A young Pim and his mother, Yvette, live in the Belgian countryside with their dog, a Miniature Pinscher named Mirza. The mother, a lonely divorcee, plays a piano accordion, and patronizes a local bar called Texas. One day Pim and his mother attend a fair, where they meet a traveling carny named Zoltan. Zoltan is kind to the younger Pim, and Pim is infatuated. Zoltan rents a room in Yvette’s home intermittently, but later stops coming to town. Meanwhile, Yvette begins spending time with a man named Etienne, who is brutish and macho, and whom Pim immediately despises.
As time passes, Pim develops a close friendship with the slightly older Gino, who becomes his best friend. Pim falls in love with Gino, and Gino explores his sexuality with the adoring Pim, and the two become increasingly intimate. They both agree to keep their sexual relationship a secret. Meanwhile, Gino’s sister Sabrina develops feelings for Pim, and Gino nearly spends the night with a girl he is seeing named Françoise. Pim, seeing Gino kiss Françoise, commits an act of vandalism as revenge and a rift forms between the two friends. Sabrina subsequently finds out that Pim is gay, and Yvette breaks it off with the boorish Etienne. Around this time, the enigmatic Zoltan unexpectedly returns. Gino, growing uncomfortable with the complicated circumstances, begins pushing Pim away. Compounding the emotional roller coaster for Pim, he goes to Zoltan’s room one evening, hoping to spend the night with him, only to find Zoltan out of his room and down the hall having sex with Pim’s mother. Having long wanted Zoltan for himself, even before he fell in love with Gino, a distraught Pim runs off into the night. Devastated that he cannot be with Zoltan, he returns home to find his mother has left with Zoltan and left him a note. Pim takes Mirza and moves in with Sabrina, while Gino is living out of town with Françoise.
Following the funeral of Gino’s and Sabrina’s mother Marcella, Pim and Sabrina are seen living together, although the living arrangement is clearly platonic. On a rainy day, Gino returns. After Pim tells Gino that his sister isn’t home, Gino tells Pim that it was he whom Gino came home for. Gino gently grabs Pim and moves him against the wall. Gino returns a cloth with special meaning to them both to Pim, telling him to tie a knot in it so that he will never forget him. He then proceeds to kiss Pim on the neck and the two embrace one another passionately. Pim tells Gino to “stay,” and the film ends with the two of them embracing each other, suggesting a happy ending for the young couple.
Nickie Ferrante, a well-known playboy, meets Terry McKay aboard the transatlantic ocean liner SS Constitution en route from Europe to New York. Each is romantically involved with someone else. After a series of meetings aboard the ship, they establish a friendship.
When Terry joins Nickie on a brief visit to his grandmother Janou while the ship is anchored near her home at Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean coast, she sees Nickie with new eyes and their feelings become deeper. During their visit, Janou tells Terry that Nickie is a talented painter but destroys most of his paintings because they do not meet his standards. As the ship returns to New York City, they agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months’ time if they have succeeded in ending their relationships and starting new careers.
On the day of their rendezvous, Terry, hurrying to reach the Empire State Building, is struck down by a car while crossing the street. Gravely injured, she is rushed to the hospital. Meanwhile, Nickie, waiting for her at the observation deck at the top of the building, is unaware of the accident and, after many hours, leaves at midnight, believing that she has rejected him.
Nickie learns Terry’s address and on Christmas Eve pays her a surprise visit. Although he tries to coax her to explain her actions, Terry dodges the subject, never leaving the couch on which she lies. He gives her the shawl that Janou, who has died, left for her.
As he is leaving, Nickie mentions a painting on which he had been working when they first met, and that it was just given away to a woman who liked it but had no money. He is about to say that the woman was in a wheelchair when he pauses, suddenly suspecting why Terry has been lying still on the couch. He walks into her bedroom and sees the painting hanging on the wall, realizing that she was the woman in the wheelchair. The film ends with the two in a tight embrace as Terry says, “If you can paint, I can walk. Anything can happen, don’t you think?”
