Save the Tiger
| Save the Tiger | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John G. Avildsen |
| Produced by | Steve Shagan |
| Written by | Steve Shagan |
| Starring |
Jack Lemmon Jack Gilford Laurie Heineman |
| Music by | Marvin Hamlisch |
| Cinematography | James Crabe |
| Edited by | David Bretherton |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1 million[1] |
| Box office | $2,300,000 (rentals)[2] |
Save the Tiger is a 1973 drama film about moral conflict in contemporary America directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, Laurie Heineman, Thayer David, Lara Parker and Liv Lindeland. The screenplay was adapted by Steve Shagan from his novel of the same title.
Lemmon won the 1973 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Harry Stoner (making him the first of six actors to win Oscars for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor), an executive in the garment industry who struggles with the complexity of modern life versus the simplicity of his youth.
Plot
Harry Stoner (Jack Lemmon) is an executive at a Los Angeles apparel company close to ruin. With no legal way to keep the company from going under, Stoner considers torching his warehouse for the insurance settlement.
The arson is agreed to very reluctantly by his partner (Jack Gilford), a stable family man who watches Harry's decline with alarm. Through it all, Harry drinks, laments the state of the world, and tries his best to keep the business rolling as usual. This last task is complicated when a client has a heart attack in the arms of a prostitute provided by Stoner.
With nerves still shaky, Stoner takes the stage at the premiere of his company's new line, only to be overcome by war memories. He ends the day spontaneously deciding to go home with a young, free-spirited girl hitchhiker, whose ignorance of his generation underscores his isolation from the world around him.
Cast
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Production and reception
The movie was written by Steve Shagan and directed by John G. Avildsen. Lemmon was determined to make the movie, despite its limited commercial prospects, and so he waived his usual salary and worked for scale. The movie was filmed in sequence after three weeks of rehearsal in Los Angeles. There is also a novel version of Save the Tiger, by Shagan: the title comes from a campaign to save tigers from extinction to which Stoner contributes. The movie failed financially at the box office, but critics and viewers who saw it liked the Oscar-winning performance of Jack Lemmon as Stoner.
Award wins and nominations
Wins
- Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role – Jack Lemmon[3]
- Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay – Steve Shagan[3]
Nominations
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – Jack Gilford[3]
- Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay – Steve Shagan[3]
- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama[3]
- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor (Drama) – Jack Lemmon[3]
- Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Jack Gilford[3]