Butterflies Are Free
Encyclopedia
Butterflies Are Free is a 1972 film based on a play by Leonard Gershe
. The 1972 film was produced by M.J. Frankovich, released by Columbia Pictures
, directed by Milton Katselas
and adapted for the screen by Gershe. It was released on 6 July, 1972 in the USA.
Goldie Hawn
and Edward Albert
starred. Eileen Heckart
received an Academy Award for her performance.
While the original play was set in Manhattan
, New York
, the screenplay written for the 1972 film was set in an unknown location in San Francisco.
), who was born blind, has lived all his life with his mother (Eileen Heckart
). When the Fletcher family moves near his home, he meets their daughter Linda Fletcher. Linda takes Don out to parties and fills him with confidence. She talks him into moving out of his mother's house and having his own apartment. She even finds an apartment for him. She encourages Don to become a musician. But after Don moves into his new apartment, Linda meets a guy from a party and goes to live with him in Mexico
.
Don finds himself all alone. He has made a contract that his mother will not come to see him for at least two months. One month has passed. This is when Jill Tanner (Goldie Hawn
) moves in an apartment next door to Don. She listens to Don talking to his mother over the phone and turns on the radio. When Don asks her to turn the volume down, she invites herself over for a cup of coffee. They start talking and find each other friendly. Jill does not realize that Don is blind, until she sees him dropping his cigarette ash on the table.
Jill has never met a blind man before, so she asks all sorts of question about how Don manages everyday chores. She tells Don that her favorite quote is from Mark Twain
: "I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies." Don corrects her that actually this is a quote from Bleak House
by Charles Dickens
. Don makes up a song and starts to sing Butterflies are free on his guitar. Jill takes Don out for shopping to find better fitting clothes for an aspiring musician. They have dinner together and later spend the night together in Don's bed.
In the morning, Don's mother - Mrs. Baker (Eileen Heckart
) - gives Don a surprise visit. Mrs. Baker sees that Don has attached himself to Jill. She fears that Jill will break Don's heart just like Linda did. She takes Jill out for a lunch and tries to talk her out of Don's life. Jill has strong feelings for Don and tells Mrs. Baker that if there is someone who should get out of Don's life, it is her. However, Jill herself has problems making a commitment, and when she starts to fall for Don, she begins to look for ways to end the growing relationship. She makes a dinner date with Don, for which she appears over three hours late with another man, Ralph (Paul Michael Glaser
). She announces that she is moving in with Ralph who is director of a play in which she'll be acting. This breaks Don's heart and he gets ready to go home with his mother. Mrs. Baker, who had been telling Don to come back home, makes an about-face and starts telling him not to come home and to face life's challenges. Mrs. Baker leaves. Soon after, Jill departs. Don is shattered and trips over the sofa. Sitting on the floor, he puts his head down on the table in despair. This is when he hears someone opening the door of the apartment. Jill walks in and asks Don what he's doing on the floor. Don says, "I was just about to have a picnic." Jill asks, "Without me?" Don answers, "I didn't know I had a choice." The picture ends with the two embracing.
The Time Magazine pointed out the talent of Goldie Hawn saying : "Goldie Hawn, as the girl next door, has come a long way from her giddy role in Laugh-In; she is often genuinely touching." Time magazine praised the acting of both Edward Albert and Eileen Heckart: "Edward Albert, the son of Actor Edward Albert
, is creditable as the blind boy, and Eileen Heckart is appropriately hateful as the mother, although she is unable to be convincing in her transformation. But then nobody could be."
Leonard Gershe
Leonard Gershe was an American playwright, screenwriter, and lyricist.Born in New York City, Gershe made his Broadway debut as a lyricist for the 1950 revue Alive and Kicking. He wrote the book for Harold Rome's musical stage adaptation of Destry Rides Again in 1959, and in 1969 a play, ...
. The 1972 film was produced by M.J. Frankovich, released 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...
, directed by Milton Katselas
Milton Katselas
Milton Katselas was an American film director and famous Hollywood coach for The Beverly Hills Playhouse...
and adapted for the screen by Gershe. It was released on 6 July, 1972 in the USA.
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
and Edward Albert
Edward Albert
Edward Albert was an American film and television actor. He was also known as Edward Laurence Albert, Laurence Edward Albert and occasionally Eddie Albert, Jr.-Early life:Albert was born Edward Laurence Heimberger in Los Angeles, California, to actor Eddie...
starred. Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
received an Academy Award for her performance.
While the original play was set in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the screenplay written for the 1972 film was set in an unknown location in San Francisco.
Plot
In the San Francisco of the 1970s, Don Baker (Edward AlbertEdward Albert
Edward Albert was an American film and television actor. He was also known as Edward Laurence Albert, Laurence Edward Albert and occasionally Eddie Albert, Jr.-Early life:Albert was born Edward Laurence Heimberger in Los Angeles, California, to actor Eddie...
), who was born blind, has lived all his life with his mother (Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
). When the Fletcher family moves near his home, he meets their daughter Linda Fletcher. Linda takes Don out to parties and fills him with confidence. She talks him into moving out of his mother's house and having his own apartment. She even finds an apartment for him. She encourages Don to become a musician. But after Don moves into his new apartment, Linda meets a guy from a party and goes to live with him in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Don finds himself all alone. He has made a contract that his mother will not come to see him for at least two months. One month has passed. This is when Jill Tanner (Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
) moves in an apartment next door to Don. She listens to Don talking to his mother over the phone and turns on the radio. When Don asks her to turn the volume down, she invites herself over for a cup of coffee. They start talking and find each other friendly. Jill does not realize that Don is blind, until she sees him dropping his cigarette ash on the table.
