In the film, a wealthy widow wants to donate most of her fortune to the Internal Revenue Service. She narrates her life story to her psychiatrist. Each of her past husbands found wealth and success, but met with tragic deaths. She thinks she is cursed, and she would instead prefer a "simple life" inspired by the writings of Henry David Thoreau.
Plot
In a dream-like pre-credit sequence, Louisa, a black-clad widow, descends a pink staircase inside a pink mansion. She is followed by pallbearers carrying a pink coffin. The pallbearers slip and drop the coffin, which slides down the stairs, leading into the opening titles.
Louisa wants to give her $211 million to the U.S. government Internal Revenue Service, who believes it is an April Fools' Day joke. Sobbing to her unstable psychiatrist, Dr. Stephanson, Louisa tries to explain why she wants to give away her money, leading to a series of flashbacks, interspersed with fantasy sequences.
Louisa describes her childhood as a young, idealistic girl. Her money-grubbing mother pushed Louisa to marry rich local business owner Leonard Crawley. Louisa instead marries Edgar Hopper, a poor shop owner who, inspired by Henry David Thoreau, prefers a simple life. They are happily poor until the jilted Leonard arrives and ridicules their rustic lifestyle, humiliating Edgar and motivating him to achieve success. Edgar transforms his small store into a tremendous empire, neglecting Louisa, ruining Crawley, and eventually overworking himself to an early death.
A grieving Louisa travels to Paris where she meets Larry Flint, an impoverished avant-garde artist. They fall in love, marry, and live a picturesque bohemian lifestyle. Larry invents a crane-like machine that converts eclectic sounds into paint strokes on canvas. One day, Louisa plays classical music that produces a beautiful painting, resulting in Larry's first major art sale. Larry builds larger cranes and sells many more paintings, making him a successful artist. One night, two petulant cranes turn on their creator and beat him to death.
Louisa, richer and more depressed, prepares to return to the US. When she misses her flight, famed business tycoon Rod Anderson Jr. offers her a lift on his private jet. She initially finds him cold and calculating, but sees his softer side during the flight. They marry shortly after and live luxuriously. Fearful of losing him like her first two husbands, Louisa convinces Rod to retire to a small farm similar to his boyhood home. After sharing a jug with a few locals, an inebriated Rod mistakenly attempts to milk a bull, which kicks him through the barn wall, leaving Louisa widowed once again.
Now fantastically wealthy, Louisa wanders the country. In a small-town café, she meets Pinky Benson who, for over a decade, has performed nightly dressed as a clown. Management loves Pinky's corny musical act because it never distracts the customers from eating and drinking. The two fall in love and idyllically live aboard Pinky's run-down houseboat on the Hudson River. On Pinky's birthday, Louisa suggests he perform without his usual time-consuming clown make-up and costume so they will not be late for his party after the show.
Without his clown getup, the customers notice that Pinky sings and dances beautifully. Virtually overnight, Pinky is a famous Hollywood star. He neglects Louisa and becomes so arrogant and self-centered that he has the entire mansion painted pink so fans will know it is his. At his film premiere, despite being warned, Pinky insists on greeting his excited fans. They become frenzied and trample Pinky to death.
After hearing Louisa's story, Dr. Stephanson proposes marriage, claiming to be the simple man she wants. She declines, which she declares is progress in her recovery. Stephanson accidentally presses the switch that raises the movable psychiatric couch about ten feet. Sitting on the edge, he falls off and is knocked unconscious, leaving Louisa stranded on top. The janitor enters and helps Louisa down. She is shocked it is Leonard Crawley, who lost everything after Edgar Hopper ruined his business. Leonard claims he is happy and credits Louisa and Thoreau for making his life "successful" because it is simple.
Leonard and Louisa marry and enjoy a bucolic life on a farm with their four children. The story ends when Leonard, plowing a field, is distracted while reading Thoreau and apparently strikes oil after the tractor tire grinds into the ground. Louisa is distraught, believing her curse has struck again until oil company representatives arrive and say that Leonard punctured their pipeline. Leonard and Louisa rejoice, as they are still dirt-poor, but happy.
