| The Ten-Year Lunch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Aviva Slesin |
| Written by | Peter Foges Mary Jo Kaplan |
| Produced by | Aviva Slesin [1] [2] |
| Distributed by | Direct Cinema [3] PBS |
Release date |
|
Running time | 56 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table is a 1987 American documentary film by Aviva Slesin.
The film explores the Algonquin Round Table, a floating group of writers and actors during the Jazz Age in New York City, which included great names such as Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, Edna Ferber, Marc Connelly, Harold Ross and Harpo Marx. It was produced and directed by Aviva Slesin and narrated by Heywood Hale Broun.
The title refers to how the members of the Round Table met over lunch at the Algonquin Hotel from 1919 until roughly 1929. The film shows how the group drifted apart once the 1920s ended, as Hollywood beckoned for some and as they grew older.
The film premiered on the PBS series American Masters on September 28, 1987. [4] On April 11, 1988, it won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. [5]
Dorothy Parker was an American poet and writer of fiction, plays and screenplays based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
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Marcus Cook Connelly was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930.
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The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel from 1919 until roughly 1929. At these luncheons they engaged in wisecracks, wordplay, and witticisms that, through the newspaper columns of Round Table members, were disseminated across the country.
The Algonquin Hotel is a hotel at 59 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 181-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwin Starrett for the Puritan Realty Company. The hotel has hosted numerous literary and theatrical notables throughout its history, including members of the Algonquin Round Table club during the early 20th century. Its first owner-manager, Frank Case, established many of the hotel's traditions, including an official hotel cat as well as discounts for struggling authors. The hotel is a New York City designated landmark.
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Aviva Slesin is a documentary film-maker.
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