Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris Columbus
Produced by	Marsha Garces Williams Robin Williams Mark Radcliffe
Screenplay by	Randi Mayem Singer Leslie Dixon
Based on	Alias Madame Doubtfire  by Anne Fine
Starring	Robin Williams Sally Field Lisa Jakub Matthew Lawrence Mara Wilson Pierce Brosnan Harvey Fierstein
Music by	Howard Shore
Cinematography	Donald McAlpine
Editing by	Raja Gosnell
Studio	Blue Wolf Productions
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	November 24, 1993 (1993-11-24)
Running time	125 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000[1]
Box office	$441,286,195[1]

Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy film starring Robin Williams (who also served as co-producer) and Sally Field and based on the novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup.^[2] The film was placed 67th in the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies, a list of the 100 funniest movies of the 20th century, and was also rated No. 40 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies of All Time. The original music score was composed by Howard Shore.

Plot

Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) is a talented, but unemployed, voice actor living in San Francisco. Daniel is devoted to his three children Lydia (Lisa Jakub), Chris (Matthew Lawrence) and Natalie (Mara Wilson), but he is not a good disciplinarian and his wife, Miranda (Sally Field), considers him irresponsible and immature, and their marriage is on the rocks. When Daniel throws Chris a rousing birthday party despite Chris' bad report card, Miranda finally snaps and asks for a divorce. At their first custody hearing, the judge provisionally grants Miranda custody of the children, since Daniel has neither a suitable residence nor a steady job.

Daniel learns that Miranda intends to hire a housekeeper to care for the children. Since she is not willing to let him watch the kids, Daniel surreptitiously alters her classifieds form and calls her a few times, using his voice acting skills to pose as a variety of bad applicants. He then calls her posing as a pleasantly mellow elderly English nanny, whom he dubs "Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire." Impressed by her supposed credentials, Miranda invites "Mrs. Doubtfire" for an interview. Daniel enlists his brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein), a makeup artist, and Frank's partner Jack to transform him into Mrs. Doubtfire.

Neither Miranda nor the children recognize Daniel when he goes to the interview as Mrs Doubtfire, and Miranda hires her. The children initially struggle to adjust to Mrs. Doubtfire's strict methods, but she soon makes herself an indispensable part of the family. Daniel, who has had to learn several skills, also steadily rebuilds his life, getting a menial job at a TV station, getting to be a better parent, and improving his apartment. However, he is riven with jealousy when he notices Miranda's new love interest Stuart Dunmire (Pierce Brosnan) spending more time with his family. One day, Chris and Lydia inadvertently discover that Mrs. Doubtfire is really their father in disguise and he tells them what he did and why he did it. The two children are happy to have their father back in their lives and agree to keep it a secret from Miranda and Natalie.

While working at the TV station, CEO Jonathan Lundy (Robert Prosky) is amused when he sees Daniel clowning around with toy dinosaurs on the set of an outdated children's program. He invites him to dinner at Bridges Restaurant, Friday, 7pm Sharp to pitch new ideas. Miranda, meanwhile, expects Mrs. Doubtfire to attend a birthday dinner with Stuart at the same time and place. Unable to turn down that invitation and unable to reschedule his meeting with Lundy, Daniel goes to the restaurant and has to rotate between both dinners by changing in and out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume in the restroom. Due to ordering alcoholic beverages at both tables, Daniel gets tipsy and his behavior becomes more erratic. He dumps pepper (which Stuart is allergic to) on Stuart's order and then forgets to change out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume before returning to Lundy's table. Daniel covers for his mistake by explaining to a bemused Lundy that his alter ego is his idea for a new television persona, which impresses his boss. To make matters worse, Stuart then starts choking on the pepper. Daniel, still in the Mrs. Doubtfire costume, administers the Heimlich maneuver on Stuart. During the struggle, Daniel's mask peels off, revealing his identity. Horrified and furious, Miranda storms out of the restaurant with Stu and the children.

At their next custody hearing, despite Daniel demonstrating he has a job and a suitable home, and his personal explanation for his disguised behavior, the judge is disturbed by his recent "unorthodox" behavior and considers him to have an insanity issue, and for that reason grants Miranda full custody of the children, with Daniel limited to supervised visitation once a week. The ruling leaves Daniel heartbroken and oppressed. Without Mrs. Doubtfire, the children are withdrawn and depressed. Even Miranda admits that their lives were so much better with her, even though she now knows it was all an act. They are delighted when they see Daniel dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire hosting his own television program, "Euphegenia's House", which has become a hit. One day, Miranda pays Daniel a visit at the studio, telling him that the kids, and herself, were happier with him involved. She forgives him and successfully appeals the custody ruling, giving them joint custody, and the two make peace with each other. Later, she introduces the kids to their new "babysitter": Daniel, now undisguised and without supervision, to their obvious delight. Miranda happily watches a Euphegenia's House episode where Mrs. Doubtfire answers a letter from a little girl whose parents are divorcing, to which Mrs Doubtfire responds with the advice that no matter what the circumstances, love will prevail.

