama film Their Eyes Were Watching God , starring Halle Berry and released in 2005. [8]

Awards and nominations

Awarding bodyAwardNomineeResultRef.
Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing – Television Movies and Specials (including Mini-Series)Ed KalninsNominated [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>It Happened One Night</i> 1934 film by Frank Capra

It Happened One Night is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed and co-produced by Frank Capra, in collaboration with Harry Cohn, in which a pampered socialite tries to get out from under her father's thumb and falls in love with a roguish reporter. The screenplay by Robert Riskin is based on the August 1933 short story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, which provided the shooting title. Classified as a "pre-Code" production, the film is among the last romantic comedies created before the MPPDA began rigidly enforcing the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code in July 1934. It Happened One Night was released just four months prior to that enforcement.

<i>Mary Poppins</i> (film) 1964 film by Robert Stevenson

Mary Poppins is a 1964 American live-action/animated hybrid musical fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney, with songs written and composed by the Sherman Brothers. The screenplay is by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, based on P. L. Travers's book series Mary Poppins. The film, which combines live-action and animation, stars Julie Andrews in her feature film debut as Mary Poppins, who visits a dysfunctional family in London and employs her unique brand of lifestyle to improve the family's dynamic. Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, and Glynis Johns are featured in supporting roles. The film was shot entirely at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, using painted London background scenes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Andrews</span> British actress, singer, and author (born 1935)

Dame Julie Andrews is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for three Tony Awards. One of the biggest box office draws of the 1960s, Andrews has been honoured with the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2022. She was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Garner</span> American actor (1928–2014)

James Scott Garner was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964) with Julie Andrews; Cash McCall (1960) with Natalie Wood; The Wheeler Dealers (1963) with Lee Remick; Darby's Rangers (1958) with Stuart Whitman; Roald Dahl's 36 Hours (1965) with Eva Marie Saint; as a Formula 1 racing star in Grand Prix (1966); Raymond Chandler's Marlowe (1969) with Bruce Lee; Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) with Walter Brennan; Blake Edwards's Victor/Victoria (1982) with Julie Andrews; and Murphy's Romance (1985) with Sally Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He also starred in several television series, including popular roles such as Bret Maverick in the ABC 1950s Western series Maverick and as Jim Rockford in the NBC 1970s private detective show, The Rockford Files.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanne Woodward</span> American actress (born 1930)

Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American retired actress. She made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a characteristic nuance and depth of character. Her accolades include an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She is the oldest living winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress.

<i>Victor/Victoria</i> 1982 film by Blake Edwards

Victor/Victoria is a 1982 musical comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, and John Rhys-Davies. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Tony Adams and scored by Henry Mancini, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. Victor/Victoria was adapted as a Broadway musical in 1995. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score. It is a remake of the 1933 German film Victor and Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Burnett</span> American comedian and actress (born 1933)

Carol Creighton Burnett is an American comedian, actress, and singer. Her comedy-variety series, The Carol Burnett Show, which originally aired on CBS, was one of the first to be hosted by a woman. Burnett has performed on Broadway, on television, and in dramatic and comedic film roles. She has received numerous awards and accolades, including seven Golden Globe Awards, seven Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award. Burnett was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2013, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2015.

<i>The Princess Diaries</i> (film) 2001 American film

The Princess Diaries is a 2001 American coming-of-age comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, directed by Garry Marshall, and written by Gina Wendkos. Based on Meg Cabot's 2000 young adult novel of the same name, it stars Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, with a supporting cast consisting of Héctor Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, Mandy Moore, Caroline Goodall, and Robert Schwartzman. The plot follows Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway), a shy American teenager who discovers she is heir to the throne of a European kingdom. Under the tutelage of her estranged grandmother (Andrews), the kingdom's reigning queen, Mia must choose whether to claim or renounce the title she has inherited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Darwell</span> American actress (1879–1967)

Jane Darwell was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her poignant portrayal of the matriarch and leader of the Joad family in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Keena</span> American actress (born 1979)

Monica Keena is an American actress. Following her feature film debut in While You Were Sleeping (1995), she went on to play leading roles in Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997), Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (2000), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), and the 2009 remake of Night of the Demons. Her other credits include The Devil's Advocate (1997), Orange County (2002), and Man of the House (2005). On television, Keena played Abby Morgan on The WB's Dawson's Creek (1998–1999), Rachel Lindquist on Fox's Undeclared (2001–2002), Kristen on HBO's Entourage (2004–2005), and Bonnie Crasnoff on ABC's Grey's Anatomy.