The film was a remake of McCarey’s 1939 film Love Affair, starring Irene Dunne as Terry and Charles Boyer as the Gallic playboy Michel Marnet. Plans for a Love Affair remake were first reported in 1952, which had Fernando Lamas and Arlene Dahl attached to the project.[5]
Cary Grant first worked with McCarey on The Awful Truth and did not like McCarey’s improvisational strategy, but after eventually warming to it, he wished that he had starred in Love Affair, and he often visited the set during production.[6] He enjoyed the film when it was released and convinced McCarey years later to remake it starring Grant in Boyer’s role.[7] McCarey later commented: “Hollywood films all seem to be trying to find a trick way of saying ‘I love you.’ What are they trying to prove? Love is the oldest and noblest emotion.”[8]An Affair to Remember was almost identical to the original on a scene-to-scene basis.[6][9] McCarey used the same screenplay as was employed for the original film, written by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart,[10] but Stewart was not included in the credits because he had been blacklisted. Filming took place between February and April 1957.[11]
Grant was reportedly grumpy during filming because his hypnotherapy with his wife caused him to dislike smoking.[11] He also underwent an operation during production to treat a lump on his forehead that resulted from a childhood injury.[11]
Watch my tribute to these two greats, I hope you enjoy my little fim.
My Saturdays At the Strand Movie Palace in Far Rockaway New York 1967
I spent many afternoons in the Strand movie palace on school days and always on Saturday, often alone in the big movie house during the week. I would watch films in chairs that were made for two people to sit in, It was a great old movie Palace. So many families during the 1920 – 1960s would spend a Saturday night walking in town and than catching a movie. Often we would go to our favor places to eat before we would all see the new movie out this week. So many wonderful times.
Two For The Road
Starring
Audrey Hepburn , Albert finney and Jacqueline Bisset
From a collection of movie stills and photographs taken on the set
Two for the Road is a 1967 romanticcomedy-drama directed and produced by Stanley Donen, starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. The film tells the story of a married couple who reflect on their twelve-year relationship while on a road trip from England to the French Riviera. As they survey their foundering marriage in the present, the evolution of their relationship reveals itself through vignettes from four previous trips they took along the same route. The film was made from an original screenplay by Frederic Raphael. Supporting cast members include Eleanor Bron, William Daniels, Claude Dauphin, and Nadia Gray. Two for the Road was Hepburn’s penultimate performance before her semi-retirement in 1968.
Raphael conceived the idea for the film while driving with his wife to the south of France. He suggested the project initially to producer Joseph Janni, who declined it, and then wrote the script for Donen. Originally the film was to be distributed by Universal, but after the studio backed out, Donen took the project to Twentieth Century-Fox. Two for the Road is notable for combining the styles of a traditional Hollywood romance with elements of the French New Wave. Cars figure prominently in the film and, when the narrative jumps in time, help to establish the current year. Two for the Road was a rare Hepburn picture in that she did not wear a wardrobe designed by Hubert de Givenchy, because Donen wanted her to have a more conventional appearance. The film’s soundtrack was composed by Henry Mancini, who called the theme song his favourite piece of music he wrote.[4]Principal photography began on 3 May 1966 and concluded on 1 September. The film was released on 27 April 1967 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Plot
In 1966, English architect Mark Wallace and his wife Joanna fly to France (when he thinks he forgot his passport, his wife hands it to him casually) then drive to Saint-Tropez to meet Mark’s longtime client, Maurice Dalbret. Joanna complains that Mark is constantly at Maurice’s beck and call, and Mark points out she enjoys the luxuries his hard work provides. They reflect on previous trips.
In 1954 Mark and Joanna cross paths on a ferry leaving England. Mark is studying European architecture, while Joanna is travelling with her choir to a festival in Menton. When the ferry arrives in Dieppe, Mark panics thinking he lost his passport; helpful bystander Joanna finds it in his backpack. When the choir’s van runs off the road, Mark stops to help. He travels with the girls to Abbeville, intending to pair off with the beautiful Jackie, but after everyone else catches chickenpox, Joanna attaches herself to Mark. Mark tries to ditch Joanna, suggesting they travel separately. After hitching a ride with a slick driver in an Alfa Romeo, Joanna returns to join Mark, telling him that she loves him. He warns her that he does not intend commitment. At the Mediterranean, they stay in cheap hotels, spending their days at the beach, and Joanna proves to be an adaptable and ideal companion. At the end of their week, Mark asks Joanna to marry him.
In 1957 the Wallaces have been married for two years. They travel by car with Mark’s former girlfriend from the University of Chicago, Cathy Seligman, her husband, Howard Maxwell-Manchester, and their demanding young daughter, Ruthie. In a tantrum Ruthie tosses away the car keys, causing a long delay as the adults search the nearby brush, until Joanna orders Ruthie to disclose where she threw the keys. A pedantic Howard suggests that Joanna resents Ruthie, who represents the child she wishes she had. After Ruthie says that Cathy called Joanna a “suburban English nobody,” Mark insists they leave the Maxwell-Manchesters and continue travelling by themselves. Mark asks Joanna sardonically whether she really wants a Ruthie of their own.
