| Me, Natalie | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Original poster | |
| Directed by | Fred Coe |
| Screenplay by | A. Martin Zweiback |
| Story by | Stanley Shapiro |
| Produced by | Stanley Shapiro |
| Starring | Patty Duke James Farentino Salome Jens Elsa Lanchester Martin Balsam Nancy Marchand Philip Sterling |
| Cinematography | Arthur J. Ornitz |
| Edited by | John McSweeney Jr. |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
Production companies | Cinema Center Films Nob Hill Productions |
| Distributed by | National General Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.9 million (US/Canada rentals)[1] |
Me, Natalie is a 1969 Americancomedy-drama film directed byFred Coe about a young woman fromBrooklyn who moves toGreenwich Village and finds romance with an aspiring artistic painter. Thescreenplay by A. Martin Zweiback is based on an original story byStanley Shapiro.Patty Duke, who stars in the title role, won aGolden Globe Award for her performance.[2] The film also featuresJames Farentino,Salome Jens,Elsa Lanchester,Martin Balsam andNancy Marchand. It marksAl Pacino's film debut.[3]
From childhood,Brooklyn teenager Natalie Miller, who has a slightoverbite and a somewhat large nose, considers herself to be homely, and has never subscribed to her mother's determined belief that she will grow up to be pretty. By contrast, her best friend Betty is a popular and beautiful blonde cheerleader who has been going steady with the handsome Stanley since junior high school.
Natalie's efforts to become a cheerleader, impress a blind date, and attend her graduation dance all fail. She is briefly cheered up by her beloved Uncle Harold, who tells her that someday a man will look beyond her face and see her good inner qualities, but she becomes disillusioned after Harold becomes engaged to sexy, voluptuousgo-go dancer Shirley. Believing that Harold chose Shirley based on her looks, Natalie regards Shirley with contempt, and when Harold unexpectedly dies, avoids attending his funeral.
A year later, Natalie encounters Shirley, who has turned to drugs in her grief over Harold. Natalie sees that Shirley and Harold really did love each other, and that Shirley's physical attractiveness has not brought her happiness. Natalie's parents worry because she has been expelled from college, has not found a job, and has no boyfriends nor marital prospects. They try to arrange dates for her, and her father attempts to bribe Morris, an awkward aspiringoptometrist, to marry her. After learning of the bribery scheme, an incensed Natalie moves out of her parents' apartment, planning to move in with Shirley in Manhattan.
On arriving at Shirley's bohemian apartment building inGreenwich Village, Natalie learns that Shirley has died by drug overdose. Natalie rents and fixes up Shirley's vacant apartment, and is hired as a cocktail waitress at the "Topless Bottomless Club". Natalie is attracted to her downstairs neighbor David Harris, an architect who has left his job for three months to pursue his dream of becoming an artistic painter.
Having dismissed David as a "sex pervert" because he is usually using beautiful nude female models, she is taken aback when David finds her face "interesting" and asks her to model for him. Their friendship gradually grows into romance, with Natalie encouraging his painting aspirations and David building her self-confidence. However, after Natalie sees her old friend Betty enter into an unhappy marriage due to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, Natalie, who is overcome with love for David, discovers that he is actually married to a wealthy, beautiful woman and has two young sons.
After a confrontation, David reassures Natalie that he really loves her, and that he will go back to his family home, end his marriage, and return to her. At first, Natalie eagerly waits in his apartment for his return, but as time goes by, she feels guilty about separating him from his family. Finally, she writes David a farewell letter, saying that she will always love him, but expressing the wish to take responsibility for her own happiness, and leaves.
Works byNathan Wasserberger were used in the film as the paintings produced by David Harris.[4]
In his review inThe New York Times,Vincent Canby called the film "an artificial mess of wisecracks and sentimentality", and added, "Locales and a gummy musical score byHenry Mancini andRod McKuen are among the things constantly impinging onMe, Natalie. Another is Coe's apparent indecision as to whether the movie is a character study or a gag comedy. Mostly it's just gags, delivered abrasively by Miss Duke, who is even less effective when registeringpathos."[5]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times found it to be "as conventional and corny as warmed-overYoung at Heart... a pleasant film, very funny at times... Patty Duke, as Natalie, supplies a wonderful performance".[6]
TV Guide considered the film to be "somewhat bland", but calls Duke "a wonder", and adds, "Handled by a lesser actress, the results might have seemed more stereotypical, but Duke is convincing."[7]
Under license fromCBS Studios,Me, Natalie was released onDVD by Via Vision Entertainment on July 22, 2016, and toBlu-ray byKino Lorber Studio Classics on May 5, 2020.