Same Time, Next Year (film)

Last updated

Same Time, Next Year
SameTimeNextYearPoster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Mulligan
Screenplay by Bernard Slade
Based on Same Time, Next Year
by Bernard Slade
Produced by Walter Mirisch
Morton Gottlieb
Starring
Cinematography Robert Surtees
Edited by Sheldon Kahn
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • November 22, 1978 (1978-11-22)
Running time
119 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$19.7 million [1]

Same Time, Next Year is a 1978 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. [2] The screenplay by Bernard Slade is based on his 1975 play of the same title. The film stars Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn (the latter reprising her Broadway role). [3]

Contents

Plot

In 1951, at an inn on the Mendocino County coast, Doris, a 24-year-old housewife from Oakland, meets George, a 27-year-old accountant from New Jersey at dinner. They have a sexual tryst, and despite the fact that both are happily married with six children between them, agree to meet every year at the same hotel for one night together.

The film jumps forward 5 years at a time, episodically chronicling their time together, the changes each goes through, their respective marriages, and their deepening connection. In 1966, for example, George, now middle-aged and dressed in a suit, is shocked when Doris arrives in denim and wearing her hair to her waist, having enrolled in UC Berkeley and become ardently leftwing. George, meanwhile, reveals his newfound conservatism as a result of his son's having been killed in Vietnam the previous year.

At their meeting in 1977, George tells Doris that his wife, Helen, died unexpectedly earlier in the year, and that Helen revealed to a friend that she had known of the affair for ten years, but never told George she knew. Now a widower, George proposes to Doris, who refuses to accept because of her loyalty to, and respect for, her husband. Dejected, George leaves, but quickly returns, and they promise to continue the affair as long as they are able.

Production

The film is structured as six episodes, each occurring approximately five years apart. [4] Between the scenes are shown a series of photos that depict cultural and political events that had ensued in the years between each segment, such as Harry S. Truman, Nikita Khrushchev, Lucille Ball, Elvis Presley, and John F. Kennedy. The episodes are period-specific, often making references to what was actually happening during the time portrayed. For example, in the segment set in 1966, Doris is caught up in the protest movement at Berkeley, while George takes a Librium and reveals that he had voted for Barry Goldwater, and later that his son had been killed in Vietnam.

Exteriors for the film were shot at the Heritage House Inn, a well-known resort and bed & breakfast in Little River, California, 7 mi (11 km) south of Mendocino, California. The shell of the cottage was built on a temporary foundation overlooking the Pacific Ocean, but the interior was filmed on the Universal Studios sound stage in Los Angeles. After filming was completed, Universal paid for the shell to be relocated to a permanent foundation and the interior was outfitted with the studio furnishings. The cottage became a popular romantic getaway, so popular that the Heritage House eventually partitioned the cottage in half and added a second bathroom to the opposite end. One half of the cottage was called "Same Time" and the other half called "Next Year". The Heritage House closed due to foreclosure in December 2008. [5] The cottage still stands, updated and remodeled, and the Heritage House reopened in 2013. [6] [7]

Theme song

Paul McCartney had composed a title song for the film, which he recorded with Wings, that was not used. He later released it as the B-side of a single in 1990. The theme song ultimately used was "The Last Time I Felt Like This," written by Marvin Hamlisch and Alan and Marilyn Bergman (eventually nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song) [8] and performed by Johnny Mathis and Jane Olivor.

Critical reception

While Bernard Slade's acclaimed stage play earned a storm of praise, the film received mixed reviews. Janet Maslin of TheNew York Times wrote, "Mr. Slade's screenplay isn't often funny, and it's full of momentous events that can't be laughed away... As directed by Robert Mulligan... Same Time, Next Year is both less and more than it could have been. By moving the action outdoors once in a while, or into the inn's restaurant, Mr. Mulligan loses the element of claustrophobia that might have taken an audience's mind off the screenplay's troubles. But he substitutes the serenity of a California coastal setting, and gives the film a visual glamour that is mercifully distracting. Mr. Mulligan seems to have been more interested in sprucing up the material than in preserving its absolute integrity, and under the circumstances, his approach makes sense... Mr. Alda isn't terribly playful, and he reads every line as if it were part of a joke, which only accentuates the flatness of the script. Miss Burstyn, on the other hand... brings so much sweetness to Doris's various incarnations that the character very nearly comes to life." [9] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 40% based on 2 positive and 3 negative critic reviews. [10]

