| The War Between Men and Women | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Melville Shavelson |
| Produced by | Danny Arnold |
| Written by | Danny Arnold Melville Shavelson James Thurber (writings) |
| Starring | Jack Lemmon Barbara Harris Jason Robards |
| Music by | Marvin Hamlisch |
| Cinematography | Charles F. Wheeler |
| Editing by | Frank Bracht |
| Release date(s) | 1972 |
| Running time | 110 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The War Between Men and Women is a 1972 slapstick live-cartoon comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Barbara Harris, and Jason Robards.
It is based on the writings of humorist James Thurber, and was released in 1972 by Cinema Center Films. Like many other films in the Cinema Center catalog, it has long been unavailable on home video, with the exception of a brief release on VHS in 2000. Nonetheless, it has been shown on television.
The film was directed by Melville Shavelson, creator of the 1969 Thurber-based television series My World and Welcome to It. The screenplay was by Shavelson and by Danny Arnold, who also worked on the 1969 series. Arnold is best known for his later television series, Barney Miller. Lisa Gerritsen, who plays Linda Kozlenko in the film, previously co-starred in My World and Welcome to It as Lydia Monroe.
Contents |
Living in Manhattan, Peter Wilson (Jack Lemmon) is a sarcastic near-sighted cartoonist, author and swinging bachelor. He detests dogs and children. Although he also disagrees with many values of women, Peter is a commitment-phobe as he much prefers women who come and go very briefly in his life. At the office of his eye surgeon, Peter bumps into a leggy eye-catching brunette named Theresa 'Terri' Kozlenko (Barbara Harris). He likes her very much but he doesn't immediately realise that she is a single mother to three children with a scowling dog until she invites him back to her flat.
They build up a close relationship that shows they are a perfect match as Terri becomes the only woman prepared to put up with Peter's strong views day-by-day. Their relationship soon becomes more passionate (mainly in Peter's daydreams). When she rejects his idea of living a life of purely sleeping together only at his bachelor pad (so that he doesn't have to bond with her demanding family), he reluctantly proposes to her and eventually moves in with her at her flat. They get married but then her rogue ex-husband Stephen Kozlenko (Jason Robards) appears on the scene to spend more time with their children. Stephen and Peter clash at first but they soon become good drinking friends, much to the disapproval of Terri.
Peter's eyesight gradually gets more worse over time and his once-popular work as a cartoonist begins to receive criticism from his bumbling boss Howard Mann (Herb Edelman). A serious operation to possibly cure Peter's problem arises, in which he tries to keep a secret from Terri so as to not worry her but a very upset Howard gets hysterical and therefore ruins Peter's attempts to make up a story about working away from home on a book. Terri then tells him that she knew all along that Peter was really going blind from the first day she met him.
The screenplay by Melville Shavelson and Danny Arnold was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen.
|
|||||||||||