Main Cast: Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, Pat Boone, Joanna Barnes, Ellen Burstyn, Ellen McRae
Release Year: 1964
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
Plot
George Axelrod's Goodbye Charlie flopped on Broadway with Lauren Bacall in the lead, but fared a little better as a film vehicle for Debbie Reynolds. Charlie (Harry Madden) is an inveterate philanderer who is shot dead by jealous husband Walter Matthau. Through a celestial fluke, Charlie's soul enters the well-rounded body of Debbie Reynolds. In this form, Charlie/Debbie seeks to settle old scores with her murderer as well as several other enemies. As if these aren't complications enough, Charlie's best friend Tony Curtis falls in love with Debbie, knowing full well that Debbie isn't really Debbie. If you liked Goodbye Charlie once, you'll love it twice: Blake Edwards retooled the whole megillah for Ellen Barkin, added a trendy feminist underlining, and came up with Switch (1991). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Goodbye Charlie is a lot like its Andre Previn/Dory Langdon theme song -- it gives a good impression of swinging, even though, at heart, it's pretty square. Nothing in Charlie really clicks the way it's supposed to, but it's harmless and diverting enough that most people won't mind spending a couple of hours in its presence. The lion's share of the blame for its flaws rests with the George Axelrod play upon which it is based and the Harry Kurnitz screen adaptation. There's simply not a lot to this tale, either in terms of plot, theme, or character development. The authors started with a high concept, but never really gave it enough juice to help it develop a good head of steam. Worse, most of the jokes -- very important in this kind of sex comedy -- provoke smiles rather than belly laughs. Director Vincente Minnelli doesn't do enough to take up the slack; the film is professionally directed, but a little hesitant, as if Minnelli feels uncomfortable with the mildly racy aspect of the material. Still, it does have his flair for creating pleasing visuals, and the production design is smart and sharp. Best of all is the cast, who sail through the goings-on like the pros they are. If Debbie Reynolds is not ideal casting, you'd never know it from the verve with which she attacks the part, swaggering so much that she'd practically dare you to prove there was no hair on her chest. (She also has never looked more stunning in her life.) Tony Curtis and Pat Boone do everything they're supposed to do, and there's nifty support from Martin Gabel, Joanna Barnes, and a young Ellen Burstyn. It's no great movie, but Goodbye Charlie's cast makes it reasonably smooth sailing. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Laura Devon - Rusty; Walter Matthau - Sir Leopold Sartori; Martin Gabel - Norton Craft; Roger C. Carmel - Inspector; Michael Romanoff - Patron; Anthony Eustrel - Butler; Donna Michelle - Guest on Yacht; James Brolin; Jerry Dunphy - TV Newscaster; Myrna Hansen - Starlet; Harry Madden - Charlie Sorel (Male); Sydney Guilaroff - Patrons at Beauty Salon; Jack Richardson - Party Guest
Credit
Richard Day - Art Director, Jack Martin Smith - Art Director, Helen Rose - Costume Designer, Vincente Minnelli - Director, John W. Holmes - Editor, Andre Previn - Composer (Music Score), Andre Previn - Songwriter, Dory Langdon - Songwriter, Milton Krasner - Cinematographer, David Weisbart - Producer, Keogh Gleason - Set Designer, Walter Scott - Set Designer, L.B. Abbott - Special Effects, Emil Kosa, Jr. - Special Effects, Elmer Raguse - Sound/Sound Designer, Harry Kurnitz - Screenwriter, Jerry Wallace - Musical Performer, George Axelrod - Play Author
Charlie Sorrel is shot and killed by Sir Leopold Sartori (Walter Matthau) when he is caught fooling around with Sartori's wife. Later, passerby Bruce Minton III (Pat Boone) comes to the aid of a dazed woman (Debbie Reynolds) wandering on a beach. She doesn't remember much other than directions to Charlie's residence.
The next morning, it all comes back to her: she is the reincarnation of Charlie. After getting over the shock, she convinces her best (and only) friend, George Tracy (Tony Curtis), of her identity. All manner of complications arise as she first accepts the situation and then decides to take advantage of it, with Tracy's reluctant help.
Charlie has changed his sex, but he cannot change his ways, and eventually he gets murdered again ... only to be reincarnated one more time: as a dog.
Differences from the play
The film version of Goodbye Charlie has a brief prologue showing the male incarnation of Charlie Sorrell committing the flirtation which causes his murder and his reincarnation as a woman. George Axelrod's stage play Goodbye Charlie, which opened on Broadway in December 1959 and ran briefly into 1960, does not include this prologue and Charlie is played throughout by Lauren Bacall. Debbie Reynolds was a surprising choice for the film version, since she and Bacall have vastly different screen personas.
Similarities to other plays
In 1952, Matthau (Charlie's murderer) had briefly starred on Broadway with Leueen MacGrath in another comedy about reincarnation, Fancy Meeting You Again. Like Goodbye Charlie, this play also ends with a character dying (Matthau this time) and coming back as a dog.