Variety called the film "a textbook example of how to successfully transport a stage play to the big screen" and added, "The production of Bernard Slade's play, sensitively directed by Robert Mulligan, is everything you'd want from this kind of film. And it features two first class performances by Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda." [11]

Accolades

AwardCategoryRecipientResultRef.
Academy Awards Best Actress Ellen Burstyn Nominated [12]
Best Adapted Screenplay Bernard Slade Nominated
Best Cinematography Robert Surtees Nominated
Best Original Song "The Last Time I Felt Like This"
Music by Marvin Hamlisch;
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman 		Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Alan Alda Nominated [13]
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Ellen BurstynWon [lower-alpha 1]
Best Original Song "The Last Time I Felt Like This"
Music by Marvin Hamlisch;
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman		Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Comedy – Adapted from Another Medium Bernard SladeNominated [14]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

<i>Miracle on 34th Street</i> 1947 film by George Seaton

Miracle on 34th Street is a 1947 American Christmas comedy-drama film released by 20th Century-Fox, written and directed by George Seaton and based on a story by Valentine Davies. It stars Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood, and Edmund Gwenn. The story takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas in New York City, and focuses on the effect of a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real Santa. The film has become a perennial Christmas favorite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Burstyn</span> American actress (born 1932)

Ellen Burstyn is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". She has also received a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Same Time, Next Year is a 1975 romantic comedy play by Bernard Slade. The plot focuses on two people, married to others, who meet for a romantic tryst once a year for two dozen years.

<i>Resurrection</i> (1980 film) 1980 film by Daniel Petrie

Resurrection is a 1980 American drama film directed by Daniel Petrie, written by Lewis John Carlino, and starring Ellen Burstyn, Sam Shepard, Richard Farnsworth, Roberts Blossom, Lois Smith, and Eva Le Gallienne. It was produced by Renée Missel and Howard Rosenman. The plot involves a woman who returns to life after dying momentarily in a car crash and finds that she has the power to heal people.

<i>The Man in the Moon</i> (1991 film) 1991 film by Robert Mulligan

The Man in the Moon is a 1991 American coming of age drama film. It was the final film directed by Robert Mulligan before his death in 2008, from a screenplay written by Jenny Wingfield. It stars Reese Witherspoon in her film debut, Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, Emily Warfield, and Jason London.

<i>Running on Empty</i> (1988 film) 1988 film by Sidney Lumet

Running on Empty is a 1988 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Naomi Foner and starring River Phoenix, Judd Hirsch, Christine Lahti, and Martha Plimpton. It was produced by Lorimar Film Entertainment. It is the story of a counterculture couple on the run from the FBI, and how one of their sons starts to break out of this fugitive lifestyle.

<i>Dangerous Minds</i> 1995 American drama film directed by John N. Smith

Dangerous Minds is a 1995 American drama film directed by John N. Smith, written by Ronald Bass, and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It is based on the 1992 autobiography My Posse Don't Do Homework by retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who in 1989 took up a teaching position at Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, where most of her students were African-American and Latino teenagers from East Palo Alto, a racially segregated and economically deprived city. Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Johnson. Critical reviews were mixed, with some critics praising Pfeiffer's performance but criticizing the screenplay as contrived and full of stereotypes. The film grossed $179.5 million and spawned a short-lived television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Mulligan</span> American director, producer (1925–2008)

Robert Patrick Mulligan was an American director and producer. He is best known for his sensitive dramas, including To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Summer of '42 (1971), The Other (1972), Same Time, Next Year (1978), and The Man in the Moon (1991). He was also known for his extensive collaborations with producer Alan J. Pakula in the 1960s.

<i>Amityville II: The Possession</i> 1982 film by Damiano Damiani

Amityville II: The Possession is a 1982 supernatural horror film directed by Damiano Damiani and starring James Olson, Burt Young, Rutanya Alda, Jack Magner, and Diane Franklin. It’s an international co-production between Mexico and the United States. The screenplay by Tommy Lee Wallace is based on the novel Murder in Amityville by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer. It is the second film in the Amityville Horror film series and a loose prequel to The Amityville Horror (1979), set at 112 Ocean Avenue and featuring the fictional Montelli family, loosely based on the DeFeo family. It follows the Montelli family's decline under apparent demonic forces present in their home.

