| California Suite | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster byDrew Struzan | |
| Directed by | Herbert Ross |
| Written by | Neil Simon |
| Based on | California Suite by Neil Simon |
| Produced by | Ray Stark |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | David M. Walsh |
| Edited by | Michael A. Stevenson |
| Music by | Claude Bolling |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $42.9 million[1] |
California Suite is a 1978 Americananthologycomedy film directed byHerbert Ross. The screenplay byNeil Simon is based on his1976 play. Similar in format to Simon's earlier workPlaza Suite, the film follows four separate stories involving guests staying in a suite in a luxury hotel.
The film starsAlan Alda,Michael Caine,Bill Cosby,Jane Fonda,Walter Matthau,Elaine May,Richard Pryor andMaggie Smith. The movie was released in December 1978, and received mixed reviews.
It received threeAcademy Award nominations, includingBest Adapted Screenplay for Simon, withMaggie Smith winningBest Supporting Actress. Smith also won theGolden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and the film was nominated forBest Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
The film depicts four separate stories involving guests staying atThe Beverly Hills Hotel.
In "Visitors fromNew York", Hannah Warren is aManhattan workaholic who flies toLos Angeles to retrieve her teenage daughter Jenny after she leaves home to live with her successful screenwriter father Bill. The bickering, divorced couple are forced to decide on what living arrangements are best for the girl.
In "Visitors fromLondon", Diana Barrie is a British actress and a first-time nominee for theAcademy Award for Best Actress in an independent British film, an honor that could revive her faltering career, but she knows that she has no chance of winning. She is in deep denial about the true nature of hermarriage of convenience to Sidney Cochran, a once-closetedgay antique dealer who has become increasingly indiscreet about his sexuality. As she prepares for her moment in the spotlight, her mood fluctuates from hope to panic to despair.
In "Visitors fromPhiladelphia", conservative, middle-aged businessman Marvin Michaels awakens to discover a prostitute named Bunny—an unexpected gift from his brother Harry—unconscious in his bed. With his wife Millie on her way up to the suite, he must find a way to conceal all traces of his brother's indiscretion.
In "Visitors fromChicago", Dr. Chauncey Gump and his wife Lola and Dr. Willis Panama and his wife Bettina are taking a much-needed vacation together. Things begin to unravel quickly when things begin to go wrong and the two men decide to settle their differences by engaging in a very competitive tennis match.
The film was shot on location in April 1978, atThe Beverly Hills Hotel, theDorothy Chandler Pavilion at theLos Angeles Music Center,Warner Bros. Studios Burbank and alongRodeo Drive.[2] The arrival of Diana Barrie (Maggie Smith) and Sidney Cochran (Michael Caine) at theAcademy Awards was shot at the actual50th Academy Awards, where in real life, Michael Caine and Maggie Smith were the presenters of theBest Supporting Actor award.[2] The California-themed paintings seen in the opening credits are bypop artistDavid Hockney.[3]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 50% of 28 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Maggie Smith's acidic turn is the standout in this stacked ensemble, but broad characterizations and an unsure tone make for a disappointingly uneven adaptation of Neil Simon's episodic play."[4]The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list.[5]
Film criticVincent Canby calledCalifornia Suite "the most agreeably realizedSimon film in years", and added, "Here is Mr. Simon in top form, under the direction ofHerbert Ross, one of the few directors...who can cope with the particular demands of material that simultaneously means to be touching and so nonstop clever one sometimes wants to gag him. It all works inCalifornia Suite, not only because the material is superior Simon, but also because the writer and the director have assembled a dream cast."[6]
Variety observed, "Neil Simon and Herbert Ross have gambled in radically altering the successful format ofCalifornia Suite as it appeared on stage. Instead of four separate playlets, there is now one semi-cohesive narrative revolving around visitors to the Beverly Hills Hotel...The technique is less than successful, veering from poignant emotionalism to broad slapstick in sudden shifts."[7]
David Pirie fromTime Out described the film as a "quick and varied comedy, highly suited to Neil Simon's machine-gun gag-writing", and added, "Fonda provides the film with its centre, giving another performance of unnerving sureness. Also on the credit side is a bedroom farce of epic proportions fromMatthau andMay. The other vignettes are a bit glum."[8]
Melvin Frankel fromGay Community News wrote that "on the surface of it, Neil Simon seems to be adventurous, this time, expanding his art, to the point of including a somewhat unusual portrait of a gay man; but the film gets stranded midway between hard social commentary and the aim to please those he's criticizing."[9]
In his annualmovie guide,Leonard Maltin gave the film three stars out of four, and described it as a "pleasant time-filler, with a nicejazz score byClaude Bolling". He also felt that "gently bickering" Smith and Caine came off best, while "unfunnily combative"Richard Pryor andBill Cosby came off worst.[10]
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Maggie Smith | Won | [11] |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Neil Simon | Nominated | ||
| Best Production Design | Albert Brenner andMarvin March | Nominated | ||
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Maggie Smith | Nominated | [12] |
| Evening Standard British Film Awards | Best Actress | Won | [13] | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | [14] | |
| Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Maggie Smith | Won[a] | ||
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Won | [15] | |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | Jane Fonda[b] | Won | [16] |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actor | Michael Caine | 4th Place | [17] |
| Best Actress | Jane Fonda | 2nd Place | ||
| Maggie Smith | 4th Place | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | 3rd Place | |||
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Runner-up | [17] | |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Comedy – Adapted from Another Medium | Neil Simon | Nominated | [17] |
California Suite was released in the United States onVHS byColumbia Pictures in 1983,[18] and onDVD in bothfullscreen andwidescreen formats on January 2, 2002.[19]
