A Fine Madness
Encyclopedia
A Fine Madness is a motion picture comedy
based on the 1964 novel by Elliott Baker
that tells the story of Samson Shillitoe, a frustrated poet unable to finish a grand tome. It stars Sean Connery
(in the midst of his James Bond
roles), Joanne Woodward
, Jean Seberg
, Patrick O'Neal and Clive Revill
. It was directed by Irvin Kershner
.
with Rhoda, a waitress who stands by him through all his troubles.
When Samson cannot find the inspiration to finish his latest poem, he becomes belligerent and depressed
. Samson is continually pursued by a debt collector after his late alimony
payments to a previous wife; if Samson doesn't pay he will be arrested. Samson eventually assaults a police detective who accompanies the debt collector.
Samson has other troubles when he loses his job as an office cleaner when he has sex with a secretary (Sue Ane Langdon) whilst his carpet cleaning machinery fills the office with soap suds. However, Samson does earn a $200 fee for doing a recital of his poetry to a woman's group that ends in disaster.
On Samson's behalf, but unknown to him, Rhoda seeks the help of psychiatrist Dr. West (Patrick O'Neal), who claims to be able to cure writer's block.
Rhoda gives Dr. West the $200 she collected for Samson's lecture to treat Samson for what she fears will become suicidal
depression if he can't finish his poem. Dr. West reluctantly agrees to see him, and when Samson confronts the Doctor about the return of his money, West is fascinated by Shillitoe and persuades him to become a patient. In order for Samson to be away from the chaos of his life in the city that he might finish his poem, Dr. West arranges a stay for him in a sanitarium upstate.
Another doctor at the sanitarium, Dr. Menken (Clive Revill
) is also interested in Samson, but for the purpose of experimenting on him with a new surgical technique to quell his violent temper. He persuades Rhoda to agree to the surgery. Dr. West and two other colleagues vehemently oppose such a procedure, as it is too close to a lobotomy
to be safe.
Dr. West's wife, Lydia (Jean Seberg
), is frustrated with their marriage. He is a popular TV guest for his pop psychiatric
methods and views, and she sees very little of him. Eventually she runs in to Samson at the sanitorium. Samson does not know she is married to Dr West but recalls her when she walked out of his women's club lecture. In his usual manner Samson immediately seduces her and the two have sex in a therapeutic bath. Dr. West, looking for Samson, secretly sees them in the tub.
When it comes time for the clinic senior staff to vote on allowing the surgical technique to be performed on Samson, Dr. West, having seen Samson with his wife, changes his vote, enabling Dr. Menken to go ahead. Lydia finds out about the surgery and rushes to stop it, but arrives just after it has been completed.
When Samson awakes from the surgery, at first his voice is so low and quiet he cannot be understood. As Dr. Menken leans in to listen, Samson throws a punch that lands the doctor on the floor. The operation has had no effect, and Samson returns to New York.
Rhoda quickly learns of his arrival, and rushes to rejoin him. Samson has finally been served with his subpoena
, so he must pay his ex-wife or go to jail. Rhoda prevents him from pummeling the civil servant, until Lydia appears and pays him the amount owed.
Lydia informs Samson she is leaving Dr. West and hints that she would like to be with her new lover, Samson. Rhoda protests, as Samson invites her to come live with them both. Lydia, disgusted by the idea, becomes hysterical and rushes out, presumably never to speak to Samson again. Rhoda pleads with Samson as he goes charging off down the street, before informing him that she is pregnant. He accidentally punches her and the movie ends with him fighting off an angry mob of indignant spectators.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
based on the 1964 novel by Elliott Baker
Elliott Baker
Elliott Baker , born Elliot Joseph Cohen, was a screenwriter and novelist.Baker was born in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from Indiana University. He was the author of the comic novel A Fine Madness, which was published in 1964 by G.P. Putnam's Sons...
that tells the story of Samson Shillitoe, a frustrated poet unable to finish a grand tome. It stars Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
(in the midst of his James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
roles), Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...
, Jean Seberg
Jean Seberg
Jean Dorothy Seberg was an American actress. She starred in 37 films in Hollywood and in France, including Breathless , the musical Paint Your Wagon and the disaster film Airport ....
, Patrick O'Neal and Clive Revill
Clive Revill
Clive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:...
. It was directed by Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner was an American film director and occasional actor, best known for directing quirky, independent films early in his career, and then Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. -Background:...
.
Plot
Samson Shillitoe, a poet, lives in Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
with Rhoda, a waitress who stands by him through all his troubles.
When Samson cannot find the inspiration to finish his latest poem, he becomes belligerent and depressed
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
. Samson is continually pursued by a debt collector after his late alimony
Alimony
Alimony is a U.S. term denoting a legal obligation to provide financial support to one's spouse from the other spouse after marital separation or from the ex-spouse upon divorce...
payments to a previous wife; if Samson doesn't pay he will be arrested. Samson eventually assaults a police detective who accompanies the debt collector.
Samson has other troubles when he loses his job as an office cleaner when he has sex with a secretary (Sue Ane Langdon) whilst his carpet cleaning machinery fills the office with soap suds. However, Samson does earn a $200 fee for doing a recital of his poetry to a woman's group that ends in disaster.
On Samson's behalf, but unknown to him, Rhoda seeks the help of psychiatrist Dr. West (Patrick O'Neal), who claims to be able to cure writer's block.
