Main Cast: Irene Hervey, Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn, Jack Weston, Rick Lenz, Vito Scotti
Release Year: 1969
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Goldie Hawn won an Oscar for her performance as a Greenwich Village free spirit in Cactus Flower. Middle-aged dentist Winston (Walter Matthau) is enjoying an affair with Toni (Goldie Hawn) but doesn't want to be hemmed in by marriage. He prevails upon his non-glamorous assistant Stephanie (Ingrid Bergman) to pose as his wife so as to keep from campaigning for a ring. Then, to justify his "infidelity," Winston talks his pal (Jack Weston) into pretending to be Stephanie's illicit lover. Flattered by all the attention, Stephanie begins to "doll up." Confronted by a newly gorgeous Stephanie, Winston realizes that his Dream Girl has been right there in his office all along. As for Toni, she ends up in the arms of a writer (Rick Lenz), who has loved her since Reel One. Cactus Flower was adapted by Billy Wilder's frequent collaborator I.A.L. Diamond from the play by Abe Burrows -- which in turn was adapted from a French farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Coming toward the end of the career for Ingrid Bergman and the beginning for Goldie Hawn, Cactus Flower turned out to be a surprisingly fine showcase for their respective talents, as well as co-star Walter Matthau. It's hard to think of a picture that is more inconsequential; the very essence of a romp, it practically threatens to float off the screen, despite a few half-hearted stabs at "substantive" issues (e.g., fear of commitment, double standards for the sexes, etc.) Still, its very featheriness gave Bergman one of her rare opportunities to show what she can do with a lightweight role. She finds depth and variety in her character that probably would surprise its many authors, and is especially fine in her "going out for drinks" scene with Matthau and her monologue to Hawn (in a record booth, yet). For her part, Hawn is playing a role we've seen her do many times since, but she's enchanting - perky, kooky, wildly innocent and enthusiastic, not to mention touching and endearing. Matthau has his hands full keeping up with the women, but he does a fine job and scores his own punches in scenes with each of them. Gene Saks direction is smooth and unobtrusive. Like many films from this period, Flower is terribly dated -- at times, embarrassingly so -- but still fun. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Eve Bruce - Georgia; Irwin Charone - Store Manager; Irene Hervey - Mrs. Durant; Mathew Saks - Nephew
Credit
Miriam Nelson - Choreography, Anthony Ray - First Assistant Director, Gene Saks - Director, Maury Winetrobe - Editor, Quincy Jones - Composer (Music Score), Robert Clatworthy - Production Designer, Charles B. Lang - Cinematographer, Mike J. Frankovich - Producer, Edward Boyle - Set Designer, Robert Clatworthy - Set Designer, Arthur Piantadosi - Sound/Sound Designer, Whitey Ford - Sound/Sound Designer, I.A.L. Diamond - Screenwriter, Abe Burrows - Play Author, Jean-Pierre Gredy - Play Author, Pierre Barillet - Play Author
The film begins with 21-year-old Toni Simmons trudging across the road at night to post a letter. Subsequently, she returns to her apartment and attempts to gas herself using a "second-hand" stove. Fortunately for her, her neighbor, Igor Sullivan, smells the gas and rescues her from imminent death using rescue breathing, which evolves into a French kiss after Toni regains consciousness.
The movie then moves to the cause of the suicide attempt. Toni's lover Julian, a dentist and philanderer, had previously told Toni that he has a wife and three kids, in order to avoid commitment issues. However, upon learning of the suicide attempt, he decides to rethink his bachelor status and to marry Toni, resulting in him needing a wife to divorce.
In order to resolve his dilemma, Julian decides to ask Miss Stephanie Dickinson, his spinsterish Swedish assistant of ten years, to pose as his wife. At first unwilling, she ultimately accepts the role, since she has secretly developed a crush on Julian. However, upon meeting Miss Dickinson, Toni intuitively senses Miss Dickinson's love for Julian. This causes her to ask Julian to help Miss Dickinson find another man, in order for everyone to be happy. In order to resolve the situation, Julian involves several other characters, including Julian's friend Harvey, Señor Arturo Sánchez, and Igor. Ultimately, Toni finds out about the lie and leaves Julian for Igor, while Julian falls in love with Miss Dickinson.
The namesake of the film is a prickly cactus that Miss Dickinson keeps on her desk at the dentist's office. Similar to Miss Dickinson, the cactus is cold and inhospitable. However, by the end, both the cactus and Miss Dickinson have bloomed.
On release, the film received considerable acclaim from both the critics and the general public, becoming one of the highest grossing films of 1969 and 1970. Howard Thompson of The New York Times stated that "both the expansive scenario of I. A. L. Diamond and the flexible direction of Gene Saks open up and even ventilate the story."[1]. Roger Ebert declared that "the chemistry works" and "the movie is better than the play."[2]
In her first major film role, Goldie Hawn, who had earlier been described as the "dizzy cream puff who is constantly blowing her lines [on Laugh-In],"[3] was especially commended for being "a natural reactress; her timing is so canny that even her tears run amusingly."[4] In fact, her performance in Cactus Flower led to her only Academy Award win to date.
Awards
Goldie Hawn won two awards for her supporting role:
Harvey: "All girls want to be married. I know. I've been subdivided three times."
Julian: "Not Toni Simmons. She thinks I'm already married."
Harvey: "Julian, you pulled that old stunt on her, huh?"
Julian: "The minute I met her I knew this girl could make me do anything. So just to protect myself in the clinches, I told her that I had a wife and three children."
Harvey: "Three children is a nice touch."
Julian: "And I told it to her right away so that everything between us would be open and above board."
Harvey: "Good. Very good. That's such a big, dirty, rotten, filthy lie it has class."
Harvey: "Excuse me Sergeant, uh, Miss Dickinson. Dr. Winston asked me to make an appointment for a lady friend of mine."
Miss Dickinson: "How about a week from Tuesday, at 7 a.m.?"
Harvey: "You're kidding! I'm asleep at 7 a.m."
Miss Dickinson: "Oh, I thought the appointment is for a lady."
Harvey: "That's right. We're both asleep at 7 a.m., heh heh heh."
'Miss Dickinson gives him an icy stare.
Harvey: "I'm sorry. I hope I haven't shocked you."
Miss Dickinson: "No, but it must be a terrible shock for her."
Miss Dickinson: "By the way, Mr. Greenfield, who is paying for this treatment?"
Harvey: "Put it on my tab."
Miss Dickinson: "There is no more room on your tab."
Harvey: "Julian! I feel insulted! It isn't as though I'm planning to stick you!"
Julian: "It isn't as if you're planning to pay me either."
Miss Dickinson (reading a wine bottle label): "I didn't know they made champagne in Idaho!"
Miss Dickinson: "Well... I am no sex goddess, but I haven't spent my life in a tree."