Phil Arnold as Hollywood press and publicity agent visiting at Pinky's swimming pool
Army Archerd as TV announcer at premiere of Pinky's 51⁄2-hour film Flaming Lips
Dean Martin sequence/end scene
Pamelyn Ferdin as Geraldine, 4-year-old daughter of Louisa and Leonard Crawley
Production
Development
Publicist Arthur Jacobs wanted to move into film production. One of his clients was Marilyn Monroe who said she would appear in a movie Jacobs produced if she liked the story. He found I Love Louisa based on a story by Gwen Davis about a woman with six husbands.[4][5] In June 1962, Darryl F. Zanuck reportedly told Marilyn Monroe that she would make two films for 20th Century-Fox (which he was in the process of taking over again): a re-vived Something's Got to Give and What a Way to Go (the alternate title for I Love Louisa). Monroe's fee would be a million dollars for both films. In July, Monroe reportedly approved J. Lee Thompson as director after watching Tiger Bay and Northwest Frontier and she was going to meet Gene Kelly to discuss his being her co-star.[6]Monroe died in August 1962.[citation needed]
In September 1962, Jacobs said that J. Lee Thompson, who was another client of his, would direct the film following The Mound Builders (which became Kings of the Sun). Jacobs wanted one of the "top three" stars in the world to play the lead, and "important names" to play the six husbands. No distributor had been signed.[7] Later that month Thompson said he would make I Love Louisa with Elizabeth Taylor.[8] In October the Los Angeles Times reported that the Mirisch Company, who had a long-term deal with Thompson, would finance.[9] That month Betty Comden and Adolph Green signed to write the script.[10][11] In December Thompson said Comden and Green wanted to call the movie What a Way to Go and that he hoped Frank Sinatra and Marcello Mastroianni to play husbands.[12]
In January 1963, Thompson said he was confident about Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and David Niven playing husbands.[13] In April 1963 Hedda Hopper reported that Steve McQueen would star in the film opposite Shirley MacLaine.[14]
MacLaine was formally signed in July 1963.[15] Also that month Jacobs announced he had signed a deal with 20th Century-Fox for the latter to finance and distribute. The production companies would be Jacob's Apjac and Thompson's Malibu Productions. The stars would be MacLaine, Dean Martin, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dick Van Dyke and Gene Kelly. Filming would start 8 August. Jacobs called the project "a sad comedy – a farout picture that has both loudness and pathos."[16]
According to Mitchum, Frank Sinatra had wanted $500,000 for two weeks worth of work, so they offered the role to Mitchum instead. He agreed to do it because he liked working with MacLaine and Thompson (who had directed him in Cape Fear).[17]
MacLaine said, "There is – I hope – pathos, anyway that's what I'm trying to do. It's funny for a girl to go through five husbands, getting wealthier with the death of each one – but it's sad, too, because she didn't want them to die and she hates money."[5]
Gene Kelly originally had the rights to the story, intending to direct it, but relinquished it to Jacobs. Kelly agreed to appear in a single sequence. He choreographed the dance as well, calling it "a kind of gentle spoof of old movie musicals, though not as much of a parody, really, as Sing Along with Mitch."[18]
Robert Mitchum's role was originally meant for Frank Sinatra, but Sinatra suddenly wanted several times more money than what the other male leads received, and the studio refused his demands. Gregory Peck was sought, but he was unavailable. The previous year, MacLaine had co-starred with Mitchum in Two for the Seesaw, and she recommended him to director J. Lee Thompson who passed the endorsement on to the studio.[19]
Except for one scene at Los Angeles Airport, the entire film was shot on the Fox backlot on 73 sets. Because of the limited availability of the stars, the movie was shot over 45 days, which was considered short for a movie of this scale.[5]
The swimming pool set in the Pinky Benson sequences is the same set (with some minor redressing) used for Something's Got to Give.
MacLaine was quoted as saying that she was happy to work with "Edith Head with a $500,000 budget, 72 hairstyles to match the gowns, and a $3.5-million gem collection loaned by Harry Winston of New York. Pretty good perks, I'd say."[21]
Reception
Box office performance
What a Way to Go! premiered on May 12, 1964, and grossed $11,180,531 at the U.S. box office,[3] earning $6.10 million in the United States.[22][23]
According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $8.5 million in film rentals to break even and made $9.09 million, meaning it made a profit.[24]
Film critics
Contemporary reviews were mixed, ranging from raves to pans. James Powers of the Hollywood Reporter called the film "hard to define, but easy to recommend...a dazzler".[25] Variety labelled it a "big, gaudy, gimmicky comedy which continually promises more than it delivers by way of wit and/or bellylaffs."[26]John Simon of The New Leader, who was noted for his frequently scathingly uncomplimentary reviews, wrote "The mildest thing that can be said about this film is that it is an abomination".[27]Filmink said Cummings was "great fun".[28]
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 American family tragicomedy film directed, written, and produced by James L. Brooks, adapted from Larry McMurtry's 1975 novel of the same name. It stars Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, and John Lithgow. The film covers 30 years of the relationship between Aurora Greenway (MacLaine) and her daughter Emma Greenway-Horton (Winger).
