A Touch of Class
Encyclopedia
A Touch of Class is a 1973 British
romantic comedy
film
which tells the story of a couple having an affair, who find themselves falling in love. It stars George Segal
, Glenda Jackson
, Hildegarde Neil
, Paul Sorvino
and K Callan
.
It was adapted by Melvin Frank
and Jack Rose
from the story "She Loves Me, She Told Me So Last Night" by Frank, who also directed.
The lead role of Steve was originally offered to Cary Grant
, with a promise by Frank to rewrite the script to play up the age difference between Steve and Vicky. However, Grant opted to remain in retirement from filmmaking, and he turned the role down. He did remain connected to the film, however, as it was produced by Fabergé
's Brut Productions, and Grant was on the board of directors for Fabergé.
plays Vicky Allesio, a divorced mother of two. George Segal
plays Steve Blackburn, a married father who 'has cheated on his wife once... in the same town.' After sharing a taxi together Steve invites Vicky to tea, and then lunch, where he takes Vicky up to a hotel room, hoping to have sex. Vicky admits that she would like to have uncomplicated sex, but isn't impressed by the setting, wanting somewhere sunny. Steve arranges a trip to Málaga
.
Steve's wife Gloria turns up just as they are about to go, with Vicky travelling as his 'mother', and in turn he arranges and cancels tickets on the plane for his wife, children and in-laws. Once at the airport however Steve bumps into Walter Menkes, (Paul Sorvino
) an American movie producer. Unable to admit that he's with Vicky, Steve spends the flight next to Walter, and Vicky sits elsewhere.
On arrival in Málaga, Steve ends up giving the last decent car to Walter to get rid of him, and takes instead an Italian car with an awkward clutch, which he has trouble driving to Vicky's discomfort and annoyance. Once at the hotel, they end up struggling up several flights of stairs in order to find a decent double room.
Once settled the atmosphere becomes awkward, as both argue over their respective sides during sex. Eventually Steve is persuaded to just get on top of her, but turns suddenly and causes a spasm in his back. A doctor is called and Steve is put to sleep, while Vicky sleeps on top of the bedding.
In the morning, Vicky bumps into an American lady and her children, Patty (K Callan
) while shopping for her son. She invites Vicky to dinner, but Vicky sharply declines. When Steve finally wakes up Vicky is sunning herself in a bikini on the balcony. The two finally have sex.
Getting dressed after, Steve is disappointed in Vicky's lack of enthusiasm about their sex, and becomes angered. During a game of golf after Vicky becomes offended by Steve's need to beat a local boy, who has bet with him while playing.
As the tension mounts between them, Vicky decides to go to dinner with Patty and Steve arranges dinner with Walter. When they arrive separately, Vicky discovers Patty is Walter's wife and the two are forced into an uncomfortable dinner with the couple. Steve becomes offended when Vicky is amused that Steve's daughter is fat and has crooked teeth. After an argument in the bedroom, Steve and Vicky decide to head back to London. Steve decides not to bother reserving any plane tickets, and as they get to the airport the last two tickets have gone.
Returning to the hotel, they begin to fight and attack each other in the hotel room. Steve grabs Vicky on the bed, almost ripping her dress off. Pulled onto the bed, Steve tries to have sex with her, but can't undo his trouser zip. Vicky responds 'my god, my one chance to be raped, and you can't get your bloody trousers off.' The two collapse laughing and their relationship blossoms over the remainder of the holiday.
Walter and Patty notice their blossoming relationship, and Walter confides to Steve that he had a similar holiday romance. Walter warns that it won't work out, because he won't be able to leave his wife and kids.
Steve decides that he still wants to see Vicky when they get back to London and they get a secret flat together, in a building occupied by 'French' prostitutes. Doing it up together, Steve ends up finding secret opportunities to meet her. Steve takes the dog for a walk to go join her, and on going home, forgets the dog. On another occasion he sneaks out during an opera, and comes back wearing golf socks, claiming his kids must have mixed his stuff up.
Gradually, the relationship becomes more complicated, as it seems that Vicky is going to a lot of effort to be with him. Steve comes around for sex after a baseball game in the park, and has to leave in a hurry, without staying for coffee. Leaving, he gets flowers and takes them back to her, finding her in the kitchen eating a large meal she'd cooked for the two of them. He leaves without saying anything.
Vicky later cancels lunch with him, which Steve's co-workers have noticed, as his secretary asks if he is having a 'short lunch or a long lunch.' He arranges to meet with her in the evening, despite having a very heavy workload, forgetting that he is attending the theatre with his wife. When his wife then calls demanding to know why he is late for the Harold Pinter
play, he tries to call Vicky, but is unable to reach her. Vicky sees Steve and Gloria at the theatre together as she is out shopping for the meal she is cooking. When Steve eventually turns up at their flat, he tells Vicky he's been working late, but she confronts him about the theatre. Eventually she breaks down and sits quietly at the table, concerned that she is 'beginning to sound like a wife.'
