Promise Her Anything | |
---|---|
Directed by | Arthur Hiller |
Screenplay by | William Peter Blatty |
Story by | |
Produced by | Stanley Rubin |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
Edited by | John Shirley |
Music by | Lyn Murray |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
Countries |
|
Language | English |
Promise Her Anything is a 1965 romantic comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Warren Beatty and Leslie Caron. [1] The screenplay by William Peter Blatty is based on a story by Arne Sultan and Marvin Worth. The supporting cast features Bob Cummings, Keenan Wynn, Hermione Gingold and Lionel Stander. [2]
Recently widowed Michele O'Brien moves into a Greenwich Village brownstone with her infant son John Thomas. Her neighbor, Harley Rummel, a bohemian who earns a living by making nudie films in his apartment, becomes interested in her, but Michele believes her boss, wealthy psychologist Philip Brock, is a better prospect as a new mate.
Although he is an authority on children, Philip actually despises them, so Michele decides to keep John Thomas a secret for the time being. Unbeknownst to her, Harley is using the baby in his movies. When John Thomas is admitted to Philip's clinic for observation, Harley sneaks into his room to complete a film, but his surreptitious activities are captured by a hidden camera recording the baby's behavior. Michelle is furious but, when he saves John Thomas from a potentially dangerous situation, she forgives Harley and decides he may be the better choice for a father after all.
The film was entirely shot at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England. The original Baby John Thomas was supposed to be played by 2-year-old Philip Barron, but he didn't get on with Warren Beatty and cried almost every time he went near him, so there was a last-minute change and a Michael Bradley was found so production could start, and both children were used during filming. Bad weather delayed filming, and seven minutes were cut from the final edit.
The title song, with music by Burt Bacharach and lyrics by Hal David, was performed on the soundtrack by Tom Jones.
In February 1966, Dell Publishing released a paperback novelization by Al Hine under his frequent tie-in pseudonym, "Bradford Street." There is no attribution to the screenplay, though the 1965 copyright is assigned to Paramount Pictures. The cover price was 45¢ and the cover photos feature stars Beatty and Caron.
Variety called the film "light" and "refreshing" and added, "Well-paced direction of many fine performances, generally sharp scripting and other good production elements add up to a satisfying comedy." [3]
Time Out New York said, "This dull attempt at an offbeat and sophisticated romantic comedy falls flat on its face, thanks largely to the usual sluggish direction from Arthur Hiller [and] ... a dismal script by William Peter Blatty." [4]
Henry Warren Beatty is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1999, the BAFTA Fellowship in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2008.
William Peter Blatty was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist and for his 1973 screenplay for the film adaptation of the same name. Blatty won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Exorcist, and was nominated for Best Picture as its producer. The film also earned Blatty a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama as producer.
Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in most of his film and television roles.
Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character. Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She typically played brash, vulgar characters, often referred to as "brassy" or "blowsy". She found her milieu in revue, in which she played from the 1930s to the 1950s, co-starring several times with the English actress Hermione Gingold.
Mrs. Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893, and first performed in London in 1902. It is one of the three plays Shaw published as Plays Unpleasant in 1898, alongside The Philanderer and Widowers' Houses. The play is about a former prostitute, now a madam, who attempts to come to terms with her disapproving daughter. It is a problem play, offering social commentary to illustrate the idea that the act of prostitution was not caused by moral failure but by economic necessity. Elements of the play were borrowed from Shaw's 1882 novel Cashel Byron's Profession, about a man who becomes a boxer due to limited employment opportunities.
Madeleine Angela Clinton-Baddeley was an English stage and television actress, best-remembered for her role as household cook Mrs. Bridges in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. Her stage career lasted more than six decades.
The Glass Slipper (1955) is an American musical film adaptation of the fairy tale Cinderella, made by MGM, directed by Charles Walters and produced by Edwin H. Knopf from a screenplay by Helen Deutsch. The music score is by Bronislau Kaper, the cinematography by Arthur E. Arling, the art direction by Daniel B. Cathcart and Cedric Gibbons and costume design by Walter Plunkett and Helen Rose.
That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a sequel to That's Entertainment! (1974). Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. Some posters for the film use Part 2 rather than Part II in the title.
The Belle of New York is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Hollywood musical comedy film set in New York City circa 1900 and stars Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen, Alice Pearce, Marjorie Main, Gale Robbins, and Keenan Wynn, with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The film was directed by Charles Walters.
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino is a 1982 American made-for-television drama film produced and directed by George Schaefer. The teleplay by John Gay is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Oliphant. It was broadcast on February 3 by CBS.
Munster, Go Home! is a 1966 American comedy film based on the 1960s family sitcom The Munsters. It was directed by Earl Bellamy, who also directed a number of episodes in the series. The film was produced immediately after the television series completed filming its original run; it included the original cast with the exception of Marilyn. Marilyn was played by Debbie Watson, replacing Pat Priest from the series.
Lost Angel is a 1943 drama film directed by Roy Rowland, starring Margaret O'Brien as a little orphan girl raised to be a genius. James Craig plays a reporter who shows her the world outside the Institute of Child Psychology.
I'd Rather Be Rich is a 1964 American romantic comedy film with musical aspects directed by Jack Smight, produced by Ross Hunter and starring Sandra Dee. The film focuses on a dying man who wishes to meet his granddaughter's fiancé, but he is unavailable, so the woman persuades another man to substitute for him. Then the grandfather recovers.
The Butler's Dilemma is a 1943 black-and-white British comedy film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Richard Hearne, Ronald Shiner as Ernie, Ian Fleming, Francis L. Sullivan, Judy Kelly and Hermione Gingold. It was produced by Elisabeth Hiscott and Graham Cutts for Shaftesbury Films, and filmed at British National Studios.
Easy to Wed is a 1946 Technicolor American musical comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball, and Keenan Wynn. The screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley is an adaptation of the screenplay of the 1936 film Libeled Lady by Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, and George Oppenheimer.
Let's Live a Little is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Richard Wallace and starring Hedy Lamarr, Robert Cummings and Anna Sten. Written by Howard Irving Young, Edmund L. Hartmann, Albert J. Cohen, and Jack Harvey, the film is about an overworked advertising executive who is being pursued romantically by his former fiancée, a successful perfume magnate, who is also the ad agency's largest client. While visiting a new client—a psychiatrist and author—to discuss a proposed ad campaign, his life becomes further complicated when the new client turns out to be a beautiful woman, who decides to treat his nervous condition.
Reunion is a 1936 American comedy film and directed by Norman Taurog and starring the Dionne Quintuplets, Jean Hersholt and Rochelle Hudson. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death is British comedy-drama television film based on the 1992 novel of the same name by M. C. Beaton. The film aired on Sky1 on 26 December 2014. It served as a pilot to a full series entitled Agatha Raisin.
How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days is a 1984 American television family comedy film directed by Joan Micklin Silver and written by Bruce Harmon, based on the 1982 children's book Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! by Stephen Manes. It stars Wallace Shawn, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, and Hermione Gingold.