 First edition (UK) | |
| Author | David Benedictus |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | Dutton, 1964 [1] Anthony Blond, 1963 |
| Pages | 187 |
| OCLC | 1632483 |
You're a Big Boy Now is a 1963 satirical novel by the British author David Benedictus. It was adapted into a 1966 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, with the setting changed from London to New York City. [2]
Benedictus dedicated the book to "the only girl I've ever loved—wherever they may be"; in a preface, the author describes the novel as an examination of "the deadliest form of self-destruction, which is love". [3]
The central character of the novel is Bernard Chanticleer, a shoe salesman at a London department store at which his father is a manager. The Chanticleers live in a suburb, and "are type-cast as ridiculous bourgeois". [4] At the store he meets a girl, Amy, who is rejected by his mother as "that terrible blatant girl with such common legs too". [3]
Bernard, described by one reviewer as "comically neurotic", then becomes infatuated with a stage actress, Barbara Darling. He sends her an impassioned note and they agree to meet. Barbara wants to victimize Bernard in revenge for her being ill-treated by men in the past. Eventually Barbara tires of Bernard and marries a window dresser. They have a child who bears a suspicious resemblance to one of Barbara's former lovers. [3]
Robert Donald Spector of the San Francisco Examiner praised the book as "an outrageously funny satire that launches an all-out nuclear attack on every last inch of British life", with the targets including the "Welfare State" and "upper-middle-class snobbishness", with the "blast area" consisting of sex. The hero, Bernard, was compared by Spencer to Holden Caulfield, of J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye . [5]
Oakland Tribune reviewer Dennis Powers wrote that thanks to the author's "malice and winning way with words", the book is "good fun in spite of its flaws", which he said included its cruel comedy and heavy-handed irony. According to Powers, one ought to "read it as a burlesque of ' An American Tragedy ,' as a spoof of Angry British fiction, as a frightening condemnation of love. There is no end to the possibilities." [3]
The novel was brought to the attention of Francis Ford Coppola by actor Tony Bill, who wanted to play Bernard in any movie adaptation. But Coppola cast instead Peter Kastner, a young Canadian actor. Coppola optioned the film for $1,000, and drafted a script in his spare time while working on the film Is Paris Burning?. Coppola moved the story to New York City, and changed the shoe store to the 42nd Street main branch of the New York Public Library. Elizabeth Hartman was cast as Barbara, Karen Black as Amy, and Rip Torn and Geraldine Page played the parents. The film ended on a more upbeat note than the novel. In the film, Bernard is reunited with Amy, whereas in the novel he winds up alone. [2]
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five Academy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Palmes d'Or and a British Academy Film Award (BAFTA).
Mario Francis Puzo was an American author and screenwriter. He wrote crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably The Godfather (1969), which he later co-adapted into a film trilogy directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972 and for Part II in 1974. Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film and its 1980 sequel. His final novel, The Family, was released posthumously in 2001.
Mary Elizabeth Hartman was an American actress of the stage and screen. She debuted in the popular 1965 film A Patch of Blue, playing a blind girl named Selina D'Arcy, opposite Sidney Poitier, a role for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year.
Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American filmmaker and actress. Her films often deal with themes of loneliness, wealth, privilege, isolation, youth, femininity, and adolescence in America. Coppola has received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Golden Lion, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
James Edmund Caan was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in The Godfather Part II (1974). He received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.
Rumble Fish is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the 1975 novel Rumble Fish by S. E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. The film stars Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Vincent Spano, Diane Lane, Diana Scarwid, Nicolas Cage, and Dennis Hopper.
Eleanor Jessie Coppola is an American documentary filmmaker, artist, and writer. She is married to director Francis Ford Coppola. She is most known for her 1991 documentary film Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse as well as other documentaries chronicling the films of her husband and children. Coppola lives on her family's winery in Napa Valley, California.
You're a Big Boy Now is a 1966 American comedy film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Based on David Benedictus' 1963 novel of the same name, it stars Elizabeth Hartman, Peter Kastner, Geraldine Page, Rip Torn, Karen Black, and Julie Harris.
Gidget is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The novel follows the adventures of a teenaged girl and her surfing friends on the beach in Malibu. The name Gidget is a portmanteau of "girl" and "midget". Following the novel's publication, the character appeared in several films, television series, and television movies.
The Outsiders is a 1983 American coming-of-age crime drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is an adaptation of the 1967 novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton and was released on March 25, 1983, in the United States. Jo Ellen Misakian, a librarian at Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, California, and her students were responsible for inspiring Coppola to make the film.
The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 American psychological romantic drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola in her feature directorial debut, and co-produced by her father, Francis Ford Coppola. It stars James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, A.J. Cook, and Josh Hartnett, with Scott Glenn, Michael Paré, Jonathan Tucker, and Danny DeVito in supporting roles.
The Godfather is the soundtrack from the film of the same name, released in 1972 by Paramount Records, and in 1991 on compact disc by MCA. Unless noted, the cues were composed by Nino Rota and conducted by Carlo Savina. The song "I Have but One Heart" is sung by Al Martino, who performed it in the film as character Johnny Fontane.
The Great Gatsby is a 1974 American romantic drama film based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film was directed by Jack Clayton, produced by David Merrick, and written by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Robert Redford in the title role of Jay Gatsby, along with Mia Farrow, Sam Waterston, Bruce Dern, and Karen Black.
You're a Big Boy Now is a soundtrack album by the Lovin' Spoonful, released in 1967, containing music from the Francis Ford Coppola film of the same name. Composed entirely by Spoonful member John Sebastian, it contains several songs performed by the band, as well as instrumental music from the film score.
The Grissom Gang is a 1971 American crime neo noir directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by Leon Griffiths. The film is the second adaptation of the 1939 novel No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase; a previous version had been made in Britain in 1948. The cast includes Kim Darby, Scott Wilson, Tony Musante, Robert Lansing, Irene Dailey, Connie Stevens, Wesley Addy, Joey Faye and Ralph Waite.
Aram A. Avakian was an American film editor and director. His work in the latter role includes Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959) and the indie film End of the Road (1970).
David Henry Benedictus is an English writer and theatre director, best known for his novels. His work includes the Winnie-the-Pooh novel Return to the Hundred Acre Wood (2009). It was the first such book in 81 years.
Twixt is a 2011 horror film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, Ben Chaplin, Alden Ehrenreich, David Paymer and Joanne Whalley. The film premiered on September 4, 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was screened at various film festivals in North America, receiving a limited theatrical release in a handful of international markets. The film's title, Twixt, refers to the two worlds explored in the film, the dream and the waking worlds.
Gian-Carla Coppola is an American film director and screenwriter. She made her directorial feature film debut with Palo Alto in 2013. She is a member of the Coppola family.