Country: UK
Year: 1967
Duration: 89'


The successful writer Charlie Bubbles is dining with his lawyer and his accountant when he sees his old friend, the unsuccessful writer Smokey Pickles. The two dribble food on themselves and each other and go out together. That night they go back drunk to Charlie's house, which is held under the constant surveillance by closed circuit monitors located in Charlie's den. Charlie receives a phone call from his exwife Lottie, who angrily reminds him that he had promised to take their nineyearold son Jack to the game. Charlie leaves in his Rolls Royce, accompanied by his young American secretary Eliza, an aspiring writer. They drop Smokey off at his house, drive all night long, and arrive in Manchester in the early morning. Eliza seduces Charlie in the hotel, but he is so tired that he can't keep his eyes open. When he wakes up, Charlie goes to the country cottage where his wife lives. She greets him with ostentatious indifference. At the game, Charlie takes Jack into the reserved seating, but the child gets bored and finally goes away. Charlie looks for him everywhere. When he goes back to Lottie's, he finds out that Jack had already come back. When he gets up in the morning, Charlie sees a hotair balloon anchored near the house. He gets in and goes away.

"Finney, as director has paid attention to little things an elevator door beginning to close on Charlie as he gets in, the dull glare of an aseptic turnpike café late at night and this care makes the film look like the real thing even as we suspect that the real thing would feel rather more complicated for Charlie. The best thing about the movie is that it continues to get better as it goes along, almost as if we are watching Finney gain assurance in the medium. ... The last fifteen minutes of the film Charlie's conversations with his exwife (a marvelous, womanly performance by Billie Whitelaw) and spoiled son are superb. How can anyone who really watches these scenes, that have the stops and starts of authentic conversation and unspoken affection and frustration, call the movie weary? Perhaps we are too spoiled by flashiness. Or perhaps the feeble ending a touch of fantasy is offputting; just when we most want to see more of Charlie, the movie arbitrarily stops. But it has more good in it than almost any other film around, and Finney's skill in winning performances (not to mention his modesty in underplaying his own) is truly remarkable." (Stephen Farber, "Film Quarterly", n. 4, Summer 1968, p. 57)

Biography

film director

Albert Finney

Cast

& Credits

Director: Albert Finney.
Screenplay: Shelagh Delaney.
Fotografia (Technicolor): Peter Suschitsky.
Editor: Fergus McDonnell.
Art director: Ted Marshall.
Music: Misha Donat.
Sound: Peter Handford, Hugh Strani.
Cast: Albert Finney (Charlie Bubbles), Billie Whitelaw (Lottie), Colin Blakely (Smokey Pickles), Liza Minnelli (Eliza), Timothy Garland (Jack), Richard Pearson (il commercialista), John Ronane (Gerry), Nicholas Phipps (l'agente), Peter Sallis (l'avvocato).
Production company: Michael Medwin per la Memorial Enterprises/Universal.
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