In 1959 the Wallaces travel as a married couple on a limited budget, driving a rundown MG. When Joanna announces she is pregnant, Mark attempts enthusiasm. After the car catches fire, the Wallaces pull into a luxury hotel they can ill afford, the Domaine Saint-Just. To save money, they sneak in sparse food, only to find at checkout the seasonal price includes charges for breakfast and dinner. While they push the burnt-out car for disposal, a Bentley S1, belonging to wealthy couple Maurice and Françoise Dalbret, causes them to crash the MG into a barn. Maurice pays off the barn’s owner, and the Wallaces travel with the Dalbrets. At the end of the trip Maurice hires Mark’s architectural services.
The birth of Caroline results in Joanna’s staying home and Mark’s traveling alone to France. He has a one-night stand with a driver named Simone while he writes to Joanna lying about his activities and claiming to “miss” her.
In 1963, Joanna and young Caroline accompany Mark to a project for Maurice. Parenthood causes travel complications and strain in the marriage, with Mark admonishing Joanna that he never wanted a child. The two consider separating, and Joanna bitterly reflects that he never really wanted anything else. At the Dalbret property, Joanna meets Françoise’s brother, David, who seduces her. When Mark confronts them, Joanna confesses she is in love with David. David gives her the choice to leave Mark for him; however, she returns to Mark, missing his sense of humor.
In the present, the Wallaces discuss divorce. Mark remains engrossed in work, paying little attention to Joanna. At a party at the Dalbret’s new house, designed by Mark, David again approaches Joanna; Mark is jealous until David announces his engagement. When Maurice again demands a consultation with Mark, Mark and Joanna sneak out of the party. While driving away, they admit to one another that despite their frequent unhappiness and past unfaithfulness, they love one another and could never be apart.
At the France–Italy border, Mark believes he has lost his passport, but Joanna once again playfully provides it for him.
Raphael conceived the idea for Two for the Road in 1963 while driving with his wife from London to Rome. This was a trip the couple had taken many times through their relationship, having first done it hitchhiking and now driving in an expensive car. He described himself thinking during the drive, “imagine if we overtook ourselves on the road ten years ago. Ten years seemed a long time in those days. Then I said, ‘wait a minute. That’s a movie.’ “[5] Raphael floated the idea to producer Joseph Janni, with whom he was working at the time on the picture Darling, directed by John Schlesinger. Janni thought it was a good idea, but did not pursue it.
After Darling, Raphael was asked by Norman Panama to write the script for Not with My Wife, You Don’t! Raphael told his agent it was a “vulgar, banal story” and that he could not do it, but his agent persuaded him to take the project, which would pay £9,000. Not long after he began writing, Raphael decided he had to quit the film, even though reneging on the contract might cost him his reputation in the film industry. Raphael met in London with Panama, who agreed to let him go. During the meeting, Panama mentioned that at a recent dinner party Stanley Donen had expressed his praise for the writing in Nothing but the Best. At the party, Donen had said to Panama about Raphael, “you lucky SOB. Why haven’t I got him?”[6] Panama offered to ask Donen to phone Raphael.
After talking on the telephone, Donen and Raphael met in London in 1964. Raphael has given differing accounts of when he suggested the Two for the Road idea to Donen. In one instance he claimed to have mentioned it at their first meeting,[7] and in another he said that he and Donen went back and forth for a time before he brought it up.[6] In either case, Donen was intrigued by the concept and gave Raphael $40,000 to write the script. After the project was underway, Donen telephoned Audrey Hepburn to see if she was interested in it. Having just finished the unsuccessful Paris When It Sizzles, which used some of the same non-linear storytelling Raphael intended for Two for the Road, she did not want to participate.[8] Nonetheless, Raphael and Donen decided to proceed with the script.
