One Woman or Two
| One Woman or Two | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| French | Une femme ou deux |
| Directed by | Daniel Vigne |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Daniel Vigne |
| Produced by | René Cleitman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Carlo Varini |
| Edited by | Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte |
| Music by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Acteurs Auteurs Associés |
Release date |
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Running time | 97 minutes[2] |
| Country | France |
| Language | French[3] |
| Budget | 30 million French francs ($3 million)[1] |
One Woman or Two (French: Une femme ou deux) is a 1985 French screwball romantic comedy film directed by Daniel Vigne, who co-wrote the screenplay with Élisabeth Rappeneau. It stars Gérard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver, Ruth Westheimer and Michel Aumont.[4]
The film is a rework of the 1938 American screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.[5][6]
Plot
Shy paleontologist/archaeologist (Gérard Depardieu) makes an archeological find of the fossil remains of the first, two-million-year-old, French woman, whom he calls Laura.[7][8][9][10] He is approached and conned by a crass and greedy American model and Madison Avenue advertising executive (Sigourney Weaver), masquerading as a charity organisation executive in order to use the woman for her own perfume advertising campaign.[10][7]
Later the real charity organisation executive, ditzy rich American patroness of the sciences (Ruth Westheimer, in her feature film debut) turns up ... it all develops from there.[11][12][13][2]
Cast
- Gérard Depardieu as Julien Chayssac
- Sigourney Weaver as Jessica Fitzgerald
- Ruth Westheimer as Mrs. Heffner
- Michel Aumont as Pierre Carrière
- Zabou Breitman as Constance Michaux
- Tannis Vallely as Zoé
Most of the dialogue in the film is in French, including that of Weaver (an American) and Westheimer (originally from Germany).[14] This would not have been difficult for Westheimer, who had lived in Switzerland and France and had studied and taught at the Sorbonne in the 1950s.
Production
The film was shot in France (much of it in Paris) and New York City.[1][15] French paleontologist Yves Coppens advised on the film.[16]
Reception
The film was unsuccessful at the French box-office.[17]
Chicago Sun-Times reviewer Roger Ebert wrote of this film in a half star review, "Add it all up, and what you've got here is a waste of good electricity. I'm not talking about the electricity between the actors. I'm talking about the current to the projector."[18] In 2005 he included it on his most-hated films list.[19]
Richard Harrington, writing for The Washington Post said: "it's funny enough, and genial in the way French comedy tends to be."[7]
References
- ^ a b c "Hachette Premiere On Rebound; Has 'Femme', 'Billy' In Hopper". Variety. 1 May 1985. p. 340.
- ^ a b "Movies". New York. 23 February 1987 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Brief Movie Reviews". New York. 9 February 1987 – via Google Books.
- ^ Films and Filming, Issues 411-423, 1989.
- ^ Scheuer, Steven H. (1990). Movies on TV and Videocassette, 1991-1992
- ^ Connors, Martin; Craddock, Jim (1999). VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 1999
- ^ a b c Harrington, Richard (March 2, 1987). "‘One Woman or Two’ (PG-13)", The Washington Post.
- ^ R. R. Bowker (1992). Bowker's Complete Video Directory, Volumes 1–4.
- ^ Scheuer, Steven H. (1989). Movies on TV and Video Cassette; 1989-1990
- ^ a b Maltin, Leonard (2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide
- ^ "Funny Business". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 15 September 1986 – via Google Books.
- ^ The Family Guide to Movies and Videos, Office for Film and Broadcasting, Department of Communications, United States Catholic Conference, 1995.
- ^ The Blockbuster Entertainment Guide to Movies and Videos, 1999 Edition.
- ^ Cox, Yvonne (23 February 1987). "People". Maclean's.
- ^ "My scene with Gerard Depardieu". stevelandis.com.
- ^ Day, David Howard (1997). A Treasure Hard to Attain; Images of Archaeology in Popular Film, with a Filmography
- ^ Elsa Zimmerman, Gérard Depardieu. Une vie libre, City éditions, 2013 ISBN 978-2-8246-0301-8, pp. 116-117
- ^ Ebert, Roger (2 March 1987). "One Woman or Two". Chicago Sun-Times. rogerebert.com. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (11 August 2005). "Ebert's Most Hated". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
External links
- One Woman or Two at IMDb
- One Woman or Two at Rotten Tomatoes
- One Woman or Two at the TCM Movie Database
- A Woman or Two, in the Time Out film guide