Breezy
Encyclopedia
Breezy is a 1973 American romantic
drama film
, starring William Holden
and Kay Lenz
. It was written by Jo Heims, and was the third film directed by Clint Eastwood
, who appears uncredited as a man in crowd on a pier.
) is a carefree, 17-year-old hippie
. Frank Harmon (William Holden
) is a divorced, burnt-out, middle-aged real estate agent. During the film they fall in love, and each teaches the other about life.
, 12 years Eastwood's senior, and Eastwood then decided to direct the picture. Eastwood initially wanted to cast Jo Ann Harris
who he had worked with in The Beguiled
. During casting for the film, Eastwood met Sondra Locke
for the first time, an actress who would play a major role in many of his films for the next ten years and an important figure in his life. Locke, who was 26 at this time, was considered too old for the Breezy part and after much auditioning, a young dark-haired actress named Kay Lenz
, who had recently appeared in American Graffiti
, was cast. According to friends of Clint, he became infatuated with Lenz during this period.
Filming for Breezy began in the November of 1972 in Los Angeles and finished five weeks later. With Surtees occupied elsewhere, Frank Stanley
was brought in the shoot the picture, the first of four films he would shoot for Malpaso. The film was shot very quickly and efficiently and in the end went $1 million under budget and finished three days before schedule.
Lenz and Breezy figure into the storyline of Philip K. Dick
's novel VALIS
.
). The film is in widescreen and Dolby Digital
2.0 Mono.
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
, starring William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
and Kay Lenz
Kay Lenz
Kay Ann Lenz is an American actress.A former child performer, Lenz has worked primarily in television and has won two Emmy Awards.-Background:...
. It was written by Jo Heims, and was the third film directed by Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, who appears uncredited as a man in crowd on a pier.
Plot
Edith Alice "Breezy" Breezerman (Kay LenzKay Lenz
Kay Ann Lenz is an American actress.A former child performer, Lenz has worked primarily in television and has won two Emmy Awards.-Background:...
) is a carefree, 17-year-old hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
. Frank Harmon (William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
) is a divorced, burnt-out, middle-aged real estate agent. During the film they fall in love, and each teaches the other about life.
Cast
- William HoldenWilliam HoldenWilliam Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
as Frank Harmon - Kay LenzKay LenzKay Ann Lenz is an American actress.A former child performer, Lenz has worked primarily in television and has won two Emmy Awards.-Background:...
as Edith Alice 'Breezy' Breezerman - Roger C. CarmelRoger C. CarmelRoger Charles Carmel was an American actor.Of his hundreds of roles, he is best remembered for playing the flamboyant and hapless criminal Harry Mudd on the original Star Trek. Other memorable roles include the accountant Doug Wesley on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Colonel Gumm on Batman...
as Bob Henderson - Marj DusayMarj DusayMarj Dusay is an actress known for her roles on American soap operas...
as Betty Tobin - Joan HotchkisJoan HotchkisJoan Hotchkis is an American stage, screen and television actress, writer and performance artist....
as Paula Harmon - Jamie Smith-Jackson as Marcy
- Norman Bartold as Man In Car
- Lynn BordenLynn BordenLynn Borden is an American actress best known for her role as "Barbara Baxter" in the final season of the Shirley Booth sitcom Hazel, which aired on CBS from 1965 to 1966.-Background:...
as Harmon's Overnight Date - Shelley MorrisonShelley MorrisonShelley Morrison is an American actress. Early in her career, she was sometimes credited as Rachel Domínguez. Morrison has been a theater and television actress since the early 1960s, predominantly as a character actress in ethnic roles...
as Nancy Henderson - Dennis Olivieri as Bruno
- Eugene Peterson as Charlie
Production
Jo Heims wrote the script about a love blossoming between a middle-aged man and a teenage girl. Heims had originally intended Eastwood to play the starring role of the realtor Frank Harmon, a bitter divorced man who falls in love with the young Breezy. Whilst Eastwood confessed to "understanding the Frank Harmon character" he believed he was too young at that stage to play Harmon. That part would go to William HoldenWilliam Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
, 12 years Eastwood's senior, and Eastwood then decided to direct the picture. Eastwood initially wanted to cast Jo Ann Harris
Jo Ann Harris
Jo Ann Harris is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, she is known for her role in the film The Beguiled as the sultry 17-year-old Carol who seduces Clint Eastwood's character. Harris had a small singing role in Newsies as "Patrick's mother", the woman searching for her son in the first part...
who he had worked with in The Beguiled
The Beguiled
The Beguiled is a 1971 drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil...
. During casting for the film, Eastwood met Sondra Locke
Sondra Locke
Sondra Locke is an American actress, singer and film director.She made her film debut in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter , for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress...
for the first time, an actress who would play a major role in many of his films for the next ten years and an important figure in his life. Locke, who was 26 at this time, was considered too old for the Breezy part and after much auditioning, a young dark-haired actress named Kay Lenz
Kay Lenz
Kay Ann Lenz is an American actress.A former child performer, Lenz has worked primarily in television and has won two Emmy Awards.-Background:...
, who had recently appeared in American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
, was cast. According to friends of Clint, he became infatuated with Lenz during this period.
Filming for Breezy began in the November of 1972 in Los Angeles and finished five weeks later. With Surtees occupied elsewhere, Frank Stanley
Frank Stanley (cinematographer)
Frank Stanley was an American cinematographer. He is best known for filling in for Bruce Surtees on four Clint Eastwood films in a row: Breezy , Magnum Force , Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and The Eiger Sanction...
was brought in the shoot the picture, the first of four films he would shoot for Malpaso. The film was shot very quickly and efficiently and in the end went $1 million under budget and finished three days before schedule.
Reception
Early reviews were unfavorable, which caused the studio to shelve it for a year. It was then released with little marketing. It was not a commercial success, barely reaching the Top 50 before disappearing. Eastwood thought Universal had decided the film was going to fail long before it was released. He said "the public stayed away from it because it wasn't promoted enough, and it was sold in an uninteresting fashion". Some critics, including Eastwood's biographer Richard Schnickel, believed that the sexual content of the film and love scenes were too soft to be memorable for such a potentially scandalous relationship between Harmon and Breezy, commenting that, "it is not a sexy movie. Once again, Eastwood was too polite in his eroticism."Lenz and Breezy figure into the storyline of Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
's novel VALIS
VALIS
VALIS is a 1981 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. The title is an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, Dick's gnostic vision of one aspect of God....
.
Home media release
Breezy did not reach home video until 1998. Universal Pictures released the film to DVD in 2004 with a running time of 106 minutes (NTSCNTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
). The film is in widescreen and Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
2.0 Mono.