The Out-of-Towners (1970 film)
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| The Out-of-Towners | |
|---|---|
 promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Arthur Hiller |
| Produced by | Paul Nathan |
| Written by | Neil Simon |
| Starring | Jack Lemmon Sandy Dennis |
| Music by | Quincy Jones |
| Cinematography | Andrew Laszlo |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,500,000 (estimated) |
The Out-of-Towners is a 1970 comedy film starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis and directed by Arthur Hiller.
Originally, playwright Neil Simon planned his tale of a suburban Ohio couple's misadventures in New York City to be one of a quartet of vignettes in his Broadway play Plaza Suite. However, he quickly realized the comic possibilities were numerous enough to warrant a full-length treatment, and the action was more suitable for the screen than the stage. During filming in the spring of 1969, Hiller took full advantage of Manhattan, including Grand Central Station, Central Park, and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in his location shooting, and substituting MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York for the Ohio terminal.
The plot revolves around Gwen and George Kellerman, whose company has offered him a job promotion in the Big Apple. From the moment they depart their home town, the couple suffers nearly every indignity out-of-towners possibly could experience. Heavy fog forces their flight to be rerouted to Boston, where they discover their luggage - in which George's ulcer medication and Gwen's extra cash are packed - was left behind. Just missing the train at South Station, they chase it to the next stop by cab, board it and wait two hours for seats in the dining car, only to discover the only food left are peanut butter sandwiches, green olives, and crackers. Upon arrival in New York, they discover mass transit, cab drivers, and sanitation workers all are on strike. Making their way to the Waldorf-Astoria on foot past tons of garbage in a torrential downpour, they discover their reservation - guaranteed for a 10:00pm arrival - has been given away, and the hotel - like every other one in the city - is booked to capacity due to the strikes. What follows is a series of calamities that includes two muggings, kidnapping by armed liquor store robbers, a cracked tooth, broken high heels, accusations of child molestation, an exploding manhole cover, expulsion from a church, and an attack by protestors in front of the Cuban embassy. By the time their ordeal comes to an end, the two realize an upwardly mobile move to the big city is not what they truly cherish and desire for themselves or their family, and they return to Ohio, only to be subjected to one more major catastrophe - their flight home is hijacked.
Much of the film's humor is derived from the interaction between George, the manic husband desperately collecting the names of everyone he encounters with plans to sue every last one of them, and Gwen, the mousy wife who accepts each new indignation with quiet resignation.
A number of comic actors, including Anne Meara, Sandy Baron, Ann Prentiss, Paul Dooley, and Anthony Holland, were cast in small supporting roles.
Both Lemmon and Dennis were nominated for Golden Globe awards in the comedy acting categories. Simon's screenplay won him the Writers Guild of America award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen.
The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $29 million in the US and $33 million worldwide (source: Amazon.com). It was remade with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn in 1999 [1].