The next morning Steve sends a telegram to the flat for Vicky, telling her that it is over between them. However, on returning home later he changes his mind, and runs out the door. Vicky, however has been given the telegram, which he thought had been cancelled, and begins packing her belongings to leave. When Steve gets to the flat, having bought food to cook for them, he finds a record playing and Vicky gone. Looking out the window he sees her standing at the bus stop. He bangs on the window to get her attention but she doesn't seem to notice and gives up waiting for a bus. She walks along and hails a taxi, which another man hails down in an echo of Vicky and Steve in the beginning of the film. Vicky asks the man, who is handsome and smiles, if he is married. When he says yes, Vicky walks off and leaves him the taxi.
The majority of the cast (Segal, Jackson, Sorvino, Linder) were reunited in the 1979 movie Lost and Found
also directed by Melvin Frank. In many respects this was a quasi-sequel to A Touch Of Class, even though none of the characters were recreated, but the storyline followed many similarities and opposites.
(Glenda Jackson) and was nominated for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score
, Best Music, Song (for George Barrie
and Sammy Cahn
for "All That Love Went to Waste"), Best Picture
and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced. Both Segal and Jackson won Golden Globes for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical Or Comedy.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
which tells the story of a couple having an affair, who find themselves falling in love. It stars George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
, Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
, Hildegarde Neil
Hildegarde Neil
Hildegarde Neil is an English actress.She first appeared on television in a BBC schools' television production of Julius Caesar in 1963 and after that appeared mostly as a guest artiste in a variety of TV series over the last 40 years...
, Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
and K Callan
K Callan
K Callan is an American actress known for playing Clark Kent's mother Martha in the ABC television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman....
.
It was adapted by Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Norman Panama to form a writing partnership which endured for 3 decades...
and Jack Rose
Jack Rose (screenwriter)
Jack Rose was an American screenwriter and producer born on November 4, 1911, in Warsaw, Russian Empire. He died on October 21, 1995, in Los Angeles, California....
from the story "She Loves Me, She Told Me So Last Night" by Frank, who also directed.
The lead role of Steve was originally offered to Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, with a promise by Frank to rewrite the script to play up the age difference between Steve and Vicky. However, Grant opted to remain in retirement from filmmaking, and he turned the role down. He did remain connected to the film, however, as it was produced by Fabergé
Fabergé
Fabergé may refer to:*House of Fabergé, a Russian jewelry firm founded by Gustav Faberge in 1842*Fabergé workmaster, goldsmiths who produced jewelry for the House of Fabergé*Fabergé eggs, the most famous works of the House of Faberge...
's Brut Productions, and Grant was on the board of directors for Fabergé.
Plot
Glenda JacksonGlenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
plays Vicky Allesio, a divorced mother of two. George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
plays Steve Blackburn, a married father who 'has cheated on his wife once... in the same town.' After sharing a taxi together Steve invites Vicky to tea, and then lunch, where he takes Vicky up to a hotel room, hoping to have sex. Vicky admits that she would like to have uncomplicated sex, but isn't impressed by the setting, wanting somewhere sunny. Steve arranges a trip to Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
.
Steve's wife Gloria turns up just as they are about to go, with Vicky travelling as his 'mother', and in turn he arranges and cancels tickets on the plane for his wife, children and in-laws. Once at the airport however Steve bumps into Walter Menkes, (Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
) an American movie producer. Unable to admit that he's with Vicky, Steve spends the flight next to Walter, and Vicky sits elsewhere.
On arrival in Málaga, Steve ends up giving the last decent car to Walter to get rid of him, and takes instead an Italian car with an awkward clutch, which he has trouble driving to Vicky's discomfort and annoyance. Once at the hotel, they end up struggling up several flights of stairs in order to find a decent double room.
Once settled the atmosphere becomes awkward, as both argue over their respective sides during sex. Eventually Steve is persuaded to just get on top of her, but turns suddenly and causes a spasm in his back. A doctor is called and Steve is put to sleep, while Vicky sleeps on top of the bedding.
In the morning, Vicky bumps into an American lady and her children, Patty (K Callan
K Callan
K Callan is an American actress known for playing Clark Kent's mother Martha in the ABC television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman....
) while shopping for her son. She invites Vicky to dinner, but Vicky sharply declines. When Steve finally wakes up Vicky is sunning herself in a bikini on the balcony. The two finally have sex.
Getting dressed after, Steve is disappointed in Vicky's lack of enthusiasm about their sex, and becomes angered. During a game of golf after Vicky becomes offended by Steve's need to beat a local boy, who has bet with him while playing.
As the tension mounts between them, Vicky decides to go to dinner with Patty and Steve arranges dinner with Walter. When they arrive separately, Vicky discovers Patty is Walter's wife and the two are forced into an uncomfortable dinner with the couple. Steve becomes offended when Vicky is amused that Steve's daughter is fat and has crooked teeth. After an argument in the bedroom, Steve and Vicky decide to head back to London. Steve decides not to bother reserving any plane tickets, and as they get to the airport the last two tickets have gone.
