A Little Romance
Encyclopedia
A Little Romance is a 1979
romantic comedy film
, starring Laurence Olivier
and Diane Lane
in her film debut. It was directed by George Roy Hill
. The screenplay is written by Allan Burns
and George Roy Hill, based on a novel (E=mc2 Mon Amour) by Patrick Cauvin
(pseudonym of Claude Klotz). The original music score is composed by Georges Delerue
.
) is 13 years old, highly intelligent, and from an affluent family. She is an American
girl living in Paris
who spends her free time reading Heidegger. Daniel Michon (Thelonious Bernard
) is 13 years old, highly intelligent, and from a poor family. He is a French
boy who loves Hollywood films and who uses his talent with mathematics to make theoretical bets on horse races.
When the two meet and fall in love, Lauren's flirtatious mother (Sally Kellerman
) fiercely objects, seeing him as a "filthy French boy" who is unsuitable for her daughter, and she tries to split the two up. Lauren and Daniel decide to run away to Venice
in order to "kiss under the Bridge of Sighs
at sunset while the bells toll", which they have been told will mean that they will be in love forever. They are aided in this plan by Julius (Laurence Olivier
), a kindly elderly gentleman and pickpocket.
: WRITING (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) and MUSIC (Original Score). It lost the first one to Kramer vs Kramer, but won the second: Georges Delerue
, at the age of 55, won his only Oscar statuette in his fourth nomination, having been nominated previously for his work in Anne of the Thousand Days
, The Day of the Dolphin
and Julia. He later received a fifth nomination for his work in the 1985 film Agnes of God
.
as Panneer Pushpangal
in 1981 by P. Vasu
and Santhana Barathy.
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
, starring Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
and Diane Lane
Diane Lane
Diane Lane is an American film actress.Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine...
in her film debut. It was directed by George Roy Hill
George Roy Hill
George Roy Hill was an American film director. He is most noted for directing such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, which both starred the acting duo Paul Newman and Robert Redford...
. The screenplay is written by Allan Burns
Allan Burns
Allan Burns is an American screenwriter and television producer. Burns is best known for, alongside James L. Brooks, creating and writing for the television sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda.-Early life:...
and George Roy Hill, based on a novel (E=mc2 Mon Amour) by Patrick Cauvin
Patrick Cauvin
Claude Klotz , better known by his pen name Patrick Cauvin, was a French writer.- Works :All of his works were published with Le Livre de poche except when otherwise noted....
(pseudonym of Claude Klotz). The original music score is composed by Georges Delerue
Georges Delerue
Georges Delerue , was a French film composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. He won numerous important awards including Rome Prize , Emmy Award , Genie Award , ACE Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 for A...
.
Plot summary
Lauren King (Diane LaneDiane Lane
Diane Lane is an American film actress.Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine...
) is 13 years old, highly intelligent, and from an affluent family. She is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
girl living in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
who spends her free time reading Heidegger. Daniel Michon (Thelonious Bernard
Thelonious Bernard
Thelonious Bernard is a French actor. In 1979, he starred opposite Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane in A Little Romance, a film about a romance between two young teenagers in France...
) is 13 years old, highly intelligent, and from a poor family. He is a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
boy who loves Hollywood films and who uses his talent with mathematics to make theoretical bets on horse races.
When the two meet and fall in love, Lauren's flirtatious mother (Sally Kellerman
Sally Kellerman
Sally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
) fiercely objects, seeing him as a "filthy French boy" who is unsuitable for her daughter, and she tries to split the two up. Lauren and Daniel decide to run away to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
in order to "kiss under the Bridge of Sighs
Bridge of Sighs
The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge in Venice, northern Italy . The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone and has windows with stone bars. It passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace...
at sunset while the bells toll", which they have been told will mean that they will be in love forever. They are aided in this plan by Julius (Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
), a kindly elderly gentleman and pickpocket.
Awards and nominations
The film received two nominations at the 52nd Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: WRITING (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) and MUSIC (Original Score). It lost the first one to Kramer vs Kramer, but won the second: Georges Delerue
Georges Delerue
Georges Delerue , was a French film composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. He won numerous important awards including Rome Prize , Emmy Award , Genie Award , ACE Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 for A...
