This is based on Neil Simon's story about four families staying at the "Pink Palace," the Beverly Hills Hotel in California. This movie in some ways is reminiscent of MGM's 1932 classic, The Grand Hotel, where different characters staying at the hotel interact and their lives becomes intertwined into one big story. The major flaw in this movie is that the stories of four different couples are not linked as in the Grand Hotel. The four guests at the hotel are; visitors from NY, visitors from Philadelphia, visitors from Chicago, and visitors from London. The visitors from New York stars Jane Fonda as Hanna Warren and Alan Alda as Bill Warren, fight over the custody of their teenage daughter; if she should stay with her mother in New York City or move to Los Angeles to be with her father. The bickering becomes boring at times, but some creative writing coupled with Jane Fonda's fine performance and superb directing by Herbert Ross make the movie watchable.
The Visitors from Philadelphia casts Walter Matthau as Marvin Michaels, a married man who is awakened to find a call girl in an unconscious state in his bed, when his wife (Elaine May) is coming over to meet him in the motel room. It is absolutely hilarious to watch this screwball comedy when he tries to hide the call girl on his bed from his wife. He appears to have a penchant as a hotel guest; this makes me remember the movie, The Plaza Suite with Maureen Stapleton and several other ladies. Millie Michaels played by Elaine May is equally wonderful in making the situation a big comedic farce. She looks absolutely cool, when she finds out that her husband slept with the hooker, and probably nothing happened. This is reflected in the dialogue between the couples:
Marvin Michaels: Millie... I want you to turn around. But please - no matter what you see - don't say anything for ten seconds. [Millie turns. She sees the unconscious hooker]
Millie Michaels: One... two... I'm praying, Marvin. I'm praying very hard the maid came in here to do your room, got dizzy, and fainted from overwork. I'm praying to God the maids in this hotel wear pajamas.
Millie Michaels: I've never seen you so sex-crazed in the morning!
Marvin Michaels: I never realized that it was the morning
Marvin Michaels: Do you know who that is?
Millie Michaels: Yes, it's our hooker. Do you think I would ride with strangers?
Millie Michaels: How much would you say she is, Marvin? Does she look like a fifty dollar hooker to you?
Marvin Michaels: I don't know... I guess so...
Millie Michaels: What a cheap brother you've got. We spend a HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE on his lousy kid! (Marvin is in town for his nephew's Bar-Mitzvah, and the hooker is set by his brother played by Herb Edelman).
The episode, Visitors from Chicago casts Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor as two doctors who bring their wives (Sheila Frazier and Gloria Gifford) on a vacation where everything goes wrong. The chemistry between Cosby and Pryor is great as they battle out their wits in this screwball slapstick.
Maggie Smith plays Diana Barrie; a British actress visiting Hollywood to attend the Academy awards ceremony with her gay husband Sidney Barrie (Michael Caine). They try to cope with pre-award nervousness and hurl absurdities over each other while working out uncertainties in their relationship. In the story of the film, Diana Barrie loses the Oscar award, but in actual awards, she wins in the best supporting actress category. In 1954, Judy Garland did not win the award for her role in "A Star is born," but in the story she wins the academy award. This is reversed in California Suite. Who decides this farce to occur? After winning her award, Maggie Smith said that instead of making a prompt departure to London as her character in the film, she will stay in Hollywood for another week and enjoy her winning. The film was shot mainly in Beverly Hills Hotel and also on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills and off Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu, CA.
The Visitors from Philadelphia casts Walter Matthau as Marvin Michaels, a married man who is awakened to find a call girl in an unconscious state in his bed, when his wife (Elaine May) is coming over to meet him in the motel room. It is absolutely hilarious to watch this screwball comedy when he tries to hide the call girl on his bed from his wife. He appears to have a penchant as a hotel guest; this makes me remember the movie, The Plaza Suite with Maureen Stapleton and several other ladies. Millie Michaels played by Elaine May is equally wonderful in making the situation a big comedic farce. She looks absolutely cool, when she finds out that her husband slept with the hooker, and probably nothing happened. This is reflected in the dialogue between the couples:
Marvin Michaels: Millie... I want you to turn around. But please - no matter what you see - don't say anything for ten seconds. [Millie turns. She sees the unconscious hooker]
Millie Michaels: One... two... I'm praying, Marvin. I'm praying very hard the maid came in here to do your room, got dizzy, and fainted from overwork. I'm praying to God the maids in this hotel wear pajamas.
Millie Michaels: I've never seen you so sex-crazed in the morning!
Marvin Michaels: I never realized that it was the morning
Marvin Michaels: Do you know who that is?
Millie Michaels: Yes, it's our hooker. Do you think I would ride with strangers?
Millie Michaels: How much would you say she is, Marvin? Does she look like a fifty dollar hooker to you?
Marvin Michaels: I don't know... I guess so...
Millie Michaels: What a cheap brother you've got. We spend a HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE on his lousy kid! (Marvin is in town for his nephew's Bar-Mitzvah, and the hooker is set by his brother played by Herb Edelman).
The episode, Visitors from Chicago casts Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor as two doctors who bring their wives (Sheila Frazier and Gloria Gifford) on a vacation where everything goes wrong. The chemistry between Cosby and Pryor is great as they battle out their wits in this screwball slapstick.
Maggie Smith plays Diana Barrie; a British actress visiting Hollywood to attend the Academy awards ceremony with her gay husband Sidney Barrie (Michael Caine). They try to cope with pre-award nervousness and hurl absurdities over each other while working out uncertainties in their relationship. In the story of the film, Diana Barrie loses the Oscar award, but in actual awards, she wins in the best supporting actress category. In 1954, Judy Garland did not win the award for her role in "A Star is born," but in the story she wins the academy award. This is reversed in California Suite. Who decides this farce to occur? After winning her award, Maggie Smith said that instead of making a prompt departure to London as her character in the film, she will stay in Hollywood for another week and enjoy her winning. The film was shot mainly in Beverly Hills Hotel and also on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills and off Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu, CA.
Reference: Neil Simon's California Suite (DVD), starring Jane Fonda and Alan Alda
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