Mister Buddwing

Mister Buddwing

poster
Directed by Delbert Mann
Produced by Douglas Laurence
Delbert Mann
Written by Evan Hunter (novel)
Dale Wasserman (screenplay)
Starring James Garner
Jean Simmons
Suzanne Pleshette
Angela Lansbury
Music by Kenyon Hopkins
Cinematography Ellsworth Fredericks
Edited by Fredric Steinkamp
Production
company
Distributed by MGM
Release dates
  • October 11, 1966 (1966-10-11) (U.S.)
Running time
 100 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Mister Buddwing is a 1966 American film drama directed by Delbert Mann and starring James Garner.

The film depicts a well-dressed man who finds himself on a bench in Central Park with no idea who he is. He proceeds to wander around Manhattan meeting women (Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, Katharine Ross, Angela Lansbury) as he desperately tries to figure out his own identity.

Based on the 1964 novel Buddwing by Evan Hunter, the evocatively shot black-and-white drama with a lively jazz musical score was written by Kenyon Hopkins.

Plot

Waking up on a New York park bench, a man's mind is a total blank. He has no identification on him, just a slip of paper in his pocket with a phone number on it.

The number leads to Gloria (Angela Lansbury), who doesn't recognize him but gives him money out of pity. For the purpose of identifying himself to people he meets, he invents a name, spotting a Budweiser beer truck go by just as a jet plane passes overhead.

On the street, Buddwing spots a woman he thinks he knows and calls out "Grace!". Her name is Janet (Katharine Ross), but a flashback of a romance with her from college days goes through Buddwing's mind. He experiences similar flashbacks after meeting Fiddle Corwin (Suzanne Pleshette), who is an actress. They share a romantic fling, but images of her contemplating suicide flash through his mind.

The Blonde (Jean Simmons), a socialite, is on a scavenger hunt, just for kicks. Buddwing accompanies her to Harlem, where her goal is to get into a dice game. While there, a passing remark jogs Buddwing's memory. He recovers from the shock of an incident involving his wife and a pregnancy, ultimately remembering who and where he was before his blackout.

Cast

Awards and honors

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards; for Best Costume Design (Helen Rose) and Best Art Direction (George Davis, Paul Groesse, Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt).[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "NY Times: Mister Buddwing". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.