Returning to the hotel, they begin to fight and attack each other in the hotel room. Steve grabs Vicky on the bed, almost ripping her dress off. Pulled onto the bed, Steve tries to have sex with her, but can't undo his trouser zip. Vicky responds 'my god, my one chance to be raped, and you can't get your bloody trousers off.' The two collapse laughing and their relationship blossoms over the remainder of the holiday.
Walter and Patty notice their blossoming relationship, and Walter confides to Steve that he had a similar holiday romance. Walter warns that it won't work out, because he won't be able to leave his wife and kids.
Steve decides that he still wants to see Vicky when they get back to London and they get a secret flat together, in a building occupied by 'French' prostitutes. Doing it up together, Steve ends up finding secret opportunities to meet her. Steve takes the dog for a walk to go join her, and on going home, forgets the dog. On another occasion he sneaks out during an opera, and comes back wearing golf socks, claiming his kids must have mixed his stuff up.
Gradually, the relationship becomes more complicated, as it seems that Vicky is going to a lot of effort to be with him. Steve comes around for sex after a baseball game in the park, and has to leave in a hurry, without staying for coffee. Leaving, he gets flowers and takes them back to her, finding her in the kitchen eating a large meal she'd cooked for the two of them. He leaves without saying anything.
Vicky later cancels lunch with him, which Steve's co-workers have noticed, as his secretary asks if he is having a 'short lunch or a long lunch.' He arranges to meet with her in the evening, despite having a very heavy workload, forgetting that he is attending the theatre with his wife. When his wife then calls demanding to know why he is late for the Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
play, he tries to call Vicky, but is unable to reach her. Vicky sees Steve and Gloria at the theatre together as she is out shopping for the meal she is cooking. When Steve eventually turns up at their flat, he tells Vicky he's been working late, but she confronts him about the theatre. Eventually she breaks down and sits quietly at the table, concerned that she is 'beginning to sound like a wife.'
The next morning Steve sends a telegram to the flat for Vicky, telling her that it is over between them. However, on returning home later he changes his mind, and runs out the door. Vicky, however has been given the telegram, which he thought had been cancelled, and begins packing her belongings to leave. When Steve gets to the flat, having bought food to cook for them, he finds a record playing and Vicky gone. Looking out the window he sees her standing at the bus stop. He bangs on the window to get her attention but she doesn't seem to notice and gives up waiting for a bus. She walks along and hails a taxi, which another man hails down in an echo of Vicky and Steve in the beginning of the film. Vicky asks the man, who is handsome and smiles, if he is married. When he says yes, Vicky walks off and leaves him the taxi.
Cast
- George SegalGeorge SegalGeorge Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
— Steven 'Steve' Blackburn - Glenda JacksonGlenda JacksonGlenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
— Vicki Allessio - Hildegarde NeilHildegarde NeilHildegarde Neil is an English actress.She first appeared on television in a BBC schools' television production of Julius Caesar in 1963 and after that appeared mostly as a guest artiste in a variety of TV series over the last 40 years...
- Gloria Blackburn - Paul SorvinoPaul SorvinoPaul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
— Walter Menkes - K CallanK CallanK Callan is an American actress known for playing Clark Kent's mother Martha in the ABC television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman....
— Patty Menkes - Cec LinderCec LinderCec Linder was a Polish-born Canadian film and television actor. In the 1950s and 1960s he worked extensively in the United Kingdom, often playing American characters in various films and television programmes.In film, he is probably best remembered for his role as James Bond's CIA counterpart...
— Wendell Thompson - Michael Elwyn — Cecil
- Mary BarclayMary BarclayMary Barclay was an English film, television and theater actress. She was best known for playing Stella Dane in the Crossroads television series, as well as her role in the 1973 film, A Touch of Class.-Early life:...
— Martha Thompson - Nadim SawalhaNadim SawalhaNadim Sawalha is a Jordanian-born English actor and father of actresses Julia and Nadia Sawalha.He was born in Madaba in 1935 and came to England from Jordan in the 1950s, to study drama...
— Night Hotel Manager
The majority of the cast (Segal, Jackson, Sorvino, Linder) were reunited in the 1979 movie Lost and Found
Lost and Found (1979 film)
Lost and Found is a 1979 film starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson, featuring John Candy. The film is about a couple and their constant meeting and clashing with each other. In some respects, the film is almost a 'companion' film to A Touch Of Class, a 1972 movie which featured much of the...
also directed by Melvin Frank. In many respects this was a quasi-sequel to A Touch Of Class, even though none of the characters were recreated, but the storyline followed many similarities and opposites.
Awards and nominations
The film won the Academy Award for Best ActressAcademy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Glenda Jackson) and was nominated for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
, Best Music, Song (for George Barrie
George Barrie
George Barrie was the owner and CEO of Fabergé Inc. from 1964 to 1984. He was nominated for two Oscars for Best Original Song and created Brut...
and Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
for "All That Love Went to Waste"), Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced. Both Segal and Jackson won Golden Globes for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical Or Comedy.