That's Life! (film)
Encyclopedia
That's Life! is a 1986
film with Jack Lemmon
and Julie Andrews
, directed by Blake Edwards
.
The film was made independently by Edwards using largely his own finances and was distributed by Columbia Pictures
. Although Columbia released the film, Artisan Entertainment
holds the rights to distribute it on DVD
.
That's Life! was shot in Edwards and his wife Andrews' own beachside home in Malibu and features their family in small roles, including two daughters. Lemmon's son Chris Lemmon
plays his character's son Josh, while his wife Felicia Farr
puts in a brief cameo appearance as a fortune teller.
Because of the film's independent status, many of the cast and crew were paid below union-level wages, resulting in the American Society of Cinematographers
picketing the film during production and taking an advertisement in Variety
in protest. As a result, the original director of photography, Harry Stradling Jr., was forced to quit the film and was subsequently replaced by Anthony Richmond, a British cinematographer.
Harvey's patient wife Gillian tries to cheer him with family get-togethers and an elaborately planned birthday party. But she secretly has worries of her own, a throat condition that could result in the loss of her voice.
Whining his way through day after day, Harvey snaps at his pregnant daughter Megan and makes rude remarks to his actor son Josh. He tries going to a priest, only to discover that the man to whom he is confessing is an old rival from their college years at Notre Dame
. He also consults a local psychic, Madame Carrie, sex with whom leaves Harvey with a venereal disease.
The miserable Harvey is furious with a client named Janice Kern who can't stop revising her plans for a magnificent house Harvey has been building, but he has meaningless sex with her as well. Gillian bravely hides her cancer fear from the family, but finally, overcome with emotion, she confides in her friend and neighbor, Holly.
Harvey threatens to spoil the birthday party for everybody. He is in such a foul mood that just because a friend named Belmont tells him a depressing story about an illness, he amuses himself by introducing Belmont to the VD-infected psychic.
Gillian warns her husband that he is going to lose everything if he continues to behave this way. During his party, Gillian's doctor arrives to inform her that the biopsy test results are negative and she is going to be all right. She takes Harvey aside to let him know just how precious life really can be.
1986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
film with Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
and Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
, directed by Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
.
The film was made independently by Edwards using largely his own finances and was distributed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. Although Columbia released the film, Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
holds the rights to distribute it on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
That's Life! was shot in Edwards and his wife Andrews' own beachside home in Malibu and features their family in small roles, including two daughters. Lemmon's son Chris Lemmon
Chris Lemmon
-History:Lemmon was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Cynthia Stone and actor Jack Lemmon. With a natural talent for music, he was encouraged by his father to study piano. Lemmon considered playing piano professionally after having graduated from the California Institute of the...
plays his character's son Josh, while his wife Felicia Farr
Felicia Farr
Felicia Farr is a former American actress and model.-Biography:Felicia Farr appeared in several modeling photo shoots and advertisements throughout the 1950s and 1960s...
puts in a brief cameo appearance as a fortune teller.
Because of the film's independent status, many of the cast and crew were paid below union-level wages, resulting in the American Society of Cinematographers
American Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
picketing the film during production and taking an advertisement in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
in protest. As a result, the original director of photography, Harry Stradling Jr., was forced to quit the film and was subsequently replaced by Anthony Richmond, a British cinematographer.
Plot summary
Harvey Fairchild is a wealthy, Malibu-based architect who is turning 60 and suffering from a form of male menopause. He feels aches and pains, real or imaginary, and seems unhappy with his professional and personal life.Harvey's patient wife Gillian tries to cheer him with family get-togethers and an elaborately planned birthday party. But she secretly has worries of her own, a throat condition that could result in the loss of her voice.
Whining his way through day after day, Harvey snaps at his pregnant daughter Megan and makes rude remarks to his actor son Josh. He tries going to a priest, only to discover that the man to whom he is confessing is an old rival from their college years at Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
. He also consults a local psychic, Madame Carrie, sex with whom leaves Harvey with a venereal disease.
The miserable Harvey is furious with a client named Janice Kern who can't stop revising her plans for a magnificent house Harvey has been building, but he has meaningless sex with her as well. Gillian bravely hides her cancer fear from the family, but finally, overcome with emotion, she confides in her friend and neighbor, Holly.
Harvey threatens to spoil the birthday party for everybody. He is in such a foul mood that just because a friend named Belmont tells him a depressing story about an illness, he amuses himself by introducing Belmont to the VD-infected psychic.
Gillian warns her husband that he is going to lose everything if he continues to behave this way. During his party, Gillian's doctor arrives to inform her that the biopsy test results are negative and she is going to be all right. She takes Harvey aside to let him know just how precious life really can be.