, at the age of 55, won his only Oscar statuette in his fourth nomination, having been nominated previously for his work in Anne of the Thousand Days
Anne of the Thousand Days
Anne of the Thousand Days is a 1969 costume drama made by Hal Wallis Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The film tells the story of Anne Boleyn...
, The Day of the Dolphin
The Day of the Dolphin
The Day of the Dolphin is a 1973 American science-fiction thriller film directed by Mike Nichols and starring George C. Scott. Loosely based on the 1967 novel, Un animal doué de raison , by French writer Robert Merle, the screenplay was written by Buck Henry.-Plot:A brilliant and driven scientist,...
and Julia. He later received a fifth nomination for his work in the 1985 film Agnes of God
Agnes of God
Agnes of God is a play by John Pielmeier which tells the story of a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash during the resulting investigation...
.
- 1979: 52nd Academy Awards52nd Academy AwardsThe 52nd Academy Awards were presented April 14, 1980 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Johnny Carson, who in noting the long duration of the production, joked that President Jimmy Carter was working hard for their "release" from the ceremonies, a...
- Best Original Score: Georges DelerueGeorges DelerueGeorges Delerue , was a French film composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. He won numerous important awards including Rome Prize , Emmy Award , Genie Award , ACE Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 for A...
: Won - Best Adapted Screenplay: Allan BurnsAllan BurnsAllan Burns is an American screenwriter and television producer. Burns is best known for, alongside James L. Brooks, creating and writing for the television sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda.-Early life:...
: Nominated
- Best Original Score: Georges Delerue
- 1979: 37th Golden Globe Awards37th Golden Globe AwardsThe 37th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1979, were held on 26 January 1980.-Best Actor - Drama: Dustin Hoffman – Kramer vs...
:- Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture: Laurence OlivierLaurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
: Nominated - Best Original ScoreGolden Globe Award for Best Original ScoreThe Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is one of several categories presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications outside North America, since its institution in 1947...
: Georges DelerueGeorges DelerueGeorges Delerue , was a French film composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. He won numerous important awards including Rome Prize , Emmy Award , Genie Award , ACE Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 for A...
: Nominated
- Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture: Laurence Olivier
Cast
- Laurence OlivierLaurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
as Julius - Diane LaneDiane LaneDiane Lane is an American film actress.Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine...
as Lauren King - Thelonious BernardThelonious BernardThelonious Bernard is a French actor. In 1979, he starred opposite Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane in A Little Romance, a film about a romance between two young teenagers in France...
as Daniel Michon - Arthur HillArthur Hill (actor)Arthur Edward Spence Hill was a Canadian actor best known for appearances in British and American theater, movies and television...
as Richard King - Sally KellermanSally KellermanSally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
as Kay King - Broderick CrawfordBroderick CrawfordBroderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
as Himself - David DukesDavid DukesDavid Coleman Dukes was an American character actor.-Life:Dukes was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a highway patrolman...
as George de Marco - Andrew DuncanAndrew DuncanSir Andrew Rae Duncan, GBE was a British businessman who was brought into government during the Second World War, serving twice as both President of the Board of Trade and Minister of Supply....
as Bob Duryea - Claudette Sutherland as Janet Duryea
- Graham Fletcher-Cook as Londet
- Ashby Semple as Natalie Woodstein
- Claude Brosset as Michel Michon
- Jacques Maury as Inspector Leclerc
- Anna MasseyAnna MasseyAnna Raymond Massey, CBE was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac.-Early life:...
as Ms Siegel - Peter Maloney as Martin
Remakes
This film was remade in TamilTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
as Panneer Pushpangal
Panneer Pushpangal
Panneer Pushpangal is a 1981 Tamil film directed by Bharathi-Vasu about a high school romance set in a hills station school located in Ooty.-Plot:...
in 1981 by P. Vasu
P. Vasu
P. Vasu is an Indian film director, writer, and actor who works in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu films and a few Malayalam films as well. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 50 films.-Personal life:...
and Santhana Barathy.