Cast

• Robin Williams as Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire
• Sally Field as Miranda Hillard
• Lisa Jakub as Lydia "Lydie" Hillard
• Matthew Lawrence as Christopher "Chris" Hillard
• Mara Wilson as Natalie "Nattie" Hillard
• Pierce Brosnan as Stuart "Stu" Dunmire
• Harvey Fierstein as Frank Hillard
• Scott Capurro as Jack
• Robert Prosky as Mr. Jonathan Lundy
• Polly Holliday as Gloria Cheney, the Hillards' neighbor.
• Anne Haney as Mrs. Sellner, the Court Liaison.
• Martin Mull as Justin Gregory
• Todd Williams as Todd the Bartender

Production

Ms.Doubtfire face mold

Filming

Chicago was the studio's first choice for filming. However, two new television shows (ER and Chicago Hope) had a lease with the city around the same time period, and the production team eventually went with San Francisco. Various locations in San Francisco were used for filming. Parts were shot at the studios of television station KTVU in Oakland. The street signs for the intersection near the "Painted Lady" home, Steiner and Broadway, were visible on-screen. The exact address, 2640 Steiner Street 37°47′38.07″N 122°26′10.78″W / 37.7939083°N 122.4363278°W / 37.7939083; -122.4363278, became a tourist attraction for some time after the film's release.^[3] Though the film's home exteriors were impressive, its interiors were all shot in a warehouse in the Bay area that was turned into a soundstage. Robin Williams' divorced father character 'Daniel' lived upstairs from Danilo Bakery at 516 Green St., and his children attended a school at Filbert and Taylor.

The restaurant scene was filmed in an actual upscale restaurant, Bridges Restaurant & Bar, in downtown Danville, California, which is still in operation as of February 2014.

Music

The score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore. The song Robin Williams sings at the cartoon voiceover in the beginning is "Largo al factotum". Other songs featured often were chosen referencing the identity of Mrs. Doubtfire. These songs include:

• "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" performed by Aerosmith
• "Walk Like a Man" performed by The Four Seasons
• "Luck Be a Lady" performed by Frank Sinatra
• "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" performed by James Brown

Additionally, these songs were featured:

• "Jump Around" performed by House of Pain (but some lines were cut to keep the image family-friendly)
• "Stormy Monday Blues" performed by B.B. King and Albert Collins

Reaction

Box office

The film was a huge box office success. It earned $219,195,243 in the United States, along with $222,090,952 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $441,286,195.^[1] It became the second highest grossing film of 1993, behind only Jurassic Park.^[4][5]

Critical reception

The movie received mixed to positive reviews. At the time of its release, several critics compared Mrs. Doubtfire unfavorably with Some Like It Hot (1959), and others who viewed the movie favorably noted its similarity to Tootsie (1982).^[6]

Mrs. Doubtfire has a "Fresh" rating of 71% with an average score of 5.8 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 49 reviews.^[7][8] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 53/100, indicating "mixed or average" review, based on 16 critics.^[9]

Accolades

• 66th Academy Awards^[2]
  • Best Makeup (Won)

• 51st Golden Globe Awards
  • Best Picture (Musical/Comedy) (Won)
  • Best Actor (Musical/Comedy) - Robin Williams (Won)

BAFTA Awards

• 1994
  • Best Makeup & Hair (nominee)

American Film Institute Lists

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - No. 67
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs:
  • Dude (Looks Like A Lady) - Nominated^[10]

Sequel

Writing of a sequel, Mrs. Doubtfire 2, began in 2001 by Bonnie Hunt. Robin Williams was set to return in disguise as an old nanny, similar to the first movie. Due to problems with the script, re-writing began in early 2006 as Robin Williams was allegedly unhappy with the plot. The movie was expected to be released in late 2007, but following further script problems the sequel was declared "scrapped" in mid-2006.^[11]

The sequel's story involved Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire moving close to his daughter's college so he could keep an eye on her. In an interview for Newsday, Williams said the movie's sequel was indefinitely scrapped. Stating his reasons, he said, "The script they had just didn't work."^[12]

On December 5, 2006, during an interview with BBC Radio 1 by DJ Edith Bowman, Williams said that if it's not going to be done right, then it's not worth doing and that there will not be a sequel with him in it. However, the character might return in some form some day in the future. The interview doesn't seem to have been recorded, but it was posted online almost immediately.^[12]

In August 2010, Williams was featured on Alan Carr's Chatty Man, and again brought up the topic of another Mrs. Doubtfire movie. He blamed the script not being right as the reason another movie wasn't shot. He claimed that the script had been written 3 times and failed, and there was no mention of any ongoing work on the project.^{[citation needed]}

In late 2011, a conversation regarding a sequel was discussed yet again during an interview with Williams. He stated yet again that the chances of a sequel are "highly unlikely".^{[citation needed]}

In May 2013, Chris Columbus stated that "We're talking about a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire. We've talked about it (Robin Williams), and the studio is interested in it. The thing that fascinates me about a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire is with most actors who create an iconic charcter like Mrs. Doubtfire, when you come back and do that character, well, you're twenty years older so, you're not going to look the same. The cool thing with Mrs. Doubtfire is there's a character, there's a woman, who is actually going to look exactly as she did in 1993.

"So I look forward to seeing that trailer. I love that concept and there's no CGI. So we just need to make absolutely certain that the story is a good emotionally strong story, that there's a reason for telling it, it's not like Big Momma's House or something. It has to be as emotional and as funny."

In popular culture

• Robin Williams performs a spoof reprisal of his role as Mrs. Doubtfire in the Disney animated film Aladdin and the King of Thieves when he tries to give a dejected Jasmine some moral support.^[13][14]

See also

• Avvai Shanmughi, the 1996 re-make in Tamil
• Chachi 420, the 1998 re-make in Hindi
• Cross-dressing in film and television

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mrs. Doubtfire

• Mrs. Doubtfire at the Internet Movie Database
• Mrs. Doubtfire at the TCM Movie Database
• Mrs. Doubtfire at allmovie
• Mrs. Doubtfire at Box Office Mojo