The story was not autobiographical, but was inspired by Raphael’s own marriage. He said that the events in the story were “based mainly on the experiences of my wife and me, but with a certain degree of expansiveness. These are not necessarily things that happened, but what might have happened.”[8] Raphael wrote the first draft of the script in the fall of 1964 while staying with his family in an apartment on the Via Francesco Ferrara in Rome.[9] To compose the work, he wrote individual scenes on cards then rearranged them on the floor, creating a mosaic effect. Raphael sent the typed script to Donen in England on Wednesday, 11 November. After reading the script, Donen telephoned on Friday, 13 November to say he thought it was the best script he had ever read.[10] Despite her previous rejection, Donen then sent the script to Hepburn, who agreed to meet in Switzerland to discuss it. In January 1965, Donen and Raphael flew to Switzerland to meet Hepburn at her home in Bürgenstock and try a second time to convince her to work on the film. When they met, Hepburn told the men, “I don’t want to say too much about how much I like the script of Two for the Road, in case it embarrasses Frederico.”[11] However, Hepburn was concerned over the effect it would have on her pudique image to play a part that included nudity, premarital sex, and adultery.[12] Donen and Raphael allayed her fears and convinced her to accept the role.[8] Hepburn signed for $750,000, her standard rate at the time.[13]
Donen took the picture initially to Universal, who had distributed his previous two films. His first choice for the leading man was Paul Newman, whom he sent the script. Newman declined the part on the grounds that it was a “director’s picture” unsuited to a major star.[14] After Newman’s rejection, Universal dropped the project. Given he had signed a contract with Hepburn already, Donen could not abandon the project and was forced to find another studio. He managed to secure backing from Richard D. Zanuck at Twentieth Century-Fox. Zanuck gave the film $5 million to work with, and explained to Donen that the studio’s 1966 Oscar budget would be dedicated to Doctor Dolittle.[15] Donen’s second choice for the lead male part was Albert Finney, who signed in early September 1965 for $300,000. At the time, Finney’s only major credit was Tom Jones, and he was largely unknown in the United States. Donen said later he was quite nervous about giving the part to Finney. In December 1965 Hepburn became pregnant, which would set the filming back at least a year. However, in January 1966 she miscarried, which allowed the movie to go ahead.[14]
Finney and Hepburn had never met, so Donen arranged a luncheon in Paris for them. At the meeting, Finney brought with him a male friend, and for the first part of the meal pretended to be an effeminate homosexual. Donen said that “the entire lunch, Audrey’s jaw kept dropping.”[16] Unable to contain himself anymore, Finney burst out laughing and quit the performance. The gag served to break the ice between the two leads.[17]
After seeing the film A Thousand Clowns, Donen decided on the spot to offer the parts of the American couple to William Daniels and Barbara Harris. At the time, Daniels and Harris were both in the stage musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Daniels accepted the part, but Harris turned it down to continue appearing in the musical. The part of the wife went instead to English actress Eleanor Bron. Before Daniels flew to France for filming, Donen instructed him to purchase two madras jackets for his character to wear. The ostentatious jackets, a staple of Ivy League fashion, would accentuate the “ugly American” traits of Daniels’s character.[18] The part of Mark and Joanna’s daughter Caroline went to child actress Kathy Chelimsky. Four years earlier, Kathy’s older brother, Thomas Chelimsky, had played the part of Jean-Louis Gaudel in Donen and Hepburn’s previous collaboration, Charade.
The filming of Two for the Road began on 3 May 1966, the day before Hepburn’s 37th birthday and 6 days before Finney’s 30th jubilee birthday. Hepburn was seven years older than her Finney, which was highly unusual for her, as previously in her career she had always been considerably younger than her male co-stars. At the time, Hepburn’s marriage to Mel Ferrer was breaking down. During the production she went to France alone while Ferrer elected to remain in Tolochenaz with their son, Sean Ferrer, and negotiate the production of Wait until Dark. Donen noted of Hepburn that “she was very strung up as we began filming. It was Albert who helped put her at ease.”[19] Finney, who came from a Northern working-class background, was in many ways the antithesis of the aristocratic Hepburn and was able to draw out a previously unseen side of her personality. As filming went on, the two became increasingly close and spent much of their time together outside of work, going out to eat and dance in the evenings.[20] Finney later reflected on their relationship, explaining, “doing a scene with her, my mind knew I was acting but my heart didn’t, and my body certainly didn’t! Playing a love scene with someone as sexy as Audrey, you sometimes get to that edge where make-believe and reality are blurred. […] The time spent with Audrey is one of the closest I’ve ever had.”[21] Finney regularly teased Hepburn, calling her “tawdry Audrey” and “Audrey Sunburn.”[22] Author Irwin Shaw, who visited the set, said of Hepburn, “she and Albie had this wonderful thing together, like a pair of kids with a perfect shorthand of jokes and references that closed out everybody else. It was like a brother and sister in their teens. When Mel was there, Audrey and Albie got rather formal and a little awkward, as if now they had to behave like grown ups.”[23]
