Themes: Starting Over, Opposites Attract, Single Parents
Main Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings, Paul Benedict, Barbara Rhoades
Release Year: 1977
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Marsha Mason is known as "The Goodbye Girl" because of all the live-in boyfriends who have said ta-ta to her in the past few years. A former Broadway chorus dancer, the divorced Mason lives in the Manhattan apartment of her latest lost love with her daughter Quinn Cummings. Enter arrogant actor Richard Dreyfuss, who has subleased the apartment from Mason's former boyfriend and moves in bag and baggage in the middle of the night. Dreyfuss and Mason spend the next few weeks getting in each other's way and fighting like cats and dogs. The wind is taken out of Dreyfuss' sails when he opens in a production of Richard III, which has been sabotaged by the director (Paul Benjamin), who insists that Dreyfuss portrays Richard as a hip-swinging homosexual. The play closes after one performance, and the once-overconfident Dreyfuss goes on a self-pitying drunken binge. Touched by his vulnerability, Mason begins falling in love with Dreyfuss despite her lousy track record with men. Richard Dreyfuss became the youngest ever "Best Actor" Oscar winner as a result of his performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
With a witty screenplay by Neil Simon and an excellent cast, The Goodbye Girl (1977) had the pieces in place for an utterly appealing romantic comedy. Lightly directed by Herbert Ross, Simon's apartment-sharing scenario uniting a wary single mother with a struggling actor finds the humor in a quintessentially contemporary milieu of serial relationships, commitment-phobia, and New York real estate. Then-wife of Simon, Marsha Mason revealed her talent for comedy as well as dramatic emotion in her performance as the gun-shy Paula, while newcomer Quinn Cummings was charmingly self-assured as her young daughter, Lucy. Rising star Richard Dreyfuss' Elliott was both broadly hilarious playing an ill-conceived Richard III and charmingly sensitive as a romantic lead. Greeted as a straightforward piece of joyful escapism, The Goodbye Girl became an unexpected hit, and earned several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay. Ross was nominated for directing The Turning Point (1977) instead. The 29-year-old Dreyfuss took home the Best Actor statuette, becoming the youngest winner of the award. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Theresa Merritt - Mrs. Crosby; Michael Shawn - Ronnie; Patricia Pearcy - Rhonda; Raymond J. Barry - Richard III Cast; Victoria Boothby - Mrs. Bodine; Powers Boothe - Richard III Cast; Joseph Carberry - Strip Club Customer; Gene Castle - Assistant Choreographer; Loyita Chapel - Strip Club Dancer; Robert Costanzo - Liquor Store Salesman; Anita Dangler - Mrs. Morganweiss; Tom Everett - Richard III Cast; Clarence Felder - Critic; Jeanne Lange - Richard III Cast; Dana Laurita - Cynthia; Robert Lesser - Richard III Cast; Daniel Levans - Dance Instructor; David Matthau - Furniture Mover; Fred McCarren - Richard III Cast; Nicholas Mele - Richard III Cast; Maureen Moore - Richard III Cast; Milt Oberman - Furniture Mover; Joe Regalbuto - Richard III Cast; Marilyn Sokol - Linda; Esther Sutherland - Strip Club Manager; Nicol Williamson - Oliver Frye; Wendy Cutler - Improvisation Group; Andy Goldberg - Improvisation Group; Janice Fuller - Richard III Cast; Hubert Kelly - Mugger; Eddie Villery - Painter; Peter Vogt - Richard III Cast; Dave Cass - Drunk; Paul Willson - Improvisation Group
Credit
Seth Banks - Costume Designer, Ann Roth - Costume Designer, Shirley Strahm - Costume Designer, Jack Roe - First Assistant Director, Herbert Ross - Director, Margaret Booth - Editor, John F. Burnett - Editor, Dave Grusin - Composer (Music Score), David Gates - Songwriter, Albert Brenner - Production Designer, David M. Walsh - Cinematographer, Raymond Stark - Producer, Jerry Wunderlich - Set Designer, Albert Griswold - Special Effects, David Gates - Sound/Sound Designer, Jerry Jost - Sound/Sound Designer, James J. Sabat - Sound/Sound Designer, Wiliam L. McCaughey - Sound/Sound Designer, Neil Simon - Screenwriter
Paula McFadden (Marsha Mason) learns she has been dumped by her boyfriend Tony and he has sublet their apartment. Shortly thereafter, the neurotic, but sweet Elliot Garfield (Richard Dreyfuss) shows up unexpectedly in the middle of the night expecting to live there. Since she cannot return Elliot's rent money, Paula has no choice but to let him move in with her and her 10-year-old daughter Lucy (Quinn Cummings). However, she makes it very clear from the start that she considers him extremely annoying and unlikeable.
Paula struggles to get back into shape to try to resume her career as a dancer. Meanwhile, Elliot has his own problems. He has landed the title role in a production of Richard III, but the director, Mark (Paul Benedict), wants him to play the character as an exaggerated stereotype of a homosexual, in Mark's words, "the queen who wanted to be king." The play quickly closes.
Despite their frequent clashes, Paula and Elliot fall in love. Then, Elliot is offered a fantastic opportunity that he cannot turn down. The only catch is that the job is in another city. Paula is scared that Elliot is leaving her, never to return, like all the other men in her life.
The film began as a screenplay called Bogart Slept Here (essentially the story of what happened to Dustin Hoffman after he became a star), that was to star Robert DeNiro and Mason.[1] After several table readings, it was decided DeNiro wasn't right for the role. Dreyfuss was brought in to try out with Mason. At the end of the reading, Neil Simon decided, "It doesn't work, but they do." He rewrote the screenplay in six weeks. The Paula McFadden character is based on Marsha Mason,[citation needed] who was married to Neil Simon from 1973 to 1981.
The film's exteriors were shot in New York City and the interiors were shot in Los Angeles.
The film was co-produced by Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the only film in the WB library whose copyright is owned by both WB andTurner Entertainment (the initial buyer of MGM's pre-1986 library).
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
Academy Award for Best Actor - Dreyfuss. Thirty-year-old Dreyfuss was the youngest ever to win the Best Actor Oscar at the time. He has since been surpassed by Adrien Brody, who was 29 when he won for The Pianist.
Roger Ebert gave the film a mixed, though mostly-favorable review. He was unimpressed with Mason's performance and the character as written, calling it "hardly ever sympathetic."[2] However, he praised Dreyfuss and cited his Richard III scenes as "the funniest in a movie since Mel Brooks staged Springtime for Hitler."[2] Ebert criticized the beginning as "awkward at times and never quite involving", but "enjoyed its conclusion so much that we almost forgot our earlier reservations."[2]