Shirley MacLaine is an American actress and author. With a career spanning over 70 years, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, two BAFTA Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Volpi Cups, and two Silver Bears. She has been honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center Tribute in 1995, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1998, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2014. MacLaine is one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The Rat Pack was an informal group of singers that, in its second iteration, ultimately made films and appeared together in Las Vegas casino venues. They originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a group of A-list show business friends, such as Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and others who met casually at the Holmby Hills home of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. In the 1960s, the group featured Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford, among others. They appeared together on stage and in films in the 1950s and 1960s, including the films Ocean's 11 and Sergeants 3; after Lawford's expulsion, they filmed Robin and the 7 Hoods with Bing Crosby in what was to have been Lawford's role. Sinatra, Martin, and Davis were regarded as the group's lead members after Bogart's death.
Two for the Seesaw is a 1962 American romantic-drama film directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine. It was adapted from the 1958 Broadway play written by William Gibson with Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft in the lead roles.
John Lee Thompson was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. Initially an exponent of social realism, he became known as a versatile and prolific director of thrillers, action, and adventure films.
Juliet Anne Prowse was a British-American dancer and actress whose four-decade career included stage, television and film. She was born in Bombay then of British India, raised in South Africa, where her family emigrated after World War II. Known for her attractive legs, she was described after her death as having "arguably the best legs since Betty Grable."
Where the Boys Are is a 1960 American CinemaScope comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin. It was written by George Wells based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout. The screenplay concerns four female college students who spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale. The title song "Where the Boys Are" was sung by Connie Francis, who played one of the foursome.
Two Mules for Sister Sara is a 1970 American-Mexican Western film in Panavision directed by Don Siegel and starring Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood set during the French intervention in Mexico (1861–1867). The film was to have been the first in a five-year exclusive association between Universal Pictures and Sanen Productions of Mexico. It was the second of five collaborations between Siegel and Eastwood, following Coogan's Bluff (1968). The collaboration continued with The Beguiled and Dirty Harry and finally Escape from Alcatraz (1979).
Taras Bulba is a 1962 American historical adventure drama film based on Nikolai Gogol's novel Taras Bulba, starring Tony Curtis and Yul Brynner. The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson.
Man's Favorite Sport? is a 1964 American screwball comedy film starring Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss and directed and produced by Howard Hawks. Hawks intended the film to be an homage to his own 1938 screwball classic Bringing Up Baby, with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and unsuccessfully tried to get these stars to reprise their roles.
My Geisha is a 1962 American comedy-drama film directed by Jack Cardiff, starring Shirley MacLaine, Yves Montand, Edward G. Robinson, and Bob Cummings and released by Paramount Pictures. Written by Norman Krasna, based on Krasna's story of the same name, the film was produced and copyrighted in 1961 by MacLaine's then-husband Steve Parker. The world premiere was at the Plaza Theatre in London's West End on January 18, 1962.
When Strangers Marry is a 1944 American suspense film directed by William Castle and starring Dean Jagger, Kim Hunter and Robert Mitchum.
Can-Can is a 1960 American musical film made by Suffolk-Cummings productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Walter Lang, produced by Jack Cummings and Saul Chaplin. The screenplay was written by Dorothy Kingsley and Charles Lederer, loosely based on the musical play by Abe Burrows. The music and lyrics were written by Cole Porter for the play, but for the film, some songs were replaced by those from earlier Porter musicals. Art direction was handled by Jack Martin Smith and Lyle R. Wheeler, costume design by Irene Sharaff and dance staging by Hermes Pan. The film was photographed in Todd-AO. Although performing well on initial release, it failed to recoup its production costs from its domestic receipts.
