Six Degrees of Separation | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Fred Schepisi |
Screenplay by | John Guare |
Based on | Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare |
Produced by | Fred Schepisi Arnon Milchan |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ian Baker |
Edited by | Peter Honess |
Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 112 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $15 million [2] |
Box office | $6.4 million [3] |
Six Degrees of Separation is a 1993 American comedy-drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Fred Schepisi, adapted from John Guare's Pulitzer Prize-nominated [4] 1990 play of the same name.
The plot of the film was inspired by the real-life story of David Hampton, a con man and robber who convinced a number of people in the 1980s that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier. In October 1983, Hampton came to the New York apartment of Inger McCabe Elliott and her husband Osborn Elliott, who allowed him to spend the night in the apartment. The next morning, Inger found Hampton in bed with another man and later called the police. The Elliotts told their friend, writer John Guare, the story, which inspired him to write the play years later. [5] [6]
Fifth Avenue socialite Ouisa Kittredge and her art dealer husband Flan are parents of "two at Harvard and a girl at Groton." However, the narrow world inhabited by the Kittredges and their public status as people interested in the arts make them easy prey for Paul. A skillful con-artist, Paul mysteriously appears at their door one night, injured and bleeding, claiming to be a close college friend of their Ivy League kids, as well as the son of Sidney Poitier.
Ouisa and Flan are much impressed by Paul's fine taste, keen wit, articulate literary expositions and surprising culinary skill. His appealing facade fades as soon as the Kittredges put him up, lending him money and taking satisfaction in his praise for their posh lifestyle. Paul's scheme continues until, after he brings home a hustler, his actual indigence is revealed. The shocked Kittredges kick him out when it is revealed that they are but the most recent victims of the duplicity with which Paul has charmed his way into many upper-crust homes along the Upper East Side.
Paul's schemes become anecdotes which are bantered about at their cocktail parties. In the end, Paul has a profound effect on the many individuals who encounter him, linking them in their shared experience.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 88% of 34 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.The website's consensus reads: "Though it betrays its theatrical roots, Six Degrees of Separation largely succeeds thanks to astute direction and fine performances -- particularly from an against-type Will Smith." [7]
Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian–American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first Black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. In 1999, he was ranked among the "American Film Institute's 100 Stars". Poitier was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Six Degrees of Separation is a play written by American playwright John Guare that premiered in 1990. The play was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.
David Hampton was an American con artist and robber who became famous in the 1980s after he convinced a group of wealthy Manhattanites to give him money, food, and shelter under the pretense that he was the son of Sidney Poitier. David Hampton's story became the inspiration for a play titled Six Degrees of Separation and a film titled by the same name. David Hampton died of AIDS-related complications in 2003.
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