Rhoda gives Dr. West the $200 she collected for Samson's lecture to treat Samson for what she fears will become suicidal
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
depression if he can't finish his poem. Dr. West reluctantly agrees to see him, and when Samson confronts the Doctor about the return of his money, West is fascinated by Shillitoe and persuades him to become a patient. In order for Samson to be away from the chaos of his life in the city that he might finish his poem, Dr. West arranges a stay for him in a sanitarium upstate.
Another doctor at the sanitarium, Dr. Menken (Clive Revill
Clive Revill
Clive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:...
) is also interested in Samson, but for the purpose of experimenting on him with a new surgical technique to quell his violent temper. He persuades Rhoda to agree to the surgery. Dr. West and two other colleagues vehemently oppose such a procedure, as it is too close to a lobotomy
Lobotomy
Lobotomy "; τομή – tomē: "cut/slice") is a neurosurgical procedure, a form of psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy or leucotomy . It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain...
to be safe.
Dr. West's wife, Lydia (Jean Seberg
Jean Seberg
Jean Dorothy Seberg was an American actress. She starred in 37 films in Hollywood and in France, including Breathless , the musical Paint Your Wagon and the disaster film Airport ....
), is frustrated with their marriage. He is a popular TV guest for his pop psychiatric
Popular psychology
The term popular psychology refers to concepts and theories about human mental life and behavior that are purportedly based on psychology and that attain popularity among the general population...
methods and views, and she sees very little of him. Eventually she runs in to Samson at the sanitorium. Samson does not know she is married to Dr West but recalls her when she walked out of his women's club lecture. In his usual manner Samson immediately seduces her and the two have sex in a therapeutic bath. Dr. West, looking for Samson, secretly sees them in the tub.
When it comes time for the clinic senior staff to vote on allowing the surgical technique to be performed on Samson, Dr. West, having seen Samson with his wife, changes his vote, enabling Dr. Menken to go ahead. Lydia finds out about the surgery and rushes to stop it, but arrives just after it has been completed.
When Samson awakes from the surgery, at first his voice is so low and quiet he cannot be understood. As Dr. Menken leans in to listen, Samson throws a punch that lands the doctor on the floor. The operation has had no effect, and Samson returns to New York.
Rhoda quickly learns of his arrival, and rushes to rejoin him. Samson has finally been served with his subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
, so he must pay his ex-wife or go to jail. Rhoda prevents him from pummeling the civil servant, until Lydia appears and pays him the amount owed.
Lydia informs Samson she is leaving Dr. West and hints that she would like to be with her new lover, Samson. Rhoda protests, as Samson invites her to come live with them both. Lydia, disgusted by the idea, becomes hysterical and rushes out, presumably never to speak to Samson again. Rhoda pleads with Samson as he goes charging off down the street, before informing him that she is pregnant. He accidentally punches her and the movie ends with him fighting off an angry mob of indignant spectators.
Cast
- Sean ConnerySean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
— Samson Shillitoe - Joanne WoodwardJoanne WoodwardJoanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...
— Rhoda Shillitoe - Jean SebergJean SebergJean Dorothy Seberg was an American actress. She starred in 37 films in Hollywood and in France, including Breathless , the musical Paint Your Wagon and the disaster film Airport ....
— Lydia West - Patrick O'Neal — Dr. Oliver West
- Colleen DewhurstColleen DewhurstColleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress known for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway." In her autobiography, Dewhurst wrote: "I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known, at one point, as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'...
— Dr. Vera Kropotkin - Clive RevelClive RevillClive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:...
— Dr. Menken - Werner PetersWerner PetersWerner Peters was a German film actor. He appeared in 102 films between 1947 and 1971.Peters was born in Werlitzsch, Kreis Delitzsch, Prussian Saxony, and died of a heart attack on a promotion tour for his latest film in Wiesbaden, Germany.His film career started with the lead in Wolfgang...
— Dr. Vorbeck - John FiedlerJohn FiedlerJohn Donald Fiedler was an American voice actor and character actor in stage, film, television and radio. He was slight, balding, and bespectacled, with a distinctive, high-pitched voice and a career lasting more than 55 years.He is best remembered for four roles: as the nervous Juror #2 in 12...
— Daniel K. Papp - Kay MedfordKay MedfordKay Medford , was an American character actress and comedienne.She was born Margaret Kathleen O'Regan in New York City to James and Mary O'Regan, first-generation Irish-American parents, both of whom had died by the time she was 15 years old...
— Mrs. Fish - Jackie CooganJackie CooganJohn Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...
— Mr. Fitzgerald - Zohra LampertZohra LampertZohra Lampert is an American actress, who has had roles on film, television and stage. She may be best remembered for her role as the title character in the 1971 cult horror film Let's Scare Jessica to Death, as well as starring alongside Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty in the 1961 romance film...
— Evelyn Tupperman - Sorrell BookeSorrell BookeSorrell Booke was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He is best known for his role as the heavyset, corrupt politician "Boss" Hogg in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard....
— Leonard Tupperman - Sue Anne LangdonSue Ane LangdonSue Ane Langdon is a retired American actress.She began her performing career singing at Radio City Music Hall and acting in stage productions. In the mid-1960s she acted at Manhattan's Schubert Theatre in The Apple Tree musical, which starred a young Alan Alda...
— Miss Walnicki