| American Gigolo | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Paul Schrader |
| Written by | Paul Schrader |
| Produced by | Jerry Bruckheimer |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Bailey |
| Edited by | Richard Halsey |
| Music by | Giorgio Moroder |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million[2] |
| Box office | $52.7 million[3][4] |
American Gigolo is a 1980 Americanneo-noir[5]crimedramathriller film written and directed byPaul Schrader, and starringRichard Gere andLauren Hutton. It tells the story of a high-pricedescort inLos Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically involved with a prominent politician's wife (Hutton), while simultaneously becoming the prime suspect in a murder case.
The film established Gere as aleading man, and was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to include frontal male nudity from its main star. It is marked by itsGolden Globe–nominated musical score, composed byGiorgio Moroder, and number-one single "Call Me" byBlondie. Schrader considers it one of four similar films, which he calls "double bookends":Taxi Driver, bookended byLight Sleeper, andAmerican Gigolo bookended byThe Walker.[6]
Julian Kay is amale escort in Los Angeles whose clientele are upper-class women. His job supports and requires an expensive taste in cars and clothes, and affords him a luxuryWestwood apartment. He is blatantlymaterialistic, as he strives to merit inclusion into the class of people who make up his clientele. He takes pleasure in his work from being able to sexually satisfy women, offering and selling his body to women.
Julian's procurer, Anne, sends him on an assignment with a wealthy old widow, Mrs. Dobrun, who is visiting town. Afterwards, he goes to the hotel bar and meets Michelle Stratton, a senator's wife, who becomes obsessed with him. Julian's pimp Leon sends him toPalm Springs on a "substitute" assignment to the house of Mr. Rheiman, a wealthy financier. Rheiman asks Julian to havesadomasochistic sex with his wife Judy while he is watching them. The next day, Julian berates Leon for sending him to a "rough trick" and makes it clear he declineskinky orgay assignments. Leon warns Julian that the wealthy, older women he serves will turn on him and discard him without hesitation.
As Julian begins to have a relationship with Michelle, he learns that Judy Rheiman has been murdered.Los Angeles Police Department Detective Sunday identifies Julian as the prime suspect. Though Julian was with Lisa Williams, another client, on the night of the murder, she protects her marriage by not providing an alibi for Julian.
Julian discovers evidence about the murder. He realizes that he is being framed and grows increasingly desperate. His clothes become rumpled, he goes unshaven and drives a cheap rental car (after painstakingly searching hisMercedes and finding Judy's jewelry that was planted in it to frame him). He neglects to pick up an important client for Anne that he had been scheduled to escort, angering Anne and causing her to shun him. Julian warns Michelle that he is in trouble and, hoping to protect her, he tells her to leave him alone.
Julian concludes that Leon and Rheiman are the ones trying to frame him, and that another of Leon'sgigolos was the murderer. Julian goes to confront Leon, telling him the truth and trying to clear his name. Leon refuses to help him and remains implacable. In a fit of rage, Julian pushes Leon from the apartment balcony; although Julian immediately regrets his action and tries to save him, Leon nevertheless falls to his death. With no one to help him, Julian ends up in jail, helplessly awaiting trial for Judy's murder. Michelle reconciles with Julian by telling the police that she was with Julian the night of Judy's murder, sacrificing her reputation and marriage to save him.
Paul Schrader first conceived of the idea for the film while teaching screenwriting atUCLA's film and television department.[1] The script was one of five screenplays Schrader wrote in 1976.[1] Schrader commented, "The character in'Taxi Driver' was compulsively nonsexual. The character in'American Gigolo' is compulsively sexual. He is a man who receives his identity by giving sexual pleasure but has no concept of receiving sexual pleasure."[7]
John Travolta was originally attached to the lead role, with his casting announced by theLos Angeles Times in January 1978.[1] Travolta was provided a wardrobe byGiorgio Armani and appeared in a photo spread for the trade publicationVariety announcing his participation.[1][8] The following year, Travolta dropped out of the production to deal with his mother's death and father's illness.[1][8]
In Travolta's absence,Barry Diller of Paramount Pictures offered the part of Julian Kay toChristopher Reeve, but Reeve turned down the million-dollar offer.[9]Chevy Chase was also offered the role but declined.[10] Schrader offered the part to his first choice,Richard Gere, who accepted.[8][11][12] Gere was cast two weeks before shooting began.[12] In 2012, Gere said he was drawn to the role partly because of its gay subtext, commenting,
I read it and I thought, 'This is a character I don't know very well. I don't own a suit. He speaks languages; I don't speak any languages. There's kind of a gay thing that's flirting through it and I didn't know the gay community at all.' I wanted to immerse myself in all of that and I had literally two weeks. So I just dove in.[13]
This is not the only role Travolta turned down only to be taken by Gere: it had happened withDays of Heaven (1978) and occurred again when Travolta was offered the lead inAn Officer and a Gentleman (1982) andChicago (2002).[14][15] Gere's brief nude scenes marked the first time a major Hollywood actor was frontally nude in a film.[16][17] According to Gere, the nudity was not in the original script.
