Themes: Class Differences, Social Climbing, Women's Friendship
Main Cast: Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon, Michael Kidd, Geoffrey Lewis, Nicholas Pryor
Release Year: 1975
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The American beauty-contest ritual is skewered by screenwriter Jerry Belson and director Michael Ritchie in Smile. The film takes place during an annual pageant in Santa Rosa, CA. The event is supervised by local mover and shaker Brenda DiCarlo (Barbara Feldon), to whom the contest is the most important thing on earth. Nothing -- not even the violent backlash of her neglected husband, Andy (Nicholas Pryor) -- is allowed to interfere with her pet project. Choreographer Tommy French (Michael Kidd), outwardly nasty and cynical, takes money out of his own pocket to insure the safety of the contestants as they parade down a rickety stage runway; chief judge "Big Bob" Freelander (Bruce Dern) discovers that his son is a budding voyeur, information which leads to a silly "politically correct" consequence; and the various contestants scheme to upstage one another through a variety of means (one girl puts Vaseline on her teeth to assure a gleaming smile). Among the contestants are such stars-to-be as Colleen Camp, Denise Nickerson, Annette O'Toole, and Melanie Griffith. Though not a hit itself, Smile has developed a fervent cult following, which led to a Broadway musical version of the property in 1986, with songs by Marvin Hamlisch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Only in the '70s could a film like Smile be produced, and only in the '70s could a film as groundbreaking and influential get lost in the shuffle of other groundbreaking, influential "director's" pictures. Released the same year as Robert Altman's masterpiece Nashville, Michael Ritchie's satire presents a similar, loose-ensemble take on one of the hallmarks of Americana, in this instance, the beauty pageant. Helmed from a script by sitcom writer Jerry Belson, Smile is by far the more unassuming of the two movies, but it has just as much on its mind. Class, race, sex, and capitalist hucksterism all come into play against the backdrop of the Southern Californian "Young American Miss" semi-finals, hilariously rendered by Ritchie and Belson in a series of understated fly-on-the-wall vignettes, parceled out over the course of the pageant's four-day duration. Smile is full of so many droll, deadpan laughs, it's hard to see them coming. Ritchie never transmits a punch line through elaborate setups or nudge-nudge editing, and his sense of humor, however biting, never succumbs to exaggeration or condescension. As it approaches its climactic ceremony, the film effortlessly takes on darker and darker shadings -- courtesy of the two misfits stranded in this gleaming, prefab landscape, the cuckolded husband Andy (Nicholas Pryor) and the reluctant finalist Robin (Joan Prather) -- but despite it all, the tunnel-vision-stricken characters come up just short of epiphany, as they might in real life. Featured at the 1975 New York Film Festival, Smile never caught on at the box office, but its influence could be felt in the caustic, uncertain cinematic atmosphere of the late '90s, in such films as American Beauty, Election, or the far-inferior Drop Dead Gorgeous. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Colleen Camp - Connie Thompson/"Miss Imperial County"; Shawn Christianson - "Miss Fountain Valley"; Eric Shea - Little Bob Freelander; George Skaff - Dr. Malvert; Adam Reed - Freddy; Brad Thompson - Chuck; Paul Benedict - Orren Brooks; Melanie Griffith - Karen Love/"Miss Simi Valley"; Dick McGarvin - Ted Farley; Denise Nickerson - Shirley Tolstoy/"Miss San Diego"; Maria O'Brien - Maria Gonzales/"Miss Salinas"; Annette O'Toole - Doria Houston/"Miss Anaheim"; Joan Prather - Robin Gibson/"Miss Antelope Valley"; Kate Sarchet - Judy Wagner/"Miss Modesto"; William Traylor - Ray Brandy; Titos Vandis - Emil Eidleman; Caroline Williams - Helga; Dennis Dugan - Logan
Credit
Jim Bates - Choreography, Pat Norris - Costume Designer, Tim Zinnemann - First Assistant Director, Michael Ritchie - Director, Richard A. Harris - Editor, Michael Ritchie - Composer (Music Score), Daniel Osborn - Composer (Music Score), Leroy Holmes - Composer (Music Score), Osborne - Songwriter, Conrad L. Hall - Cinematographer, David V. Picker - Producer, Michael Ritchie - Producer, Marion Dougherty - Producer, Tim Zinnemann - Producer, Gene S. Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Portman - Sound/Sound Designer, Jerry Belson - Screenwriter, Nino Candido - Properties Master, The Beach Boys - Featured Music, Charles Chaplin - Featured Music, Neil Sedaka - Featured Music, Shirley and Lee - Featured Music
The plot revolves around the contestants and people involved with California's Young American Miss Pageant held in Santa Rosa, California. Barbara Feldon starred as Brenda DiCarlo (the pageant's Executive Director), with Nicholas Pryor as Andy DiCarlo (Brenda's husband), Bruce Dern as Big Bob Freelander (the head judge), Geoffrey Lewis as Wilson Shears (pageant producer), and as the contestants, Joan Prather as Robin Gibson, Annette O'Toole as Doria Hudson, and Melanie Griffith as Karen Love. Choreographer Michael Kidd starred as Tommy French, the pageant's stage director. The movie was filmed on location in and around Santa Rosa, with the pageant held at Veteran's Memorial Auditorium.
This movie also features a small role played by Michael Ritchie's sister, Elsie Ritchie.
Trivia
The pageant in the film is organized by members of the local Jaycee chapter. Pageants like this were organized all across the United States in the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.