<i>Mississippi Mermaid</i> 1969 film by François Truffaut

Mississippi Mermaid is a 1969 romantic crime drama film written and directed by François Truffaut and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve. Adapted from the 1947 novel Waltz into Darkness by William Irish, the film follows a tobacco planter on the island of Réunion who becomes engaged through correspondence to a woman he does not know. When she arrives, it is not the same woman in the photo, but he marries her anyway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Ghostley</span> American actress and singer

Alice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress and singer on stage, film and television.

<i>The Americanization of Emily</i> 1964 black comedy war film written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Arthur Hiller

The Americanization of Emily is a 1964 American black-and-white black comedy anti-war film directed by Arthur Hiller, written by Paddy Chayefsky, and starring James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas, James Coburn, Joyce Grenfell, and Keenan Wynn. Set during World War II, the film follows a United States Navy adjutant who is roped into a reckless interservice rivalry-fueled stunt by his superiors, becoming a war hero by being the first American sailor killed on D-Day.

<i>The Man Who Loved Women</i> (1983 film) 1983 film by Blake Edwards

The Man Who Loved Women is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Burt Reynolds, Julie Andrews and Kim Basinger. It is a remake of the 1977 François Truffaut's film L'Homme qui aimait les femmes.

<i>My Fair Lady</i> (film) 1964 film by George Cukor

My Fair Lady is a 1964 American musical comedy drama film adapted from the 1956 Lerner and Loewe stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 stage play Pygmalion. With a screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner and directed by George Cukor, the film depicts a poor Cockney flower-seller named Eliza Doolittle who overhears a phonetics professor, Henry Higgins, as he casually wagers that he could teach her to speak English so well she could pass for a duchess in Edwardian London or better yet, from Eliza's viewpoint, secure employment in a flower shop.

<i>South Pacific</i> (2001 film) 2001 American TV series or program

South Pacific is a 2001 American romantic musical television film based on the 1949 stage musical of the same name, itself an adaptation of James A. Michener's 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific.

<i>Baghead</i> 2008 American film

Baghead is a 2008 mumblecore comedy horror film written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass. The film stars Ross Partridge, Elise Muller, Greta Gerwig, and Steve Zissis. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2008. The film was given a limited release by Sony Pictures Classics on July 13, 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Corman</span> American film producer (born 1942)

Julie Ann Corman is an American film producer. She is the widow of film producer and director Roger Corman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Andrews on screen and stage</span>

Julie Andrews is an actress, singer, and theatrical director who has had a lifelong career on the screen and stage. She made her film debut voice-dubbing the role of Princess Zeila in the 1949 animated film La Rosa di Bagdad. Her professional stage debut was in the musical comedy The Boy Friend where she played Polly Brown from 1954 to 1955. For this role, she won the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut in 1955. Then from 1956 to 1959, Andrews played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady which earned her a Tony Award nomination, the first of three that she received during her career. After this success, she played the title role in the 1957 television special Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. For this appearance, she received her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Actress – Best Single Performance – Lead or Support. She received her second Tony nomination in 1961 when she originated the role of Queen Guinevere in Camelot. After this, she auditioned for the role of Eliza Doolittle in the 1964 film adaptation of My Fair Lady, losing the role to Audrey Hepburn. Instead, Andrews was cast as the title role in the 1964 musical film Mary Poppins. For this role, she received an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy Award. Her next big success was portraying Maria Von Trapp in the 1965 musical film The Sound of Music. For her portrayal, she received a second Golden Globe, another Academy Award nomination and another BAFTA nomination.

<i>Bed Rest</i> (film) 2022 American film by Lori Evans Taylor

Bed Rest is a 2022 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Lori Evans Taylor. It stars Melissa Barrera and Guy Burnet.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 De Vries, Hilary (November 28, 1999). "COVER STORY; New Catalyst for That Familiar Chemistry". New York Times . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Brennan, Patricia (November 27, 1999). "Andrews and Garner, Reunited". Washington Post . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  3. ↑ Leonard, John (November 29, 1999). "One Special Night". New York . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  4. ↑ Ron, Wertheimer (November 26, 1999). "TV WEEKEND; She's Flinty And He's Stubborn? Perfect". New York Times . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  5. ↑ Jones, Marcus (November 17, 2023). "The best Christmas movies on Amazon Prime Video right now". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  6. ↑ Shauna, Snow (November 30, 1999). "ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION'S PRESS". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  7. ↑ Susan, King (April 12, 2000). "At 'Chicago Hope,' They've Called In a Maverick Talent". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  8. ↑ Starr, King (March 8, 2005). "25 MIL 'EYES' FOR OPRAH PIC". New York Post . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Awards for One Special Night". imdb.com . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.