Main Cast: Eve Karpf, George Segal, Glenda Jackson, Paul Sorvino, Hildegard Neil, Cec Linder
Release Year: 1973
Country: UK
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Producer/director Melvin Frank struck box-office gold when he teamed George Segal with Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class. Segal plays married insurance executive Steve Blackburn, who can't seem to avoid bumping into divorced fashion designer Vicki Allessio (Glenda Jackson) wherever he goes. Finally bowing to the inevitable, Steve and Vicki fall in love. He suggests a romantic rendezvous in Spain...but nothing, absolutely nothing, goes as planned. A comedy of errors ending on an unexpected note of pathos, A Touch of Class was nominated for four Academy Awards, and earned Glenda Jackson a Best Actress Oscar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Accomplished British actress Glenda Jackson showed a surprising gift for romantic comedy in this 1973 sleeper, for which she won her second Best Actress Oscar in four years. George Segal plays an American insurance adjuster who decides to commit adultery with a British dress designer but finds that his plans for a quick affair are complicated by entanglements of the heart. Director Melvin Frank helped write the script with Jack Rose, and it played right on the edge of the era's more permissive sensibilities. The acting is first-rate and gives the story a scintillating edge that goes beyond its clever dialogue. Jackson and Segal show that onscreen chemistry depends less on glamour than on timing and expression. As a light sex farce, A Touch of Class contained more daring and dignity than its myriad imitators; it was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
K Callan - Patty Menkes; Mary Barclay - Martha Thompson; Gaye Brown - Dora French; David de Keyser - Dr. Alvarez; Michael Elwyn - Cecil; David Healy - American; Donald Hewlett - Spencer Birdsall; Edward Kemp - Michael Allessio; Michael McVey - Billy Blackburn; Nadim Sawalha - Night Hotel Manager; Ian Thompson - Derek; Lisa Vanderpump - Julia Allessio; Samantha Weyson - Josie Blackburn; John Sterland; Eve Karpf - Miss Ramos
Credit
Alan Tomkins - Art Director, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Simon Relph - First Assistant Director, Melvin Frank - Director, Bill Butler - Editor, John Cameron - Composer (Music Score), Sammy Cahn - Songwriter, George Barrie - Songwriter, Tony Sforzini - Makeup, Terence Marsh - Production Designer, Austin Dempster - Cinematographer, Melvin Frank - Producer, Peter Howitt - Set Designer, Peter Sutton - Sound/Sound Designer, Vic Armstrong - Stunts Coordinator, Melvin Frank - Screenwriter, Jack Rose - Screenwriter