The nature of Finney and Hepburn’s relationship or how it ended was never disclosed. An unnamed source related, “if [Albert] and Audrey did make love, then they were discreet about it. But no one doubted the warmth between them.”[24]Charles Higham wrote that “William Daniels […] says that he wouldn’t deny (though he didn’t actually know) that Audrey and Albert were lovers.”[25] According to biographer Donald Spoto, when filming finished in early September 1966, Ferrer threatened his wife with divorce if she did not end the relationship. As the divorce would have been filed on the grounds of her infidelity, Hepburn would risk losing custody of her son. Spoto said that, at this time, “everyone around her noted a fearful expression and nervous anxiety that even Finney was unable to alleviate.”[26] Sean Ferrer explained later, “I remember there was a tension in my parents’ marriage at that time. Only years later did I realize it was because she was having an affair with Finney during the making of that movie.”[27] Hepburn remained silent about the relationship, though Finney hinted at it to friends. Robert Sallin claimed that Finney told him about the affair and said Hepburn was “rather like a blooming flower and then when her husband arrived, the flower closed up and shriveled.”[28] Hepburn’s partner later in life, Robert Wolders, said that “Audrey cared for Finney a great deal. It was the beginning of a new period of her life.”[29]
Hepburn and Finney’s closeness during the making of the film translated in their performances. Donen said later, “the Audrey I saw during the making of this film I didn’t even know. She overwhelmed me. She was so free, so happy. I never saw her like that. So young! I guess it was Albie.”[30] Hepburn, who was in her late 30s and insecure over her “dreadful thinness,” was uncomfortable doing some of the beach scenes in which she was to wear a bathing suit. Finney, however, convinced her, saying “you’re really an eyeful, Audrey.”[31] Donen also struggled to convince Hepburn to do the scene at the Dalbret villa where she is thrown in the pool. As a nine-year-old, Hepburn had tangled her feet in weeds in a pond and nearly drowned, and remained terrified of water her whole life. After three days of coaxing her and denying her request for a body double, Donen got her to do the scene, albeit with two assistants waiting to pull her out after the shot.[32]
The Dalbret scenes were filmed at a villa in L’Oumède, Ramatuelle. In the summer of 1968, the same villa was used as the principal location in the film La Piscine starring Alain Delon and Romy Schneider. The scene in which Schneider stands over Delon on the pool deck may have been borrowed from the scene in Two for the Road where Finney stands over Hepburn.
In the dialogue Joanna says that Mark was born in 1933, however, beyond that Raphael did not provide any background information about his characters. Donen invented several biographical details that are revealed on the passport the Wallaces use on their 1959 trip. The passport shows that Mark was born on 22 August 1933 in Chester, while Joanna was born on 11 July 1936 in Brentford. This makes Joanna only 18 years old in the scenes that take place in 1954, and Mark 21 years old. Hepburn often played characters much younger than her actual age, and despite her being 37 during filming, wardrobe, hairstyling, and acting techniques were used to make Hepburn believable in the role. The same techniques are notably not used on Finney’s character, so Hepburn’s styling does most of the work in helping the audience determine what time period each scene takes place in. Joanna’s occupation is listed as “housewife,” which contradicts the script, when she later says “by the time I get home from work, it’s pitch black.” At the time, their residence is listed as Surrey. The detail of Mark’s forgetfulness was inspired directly by Raphael’s own.
Much of the dialogue had to be re-recorded due to the sound of outdoor generators on set. However, by the time of post-production, Jacqueline Bisset had left for the United States to make The Detective. Donen hired another actress to read Bisset’s parts and tried to get as close a match as he could. Consequently, Bisset’s voice in the film is not her own.
For all who grew up in the Rockaways remember Playland. Whether you were very young with all your families your first time. One can never forget this wonderful place. As we grew older many of us went there to hang out as they use to say and just be there on a saturday with our own friends. Again it was a simpler time. For a few dollars we could be with our friends or by ourselves. Remembering All the smells and the grit of the place is another feeling of home. I have been collecting photograph and postcards for over 30 years now . Its fun to put them all together for all to see this wonderful place. I hope you enjoy all your own memories.
