Main Cast: Laurence Olivier, Arthur Hill, Sally Kellerman, Diane Lane, Thelonious Bernard
Release Year: 1979
Country: FR/US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The disarming comedy A Little Romance features Diane Lane as a 13-year-old American, living in Paris with her businessman stepfather (Arthur Hill) and her promiscuous mother (Sally Kellerman). Mom is currently enamored with pretentious-filmmaker David Dukes, and it is on the set of Dukes' latest picture that Lane meets another 13-year-old, insatiable French film buff Thelonious Bernard. A likeable street-smart petty thief and gambler, Bernard is instantly attracted to Lane. With the help of roguish old Laurence Olivier, Lane and Bernard arrange a romantic rendezvous under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Naturally, when the kids disappear it's a cause for international concern, but all ends as it should. Some of the best moments in A Little Romance belong to Broderick Crawford, unselfconsciously playing "himself" at a movie party. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A Little Romance (1979) is an apt title for George Roy Hill's sweet-natured comedy about adolescent love amid the impeccable settings of Paris and Venice. Shot on location, the appealing romance between two outsider kids nicely captures the yearning and joy of first love without cliché Hollywood excess. Making her film debut as the Heidegger-reading Lauren, 14-year-old Diane Lane's beauty and self-possessed performance as the gifted American girl living abroad landed her on the cover of Time in 1979 as a young star in the making. Lane's onscreen appeal was ably matched by fellow newcomer Thelonious Bernard as teen genius and cinéaste Daniel (who is first seen taking in Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid dubbed en français). Laurence Olivier is expertly sly and paternal as the mysterious Julius, while Sally Kellerman and David Dukes are suitably and humorously witless; Broderick Crawford nearly steals his few scenes as "himself." Despite its charms, A Little Romance did not become another Hill blockbuster, but Allan Burns did receive an Oscar nomination for his adapted screenplay and Georges Delerue won the Oscar for his enchanting score. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Broderick Crawford - Brod; David Dukes - George De Marco; Andrew Duncan - Bob Duryea; Claudette Sutherland - Janet Duryea; Graham Fletcher-Cook - Londet; Ashby Semple - Natalie; Claude Brosset - Michel Michon; Tom Byron; Jeoffrey Carey - Makeup Man; Kari Foxx; Dominique Lavanant - Mme. Corier; Trinity Loren; Michael Marshall - 1st Assistant Director; Anna Massey - Mrs. Siegel; Jacques Maury - Insp. Leclerc; Penny Morgan; John Pepper - 2nd Assistant Director; Carlo Lastricati - Tour Guide; Peter Maloney - Martin; Jeanne Herviale - Woman in Metro; David Gabison - French Representative; Michel Bardinet - French Ambassador; Lucienne Legrand - Cashier
Credit
Francois de Lamothe - Art Director, Rosine Delamare - Costume Designer, Lucie Lichtig - Continuity, Carlo Lastricati - First Assistant Director, George Roy Hill - Director, William H. Reynolds - Editor, Daniel Patrick Kelley - Executive Producer, Georges Delerue - Composer (Music Score), Henry Bumstead - Production Designer, Pierre-Wiliam Glenn - Cinematographer, Robert L. Crawford - Producer, George Roy Hill - Producer, Yves Rousset-Rouard - Producer, Daniel Patrick Kelley - Producer, Michel Desrois - Sound/Sound Designer, Allan Burns - Screenwriter, Patrick Cauvin - Book Author
Lauren King (Diane Lane) is 13 years old, highly intelligent, and rich. She is an American girl living in Paris who spends her free time reading Heidegger. Daniel Michon (Thelonious Bernard) is 13 years old, highly intelligent, and poor. He is a French boy who loves Hollywood films and who uses his talent with mathematics to make imaginary bets on horse races.
When the two meet and fall in love, Lauren's flirtatious mother (Sally Kellerman) fiercely objects and tries to split the two up. Lauren and Daniel decide to run away to Venice, in order to "kiss under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset while the bells toll", which they have been told will mean that they will be in love forever. They are aided in this plan by Julius (Laurence Olivier), a kind gentleman.
The film received two nominations at the 52nd Academy Awards: WRITING (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) and MUSIC (Original Score). It lost the first one to Kramer vs Kramer. Georges Delerue, at the age of 55, won his only Oscar statuette in his third nomination, having been nominated previously for his work in Anne of the Thousand Days, The Day of the Dolphin and Julia. He'd received a fifth nomination for his work in the 1985 film Agnes of God.
The film is based on the French novel E=mc2, Mon Amour by Patrick Cauvin. The book has a sequel, Pythagore, Je t'Adore, which picks up several years after the events of the first book.
A Note: Robert Redford is featured in 2 movies throughout the film (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, presented in the Italian as 'Il Stangata'): this may have been due to the director's (George Roy Hill) relationship with Redford, as Hill directed both Butch Cassidy, and The Sting, as well as A Little Romance.