It was just in the natural process of making the movie. I certainly felt vulnerable, but I think it's different for men than women.[13]
Julie Christie was originally cast in the role of Michelle Stratton but her departure was precipitated by Gere's replacement of Travolta.[18] By the time Gere was cast,Lauren Hutton had already been hired.Meryl Streep was also offered the part of Michelle but declined because she did not like the tone of the film.[19]Glenn Close also auditioned for a role when Travolta was still attached.[20]
Schrader calledPickpocket (1959) by the French directorRobert Bresson an influence on the film; the composition of the final shot pays homage to that film, as does the final dialogue.[21][22][23][24][25] Schrader later provided an introduction to theCriterion Collection DVD ofPickpocket. On the film's ending, Schrader writes: "At the end ofAmerican Gigolo, I wanted to perversely plunge my lizardy protagonist into icy Bressonian waters, so I lifted the ending ofPickpocket and gave it to Julian Kay. A grace note as unwarranted as Christ's promise to the thief on the cross".[26] Schrader re-visited many of the themes ofAmerican Gigolo in his 2007 filmThe Walker and says the idea for that film came about while wondering what would have become of the Julian Kay character.[27][28]
During the filming ofAmerican Gigolo, screenwriter and director Paul Schrader made Richard Gere watch several films withAlain Delon to be inspired by his composition: "I screenedPurple Noon for Richard Gere beforeAmerican Gigolo. I said, "Look at this guy. The way he walks. He knows that the room is a better place because he has just entered it".[29] In addition,Richard Gere cites the French actor as a source of inspiration: "It was by watching Alain Delon's films that I learned to play the seducers on screen. Alain Delon really inspired me to play those kinds of characters ".[30][31]
The film is widely credited to have established the Giorgio Armani brand in Hollywood because the Italian designer's clothes are featured prominently in Julian Kay's wardrobe. When Gere replaced Travolta as Julian, the designer's team had to make new clothing for him as Travolta is 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) tall, a few inches taller than Gere.[32][33]
Filming began on February 13, 1979, and lasted until April 1979.[1]
The film's musical score was composed byGiorgio Moroder, who was nominated for theGolden Globe Award for Best Original Score. The main theme song of the film is "Call Me" performed byBlondie. The song was written by Moroder and Blondie vocalistDebbie Harry, and became a huge worldwide success in 1980. It peaked at number one in several countries including the US and the UK, and became the highest-selling single of 1980 in the United States. In 1981, the song was also nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Moroder and Harry further shared a nomination for theGolden Globe Award for Best Original Song.[34]
Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing, "The whole movie has a winning sadness about it; take away the story's sensational aspects and what you have is a study in loneliness."[35]Gene Siskel of theChicago Tribune also awarded 3.5 stars out of 4 and called it "an honest, compelling drama that sheds a little light in some beguilingly dark places."[36]Vincent Canby ofThe New York Times wrote in a negative review that writer-director Schrader "is awfully good at establishing inarticulate, unknowing, self-deluding characters, but he's much less effective when it comes to shepherding these characters through the contingencies of the melodrama that is supposed to ennoble them or, at least, to reveal their unsuspected moral resources."[37]Variety faulted the film for an "evasiveness at its core", finding a "moral and emotional ambivalence" in Gere's character "which makes caring about his predicament and ultimate fate difficult."[38]Charles Champlin of theLos Angeles Times was also negative, calling the film "such an improbable tissue of fantasies and dime-novel borrowings that from moment to moment it seems to be making fun of itself, although the joke is disguised perfectly."[39]Roger Angell ofThe New Yorker wrote that the film "presents a humorless,Penthouse kind of sex, all dolled up with expensive 'real' settings, foreign cars, hi-fi sets, and designer clothes, but barely alive at its glum, soft core."[40]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 73% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "While Paul Schrader's clinical direction and Richard Gere's muted performance don't stir much passion,American Gigolo succeeds as a stylish character study."[41]
The film was adapted into a television series starringJon Bernthal as Julian Kaye. It premiered onShowtime on September 11, 2022. In January 2023, the series was canceled after one season.
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