Kings of the Sun is a 1963 DeLuxe Color film directed by J. Lee Thompson for Mirisch Productions set in Mesoamerica at the time of the conquest of Chichen Itza by Hunac Ceel. Location scenes were filmed in Mazatlán and Chichen Itza. The film marks the second project Thompson completed with Yul Brynner within a year — the other being Taras Bulba.
4 for Texas is a 1963 American comedy Western film starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress, Charles Bronson and Mike Mazurki, with a cameo appearance by Arthur Godfrey and the Three Stooges. The film was written by Teddi Sherman and Robert Aldrich, who also directed.
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! is a 1965 American comedy film based on the novel by William Peter Blatty published in 1963. The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson. The film was shot in the Mojave Desert.
Ride the Wild Surf is a 1964 American romantic drama film. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike the beach party movies of the era, this was a departure from the typical Hollywood approach to surfing as it was a drama, not a comedy. It is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movies of the time, but a rarity in Hollywood films. Likewise, the film has only one pop song – the titular Jan and Dean track, which is heard once, at the end of the film.
I'll Take Sweden is a 1965 American comedy film. It was directed by Frederick de Cordova, and stars Bob Hope, Frankie Avalon, and Tuesday Weld.
Joy House is a 1964 French mystery–thriller film starring Jane Fonda, Alain Delon and Lola Albright. It is based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Day Keene.
Between Us Girls is a 1942 American drama film directed by Henry Koster and starring Diana Barrymore, Kay Francis, Robert Cummings, John Boles, Andy Devine, and Scotty Beckett.
↑ Hopper, Hedda (September 10, 1963). "Looking at Hollywood: Team Shirley, Bob in Film Spoof of Rich". Chicago Tribune. p.b1.
1 2 3 4 Glenn, Larry (September 15, 1963). "'What a Way to Go!' In Hollywood". The New York Times. p.133.
↑ Brown, Peter H.; Barnham, Patte B. (1993). Marilyn: The Last Take. Penguin Group. pp.316–318. ISBN978-0525934851.
↑ Archer, Eugene (September 4, 1962). "MOVIE TO BE MADE BY PUBLICITY FIRM: Arthur Jacobs Plans to Use Own Stars for 'Louisa'". The New York Times. p.39.
↑ Hopper, Hedda (September 19, 1962). "J. Lee Thompson Books Liz for Film Next Year". Chicago Daily Tribune. p.b2.
↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (October 18, 1962). "'If a Man Answers' Teams Dee, Darin: Young Marrieds Depicted; 'I Love Louisa' Up for Liz". Los Angeles Times. p.C17.
↑ Hopper, Hedda (October 19, 1962). "Cara Is Gleason's New TV Teammate: Hedda Had a Hand in Pairing; She Introduced Them at Party". Los Angeles Times. p.D12.
↑ Coe., Richard L. (December 1, 1962). "Mighty Mite Is Thompson". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. p.C8.
↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (January 7, 1963). "Producer Settles Knottiest Problem: Kramer Soothes His Stars, Scores Diplomatic Victory". Los Angeles Times. p.C15.
↑ Hedda, Hopper (April 15, 1963). "McQueen Will Star in 'I Love Louisa': He'll Appear With Shirley MacLaine in Mirisch Movie". Los Angeles Times. p.C12.
↑ "Shirley MacLaine Gets Role". The New York Times. July 6, 1963. p.7.
↑ Thompson, Howard (July 7, 1963). "BY WAY OF REPORT: Apjac Agenda--Stage Play Due as Movie". The New York Times. p.X5.
↑ "Past, Fillies in the Future". Los Angeles Times. November 24, 1963. p.b7.
↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (September 8, 1963). "Gene Kelly, 51, Still Has That Stardust in His Eyes. Twinkle in His Toes". Los Angeles Times. p.d4.
↑ Server, Lee (2002). Robert Mitchum: "Baby, I Don't Care". St. Martin's Griffin. p.377. ISBN978-0312285432.
↑ Hopper, Hedda (September 5, 1963). "Looking at Hollywood: Now--Psychiatrist Role for Cummings". Chicago Tribune. p.c4.
↑ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964". Variety. January 6, 1965. p.39.
↑ Silverman, Stephen M. (1988). Fox That Got Away: The Last Days of the Zanuck Dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. Lyle Stuart. p.323. ISBN978-0818404856.
Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN978-0-8108-4244-1.
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