<i>Dying Young</i> 1991 film

Dying Young is a 1991 American romance film directed by Joel Schumacher. It is based on a novel of the same name by Marti Leimbach, and stars Julia Roberts and Campbell Scott with Vincent D'Onofrio, Colleen Dewhurst, David Selby, and Ellen Burstyn. The original music score was composed by James Newton Howard, with the main song "Theme from Dying Young" performed by American saxophonist Kenny G.

<i>Racing with the Moon</i> 1984 film by Richard Benjamin

Racing with the Moon is a 1984 American drama film directed by Richard Benjamin, written by Steve Kloves, and starring Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern and Nicolas Cage. The original music score was composed by Dave Grusin. The film's title derives from the 1941 hit song of the same name by Vaughn Monroe.

<i>Flashpoint</i> (1984 film) 1984 film by Dennis Shryack

Flashpoint is a 1984 American neo-western action thriller film starring Kris Kristofferson, Treat Williams, Rip Torn, Jean Smart, Kurtwood Smith, and Tess Harper. The film is directed by William Tannen in his directorial debut, and is based on the novel of the same name by George LaFountaine, with a screenplay by Dennis Shryack and Michael Butler. The original score was composed and performed by Tangerine Dream. It was the first theatrical film produced by HBO Pictures.

<i>The Owl and the Pussycat</i> (film) 1970 film by Herbert Ross

The Owl and the Pussycat is a 1970 American romantic film directed by Herbert Ross from a screenplay by Buck Henry, based on the 1964 play of the same name by Bill Manhoff. The film follows Doris, a somewhat uneducated actress, model, and part-time prostitute who moves in temporarily with her neighbor Felix, an intellectual aspiring writer. Despite their many obvious differences, the two begin to admire each other over time. Comedian and actor Robert Klein appears in a supporting role.

<i>The Four Seasons</i> (1981 film) 1981 romantic comedy film

The Four Seasons is a 1981 American romantic comedy film written and directed by and starring Alan Alda, which co-stars Carol Burnett, Len Cariou, Sandy Dennis, Rita Moreno, Jack Weston, and Bess Armstrong. It draws its title from the four concerti composed by Antonio Vivaldi. Those compositions, along with others by Vivaldi, comprise the musical score.

<i>The Seduction of Joe Tynan</i> 1979 film by Jerry Schatzberg

The Seduction of Joe Tynan is a 1979 American political drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg, and produced by Martin Bregman. The screenplay was written by Alan Alda, who also played the title role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bo Goldman</span> American screenwriter (1932–2023)

Bo Goldman was an American screenwriter and playwright. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Writers Guild of America Awards as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. He also received two BAFTA Award nominations.

<i>My Father the Hero</i> (1994 film) 1994 French film

My Father the Hero is a 1994 French-American comedy-drama directed by Steve Miner and starring Gérard Depardieu and Katherine Heigl. It is an English-language remake of the 1991 French film Mon père, ce héros, which starred Depardieu in a similar role.

<i>Romantic Comedy</i> (1983 film) 1983 film by Arthur Hiller

Romantic Comedy is a 1983 American romantic comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen. The screenplay by Bernard Slade is based on his 1979 play of the same title.

<i>A New Life</i> (film) 1988 film by Alan Alda

A New Life is a 1988 American romantic comedy film written, directed by and starring Alan Alda, also featuring Ann-Margret, John Shea, Hal Linden and Veronica Hamel.

Same Time, Next Year may refer to:

References

  1. ↑ "Same Time, Next Year". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Same Time, Next Year (1978)". MUBI .
  3. ↑ "Same Time, Next Year". TV Guide .
  4. ↑ "Same Time, Next Year (1978)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films .
  5. ↑ McCallum, Kevin (December 4, 2008). "Heritage House closing, up for auction". The Press Democrat . Archived from the original on December 5, 2008.
  6. ↑ "The Heritage House Resort & Spa". The Heritage House Resort & Spa.
  7. ↑ Anderson, Glenda (September 18, 2013). "Mendocino's Heritage House reopens". The Press Democrat. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ ""Last Dance" winning Best Original Song Oscar®". Oscars on YouTube. February 17, 2014.
  9. ↑ Maslin, Janet (November 22, 1978). "Film: 'Same Time':Trysting Annually". The New York Times .
  10. ↑ "Same Time, Next Year". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Same Time, Next Year". Variety .
  12. ↑ "The 51st Academy Awards (1979) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Same Time, Next Year – Golden Globes". HFPA . Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Awards Winners". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  15. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominees" (PDF). American Film Institute . Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
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.