A Little Romance

A Little Romance
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	George Roy Hill
Produced by	Robert L. Crawford Yves Rousset-Rouard
Written by	Patrick Cauvin (novel) Allan Burns George Roy Hill
Starring	Laurence Olivier Diane Lane Thelonious Bernard Arthur Hill Sally Kellerman
Music by	Georges Delerue
Cinematography	Pierre-William Glenn
Editing by	William H. Reynolds
Studio	Orion Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	April 27, 1979
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

A Little Romance is a 1979 romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Laurence Olivier, Thelonious Bernard, and Diane Lane in her film debut. The screenplay is written by Allan Burns and George Roy Hill, based on the novel E=mc² Mon Amour by Patrick Cauvin.^{[N 1]} The film is about a French boy and an American girl who meet in Paris and begin a little romance that leads to a journey to Venice whre they hope to seal their love forever with a kiss beneath the Bridge of Sighs at sunset. The original music score is composed by Georges Delerue.^[1][2][3]

Plot

Lauren King (Diane Lane) is a highly intelligent 13-year-old American girl living in Paris with her affluent family. She spends her free time reading Heidegger. Daniel Michon (Thelonious Bernard) is a highly intelligent 13-year-old French boy from a poor family who loves Hollywood films and who uses his talent with mathematics to make theoretical bets on horse races. The two meet at a museum where a movie is being filmed, and they fall in love. Lauren's self-absorbed mother (Sally Kellerman) fiercely objects to the romance, seeing him as a "filthy French boy" unsuitable for her daughter. When Daniel punches the egomaniacal director boyfriend of Lauren's mother, the two are forbidden to date.

Lauren and Daniel meet Julius (Laurence Olivier), a kindly elderly gentleman and a pickpocket, who tells them about a tradition that if a couple kiss beneath the Bridge of Sighs in Venice at sunset while the church bells toll, they will be in love forever. Knowing that she will be sent back to America soon, she initiates a plan for them to travel to Venice together. With the help of Julius, the two young lovers take a train to Venice and spark an international chase.

Cast

• Laurence Olivier as Julius
• Diane Lane as Lauren King
• Thelonious Bernard as Daniel Michon
• Arthur Hill as Richard King
• Sally Kellerman as Kay King
• Broderick Crawford as Himself
• David Dukes as George de Marco
• Andrew Duncan as Bob Duryea
• Claudette Sutherland as Janet Duryea
• Graham Fletcher-Cook as Londet
• Ashby Semple as Natalie Woodstein
• Claude Brosset as Michel Michon
• Jacques Maury as Inspector Leclerc
• Anna Massey as Ms Siegel
• Peter Maloney as Martin
• Dominique Lavanant as Mme. Cormier
• Mike Marshall as 1st Assistant Director
• Michel Bardinet as French Ambassador
• David Gabison as French Representative
• Isabel Duby as Monique
• Geoffrey Carey as Make-up Man
• John Pepper as 2nd Assistant Director
• Denise Glaser as Woman Critic
• Jeanne Herviale as Woman in Metro Station
• Carlo Lastricati as Tour Guide
• Judith Mullen as Richard's Secretary
• Philippe Brigaud as Theater Manager
• Lucienne Legrand as Theater Cashier^[4]

Production

Filming locations

• Paris, France
• Venice, Veneto, Italy^[5]

Reception

Following its initial release in 1979, the film received mixed reviews, with some being quite negative. In his review inThe New York Times, Vincent Canby described the film as "so ponderous it seems almost mean spirited. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie about boorish American tourists and felt sorry for the tourists—which is one of Mr. Hill's achievements here. I'm sure nothing mean-spirited was intended, but such is the film's effect. This may be the main hazard when one sets out to make a film so relentlessly sweet-tempered that it winds up—like Pollyana—alienating everyone not similarly affected."^[3]

In his review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film only two stars, writing that the film "gives us two movie kids in a story so unlikely I assume it was intended as a fantasy. And it gives us dialog and situations so relentlessly cute we want to squirm."^[6]

Following its release on video and DVD, the film gained stronger critical support. In his review for DVD Movie Guide, David Williams called the film "one of those gems that doesn't seem too great on the surface, but manages to lift your spirits in such a way that when it's over, it makes you glad you ignored your initial feelings and checked it out anyway." Williams applauded the performances as "engaging from top-to-bottom", singling out Olivier's portrayal of Julius, the mischievous escort and matchmaker.^[7]

In his review in DVD Movie Guide, John J. Puccio wrote, "It's a lovely tale of pure and innocent love and the lengths that people involved in such a love will go to in their desire to ensure it. The movie can hardly fail to please even the most jaded audiences."^[8]

In his review in DVD Talk, David Langdon concluded, "A Little Romance fits into that category we might call the children's film for adults. It's smart, well written, acted and directed. If anything it will be remembered as Diane Lane's first movie and one of Laurence Olivier's last. The DVD is above average in all categories except audio but it is worth a look."^[2]

On the aggregate reviewer web site Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an 80% positive rating from top film critics based on 15 reviews, and a 78% positive audience rating based on 4,887 reviews. ^[9]

Awards and nominations

A Little Romance received two Academy Award nominations in 1980 at the 52nd Academy Awards for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and for Best Original Score. The film Kramer vs Kramer won the Best Screenplay award that year, but for his musical score for A Little Romance, Georges Delerue, at the age of 55, won his first and only Academy Award.^{[10][N 2]}

• 1979 Young Artist Award for Best Motion Picture Featuring Youth Won
• 1979 Young Artist Award for Best Juvenile Actress in a Motion Picture (Diane Lane) Won
• 1979 Young Artist Award Nomination for Best Juvenile Actor in a Motion Picture (Thelonious Bernard)
• 1980 Academy Award for Best Original Score (Georges Delerue) Won
• 1980 Academy Award Nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay (Allan Burns)
• 1980 Golden Globe Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Laurence Olivier)
• 1980 Golden Globe Award Nomination for Best Original Score (Georges Delerue)
• 1980 Writers Guild of America Award Nomination for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium (Allan Burns)^[10][11]

Remakes

This film was remade in Tamil as Panneer Pushpangal in 1981 by P. Vasu and Santhana Barathy.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

• A Little Romance at the Internet Movie Database
• A Little Romance at AllRovi
• A Little Romance at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Little Romance at Box Office Mojo