Such Good Friends

• Director: Otto Preminger
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Comedy
• Movie Type: Black Comedy
• Themes: Death of a Partner, Infidelity
• Release Year: 1971
• Country: US
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Based upon the novel by Lois Gould and adapted (under the pseudonym Esther Dale) by Elaine May, Such Good Friends focuses on Julie Messinger (played by Dyan Cannon), a woman with intense, often wild emotions that are held in check beneath a rather conventional façade. After her chauvinistic and self-centered husband Richard checks into the hospital for a simple mole removal that goes seriously wrong, Julie discovers that he has been titanically unfaithful to her. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back, and Julie decides it is time for her to break out of her shell, no matter what the consequences. She begins to exhibit a sexual interest in other men (sometimes indiscriminately, as when she seduces her family doctor, played by James Coco), and speaks her mind to others, including her egocentric mother (Nina Foch) and her hypocritical best friend (ennifer O'Neill). At the end, Julie wanders into Central Park and, presumably, a new life. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Cast

James Beard - Dr. Mahler; James Coco - Dr. Timmy Spector; Nina Foch - Mrs. Wallman; Rita Gam - Doria Perkins; Nancy Guild - Molly Hastings; T.J. Hargrave - Nicky; Elaine Joyce - Marion Spector; Louise Lasser - Marcy Berns; Sam Levene - Uncle Eddie; Laurence Luckinbill - Richard Messinger; Jennifer O'Neill - Miranda; Nancy R. Pollock - Aunt Harriet; William Redfield - Barney Halstead; Doris Roberts - Mrs. Gold; Richard B. Shull - Clarence Fitch; Clarice Taylor - Mrs. McKay; Lawrence Tierney - Guard; Virginia Vestoff - Emily Lapham; Dyan Cannon - Julie Messinger; Ken Howard - Cal Whiting; Burgess Meredith - Bernard Kalman; Joseph Papp - Shakespeare Theatre in the Park; Lee Sabinson - Dr. Bleiweiss

Credit

Eric Lee Preminger - Associate Producer, Ron Talsky - Costume Designer, Bryce Preminger - Costume Designer, Charles Okun - First Assistant Director, Otto Preminger - Director, Harry Howard - Editor, Thomas Z. Shepard - Composer (Music Score), Robert Brittan - Songwriter, Saul Meth - Makeup, Jack Priestley - Camera Operator, Rouben Ter-Arutunian - Production Designer, Gayne Rescher - Cinematographer, Otto Preminger - Producer, Richard Pietschmann - Sound/Sound Designer, David Shaber - Screenwriter, Esther Dale - Screenwriter, Lois Gould - Book Author