The Goodbye Girl

This article is about the 1977 film. For other uses, see Goodbye Girl (disambiguation).

The Goodbye Girl
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Herbert Ross
Produced by	Ray Stark
Written by	Neil Simon
Starring	Richard Dreyfuss Marsha Mason Quinn Cummings
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	November 30, 1977 (1977-11-30)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$83,700,000

The Goodbye Girl is a 1977 American romantic comedy-drama film. Directed by Herbert Ross, the film stars Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings, and Paul Benedict. The original screenplay by Neil Simon centers on an odd trio—a struggling actor who has sublet a Manhattan apartment from a friend, the current occupant (his friend's ex-girlfriend, who has just been abandoned) and her precocious young daughter.

Richard Dreyfuss won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Elliot Garfield.

Plot

Paula McFadden (Marsha Mason) learns she has been dumped by her married boyfriend Tony DeForrest and that he has sublet her and her ten-year-old daughter Lucy's (Quinn Cummings) Manhattan apartment. Shortly thereafter, the neurotic but sweet Elliot Garfield (Richard Dreyfuss), an aspiring actor from Chicago, shows up in the middle of the night, expecting to live there as he now owns the apartment. Though Paula is demanding, and makes clear from the start that she doesn't like Elliot, he allows her and her ten-year-old daughter Lucy (Quinn Cummings) to stay.

Paula struggles to get back into shape to try to resume her career as a dancer. Meanwhile, Elliot has his own problems. He has landed the title role in an off-off-Broadway production of Richard III, but the director, Mark (Paul Benedict), wants him to play the character as an exaggerated stereotype of a homosexual, in Mark's words, "the queen who wanted to be king." Reluctantly, Elliot agrees to play the role, despite full knowledge that it may mean the end of his career as an actor. Many theater critics from television stations and newspapers in New York City attend opening night, and they all savage the production, especially Elliot's performance. The play quickly closes, much to his relief.

Despite their frequent clashes, Paula and Elliot fall in love and sleep together. Lucy, however, begins to dislike Elliot, as Tony had done the same thing and left her mother and her. Soon after, Elliot is offered a fantastic opportunity for a role in a movie that he cannot turn down. The only catch is that the job is in Seattle and Elliot will be gone for four weeks. Paula is informed of this and is scared that Elliot is leaving her, never to return, like all the other men in her life. Desperate to make her believe him that he will return, at the last minute, Elliot invites Paula to go with him while he is filming the picture and suggests Lucy stay with a friend until they return. Paula declines, but is happy because she knows Elliot's invitation is evidence that he loves her and will come back. As he leaves for the trip, Paula realizes that he left his prized guitar behind purposely, signaling that he indeed will return, and that he really does love her.

Cast

• Richard Dreyfuss as Elliot Garfield
• Marsha Mason as Paula McFadden
• Quinn Cummings as Lucy McFadden
• Paul Benedict as Mark
• Barbara Rhoades as Donna
• Theresa Merritt as Mrs. Crosby
• Michael Shawn as Ronnie
• Patricia Pearcy as Rhonda

Production

The film began as a screenplay called Bogart Slept Here (essentially the story of what happened to Dustin Hoffman after he became a star), that was to star Robert De Niro and Mason. After several table readings, it was decided De Niro wasn't right for the role. Dreyfuss was brought in to try out with Mason. At the end of the reading, Neil Simon decided, "It doesn't work, but they do." He rewrote the screenplay in six weeks.

The film's exteriors were shot in New York City and the interiors were shot on sets in Los Angeles.

The title song, "Goodbye Girl" was written and performed by David Gates in 1977, and was a #15 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year.

The film was co-produced by Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and now distributed worldwide by the former. It is the only film in the WB library whose copyright is owned by both WB and Turner Entertainment (the initial buyer of MGM's pre-1986 library). It is also the only post-1950 WB film to be owned by WB/Turner.

Accolades

Academy Awards

• Best Actor - Dreyfuss. Thirty-year-old Dreyfuss was the youngest ever to win the Best Actor Oscar at the time. He has since been surpassed by Adrien Brody, who was 29 when he won for The Pianist.
• Best Picture nomination - Ray Stark
• Best Actress nomination - Mason
• Supporting Actress nomination - Cummings
• Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen nomination - Simon

Golden Globes

• Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
• Best Motion Picture Actor, Musical or Comedy - Dreyfuss
• Best Motion Picture Actress, Musical or Comedy - Mason
• Best Motion Picture Screenplay - Simon
• Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role nomination - Cummings

British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards

• Best Actor - Dreyfuss
• Best Actress nomination - Mason
• Best Screenplay nomination - Simon

Reception

Roger Ebert gave the film a mixed, though mostly favorable, review. He was unimpressed with Mason's performance and the character as written, calling it "hardly ever sympathetic." However, he praised Dreyfuss and cited his Richard III scenes as "the funniest in a movie since Mel Brooks staged Springtime for Hitler." Ebert criticized the beginning as "awkward at times and never quite involving," but "enjoyed its conclusion so much that we almost forgot our earlier reservations."

Vincent Canby of The New York Times found the film to be "exhausting without being much fun." and "relentlessly wisecracked."

Musical and remake

The Goodbye Girl was subsequently developed into a 1993 Broadway musical of the same name starring Martin Short and Bernadette Peters.

A 2004 TNT remake with Jeff Daniels and Patricia Heaton keeps the screenplay from the original version.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• The Goodbye Girl at the Internet Movie Database
• The Goodbye Girl at AllRovi