Jill has never met a blind man before, so she asks all sorts of question about how Don manages everyday chores. She tells Don that her favorite quote is from Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
: "I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies." Don corrects her that actually this is a quote from Bleak House
Bleak House
Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
. Don makes up a song and starts to sing Butterflies are free on his guitar. Jill takes Don out for shopping to find better fitting clothes for an aspiring musician. They have dinner together and later spend the night together in Don's bed.
In the morning, Don's mother - Mrs. Baker (Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
) - gives Don a surprise visit. Mrs. Baker sees that Don has attached himself to Jill. She fears that Jill will break Don's heart just like Linda did. She takes Jill out for a lunch and tries to talk her out of Don's life. Jill has strong feelings for Don and tells Mrs. Baker that if there is someone who should get out of Don's life, it is her. However, Jill herself has problems making a commitment, and when she starts to fall for Don, she begins to look for ways to end the growing relationship. She makes a dinner date with Don, for which she appears over three hours late with another man, Ralph (Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser is an American actor and director, perhaps best known for his role as Detective David Starsky on the 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch; he also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the 1999 to 2005 NBC series Third Watch.-Early life:Glaser, the youngest of three...
). She announces that she is moving in with Ralph who is director of a play in which she'll be acting. This breaks Don's heart and he gets ready to go home with his mother. Mrs. Baker, who had been telling Don to come back home, makes an about-face and starts telling him not to come home and to face life's challenges. Mrs. Baker leaves. Soon after, Jill departs. Don is shattered and trips over the sofa. Sitting on the floor, he puts his head down on the table in despair. This is when he hears someone opening the door of the apartment. Jill walks in and asks Don what he's doing on the floor. Don says, "I was just about to have a picnic." Jill asks, "Without me?" Don answers, "I didn't know I had a choice." The picture ends with the two embracing.
Cast
- Goldie HawnGoldie HawnGoldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
as Jill Tanner - Edward AlbertEdward AlbertEdward Albert was an American film and television actor. He was also known as Edward Laurence Albert, Laurence Edward Albert and occasionally Eddie Albert, Jr.-Early life:Albert was born Edward Laurence Heimberger in Los Angeles, California, to actor Eddie...
as Don Baker - Eileen HeckartEileen HeckartEileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
as Mrs. Baker - Paul Michael GlaserPaul Michael GlaserPaul Michael Glaser is an American actor and director, perhaps best known for his role as Detective David Starsky on the 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch; he also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the 1999 to 2005 NBC series Third Watch.-Early life:Glaser, the youngest of three...
as Ralph Austin - Michael WarrenMichael Warren (actor)Michael Warren is an American TV actor and former college basketball player, best known for playing Officer Bobby Hill on the NBC television series Hill Street Blues.-College basketball career:...
as Roy
Reception
When the film opened in USA, Butterflies Are Free was an instant success. The Variety Magazine wrote : "Although the setting has been changed from New York to San Francisco for no apparent reason, Leonard Gershe's screen adaptation of his successful Broadway play, is an excellent example of how to switch from one medium to another." The magazine further praises the acting of Goldie Hawn saying : "Hawn, funny and touching, is a delight throughout and Heckart gets a film role that enables her to display versatility."The Time Magazine pointed out the talent of Goldie Hawn saying : "Goldie Hawn, as the girl next door, has come a long way from her giddy role in Laugh-In; she is often genuinely touching." Time magazine praised the acting of both Edward Albert and Eileen Heckart: "Edward Albert, the son of Actor Edward Albert
Edward Albert
Edward Albert was an American film and television actor. He was also known as Edward Laurence Albert, Laurence Edward Albert and occasionally Eddie Albert, Jr.-Early life:Albert was born Edward Laurence Heimberger in Los Angeles, California, to actor Eddie...
, is creditable as the blind boy, and Eileen Heckart is appropriately hateful as the mother, although she is unable to be convincing in her transformation. But then nobody could be."
Wins
- Best Supporting Actress - Eileen Heckart - 1972 Academy Awards
- Most Promising Newcomer - Male - Edward Albert - 1973 Golden Globe Awards
- New Star of the Year - Male - Edward Albert - 1972 Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Nominations
- Best Sound - Arthur PiantadosiArthur PiantadosiArthur Piantadosi was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated for six more in the same category. He worked on over 80 films between 1967 and 1986.-Selected filmography:...
and Charles T. KnightCharles T. KnightCharles T. Knight was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Sound for the film Butterflies Are Free. He worked on over 40 films between 1964 and 1994.-External links:...
- 1972 Academy Awards - Best Cinematography - Charles B. Lang - 1972 Academy Awards
- Best Original Song - Bob Alcivar - 1972 Hollywood Foreign Press Association
- Best Picture - Musical or Comedy - 1972 Hollywood Foreign Press Association
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Goldie Hawn - 1972 Hollywood Foreign Press Association
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Edward Albert - 1972 Hollywood Foreign Press Association
- Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium - Leonard Gershie - 1973 - Writers Guild of AmericaWriters Guild of AmericaThe Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....