Story of movie Petulia :
Petulia is a 1968 American drama film directed by Richard Lester. The screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus is based on the novel Me and the Arch Kook Petulia by John Haase. It was scored by John Barry.
| Petulia | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Lester |
| Produced by | Don Devlin Denis O'Dell Raymond Wagner |
| Written by | Lawrence B. Marcus |
| Story by | Barbara Turner (Adaptation) |
| Based on | Me and the Arch Kook Petulia by John Haase |
| Starring | Julie Christie George C. Scott Richard Chamberlain |
| Music by | John Barry |
| Cinematography | Nicolas Roeg |
| Edited by | Antony Gibbs |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,600,000 (US/ Canada) |
Screenplay
Petulia Danner is a young San Francisco socialite married to a savagely abusive architect, David. At a benefit concert for victims of traffic accidents, she meets Dr. Archie Bollen, with whom she became smitten as he treated an injured Mexican boy. Archie is in the process of divorcing his wife Polo, sifting through relationships with the new man in his ex's life, his estranged sons, and well-to-do friends who only know Archie as one-half of a couple. Petulia and Archie embark on a quirky, desperate, and ultimately tragic affair.
- Julie Christie as Petulia Danner
- George C. Scott as Dr Archie Bollen
- Richard Chamberlain as David Danner
- Arthur Hill as Barney
- Shirley Knight as Prudence "Polo" Bollen
- Pippa Scott as May
- Kathleen Widdoes as Wilma
- Roger Bowen as Warren
- Richard Dysart as Motel Receptionist
- Ruth Kobart as Nun
- Ellen Geer as Nun
- Lou Gilbert as Mr Howard
- Nate Esformes as Mr Mendoza
- Maria Val as Mrs Mendoza
- Vincent Arias as Oliver
- Eric Weiss as Michael
- Kevin Cooper as Stevie
- Joseph Cotten as Mr Danner
- Austin Pendleton as an Intern
Filmed on location throughout San Francisco, Petulia included scenes at the apartment building located at 307 Filbert Street, the Cala Foods on Hyde, and in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel where, amongst other things, Janis Joplin was filmed lip-synching to a pre-recording in May, 1967.
Petulia had been listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.
Giving the film his highest rating, four stars of a possible four, Roger Ebert wrote in his Chicago Sun-Times review of 1 July 1968: "Richard Lester's Petulia made me desperately unhappy, and yet I am unable to find a single thing wrong with it."
Both Marcus and Turner were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama.
Lester utilises the current west coast musicians of the time Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Grateful Dead playing "Viola Lee Blues", The Committee, and Ace Trucking Company are briefly featured in club sequences. Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, and Bill Kreutzmann appear in cameos during the movie's apartment house medical emergency scene as onlookers. Jerry Garcia also appears in duplicate on a large mural and in triplicate on a bus bench both times in stylized solid black and white.
Petulia was an influence on filmmaker Steven Soderbergh.
The film was released on VHS. A US DVD was released in 2006.
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