Cast
- Jack LemmonJack LemmonJohn Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
- Harvey Fairchild - Julie AndrewsJulie AndrewsDame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
- Gillian Fairchild - 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:...
- Holly Parrish - Robert LoggiaRobert LoggiaRobert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...
- Father Baragone - Jennifer EdwardsJennifer EdwardsJennifer Edwards is an American actress best known for playing the title role in the NBC made-for-television movie Heidi , which aired on November 17, 1968...
- Megan Fairchild Bartlet - Rob KnepperRobert KnepperRobert Lyle Knepper is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox network's drama series Prison Break, for which he was nominated a Satellite Award...
- Steve Larwin - Matt LattanziMatt LattanziMatt Lattanzi is an American actor and dancer.-Personal life:While filming Xanadu, he met Olivia Newton-John, whom he married in 1984. The couple has one daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, born in 1986...
- Larry Bartlet - Chris LemmonChris Lemmon-History:Lemmon was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Cynthia Stone and actor Jack Lemmon. With a natural talent for music, he was encouraged by his father to study piano. Lemmon considered playing piano professionally after having graduated from the California Institute of the...
- Josh Fairchild - Cynthia SikesCynthia SikesCynthia Sikes is an American actress known for her television roles. On JAG, she played the love interest of Adm. Albert Jethro 'A.J.' Chegwidden . Her breakthrough role was playing Dr. Annie Cavanero on the critically acclaimed series St. Elsewhere, which she appeared in for the first three...
- Janice Kern - Dana SparksDana SparksDana Sparks is an American television actress.-Biography:Sparks is most well-known for her work as JAG lawyer Lt Commander Carolyn Imes in JAG. She is also noted for her roles as Vicki Giobertti in Falcon Crest and as Grace Bennett/Faith Standish in Passions. Sparks reprised the role of Grace in...
- Fanny Ward - Emma Walton - Kate Fairchild
- Felicia FarrFelicia FarrFelicia Farr is a former American actress and model.-Biography:Felicia Farr appeared in several modeling photo shoots and advertisements throughout the 1950s and 1960s...
- Madame Carrie - Theodore WilsonTheodore WilsonTheodore "Teddy" Wilson was an American character actor best known for his recurring role as Sweet Daddy Williams on the CBS sitcom Good Times.-Career:...
- Corey - Nicky Blair - Andre
- Jordan Christopher - Dr. Keith Romanis
- Biff ElliotBiff ElliotBiff Elliot is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as popular detective Mike Hammer in the 1953 version of I, the Jury, and as his guest appearance in the Star Trek episode "The Devil in the Dark".-Early life:...
- Belmont - Hal RiddleHal RiddleHal Riddle was a Broadway, movie and television actor. Better known as a character actor than a featured player, Riddle appeared in numerous supporting roles in the 1950s – 1980s.-Career:Riddle's interest in acting started after receiving an autographed picture from actor Billie Dove...
- Phil Carlson - Harold Harris - Harold
- Sherry P. Sievert - Receptionist
- Joe Lopes - Bend Leader
- James Umphlett - Party Guest
- Frann Bradford - Party Guest
- Jess G. Henecke - Jesse Grant
- Lisa Kingston - Lisa
- Ken Gehrig - Injured Man in E.R
- Donna McMullen - Woman in E.R
- Scott L. McKenna - Anesthesiologist
- Dr. Charles Schneider - Dr. Gerald Spelner
- Cora Bryant - Histotechnologist
- Robin Foster - Histotechnologist
- Eddie Vail - Surfer
- Deborah Figuly - Surfer Girl
- Ernie AndersonErnie AndersonErnie Anderson was an American disc jockey, and television and radio announcer/voiceover artist...
- TV Announcer - Harry Birrell - Radio Announcer
- Chutney Walton - Chutney
- Honey Edwards - Honey
Academy Awards 1987
- Nominated, Best Music, Original Song
Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
(music), Leslie BricusseLeslie BricusseLeslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
(lyrics) for "Life in a Looking Glass" (performed by Tony BennettTony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
)
Golden Globes 1987
- Nominated, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical - Julie AndrewsJulie AndrewsDame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
- Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical - Jack LemmonJack LemmonJohn Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
- Nominated, Best Original Song - Motion Picture - Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
(music), Leslie BricusseLeslie BricusseLeslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
(lyrics) for "Life in a Looking Glass"
Golden Raspberry Awards 1987
- Nominated, Worst Original Song - Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
(music), Leslie BricusseLeslie BricusseLeslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
(lyrics) for "Life in a Looking Glass"