Themes: Women's Friendship, Playing the Field, Unrequited Love
Main Cast: Peter Sellers, Paula Prentiss, Angela Lansbury, Tippy Walker, Merrie Spaeth, Phyllis Thaxter, Tom Bosley
Release Year: 1964
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
Plot
Decked out with another of his American accents, Peter Sellers plays self-centered concert pianist Henry Orient. While Henry's active libido sends him off on pursuit of married woman Paula Prentiss, a pair of preteen boarding-school chums, played by Tippy Walker and Merrie Spaeth, worship Orient from afar. The girls' overworked imaginations, manifested in pursuing Orient about and recording their fantasies in their diaries, leads Walker's mom, Angela Lansbury, to conclude that Henry has "had his way" with her underaged daughter. The World of Henry Orient was later musicalized for Broadway as Henry, Sweet Henry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
George Roy's Hill's sprightly comedy harks back to a more innocent age in which the libido of teenage girls could be diverted into an infatuation with an eccentric pianist. Peter Sellers stars as Henry Orient, the unwilling object of the affections of two close friends (Tippy Walker and Merrie Spaeth); Orient, on the other hand, is doing his utmost to lure Tippy's more age-appropriate mother Angela Lansbury and any other willing woman into his bed. The film switches amusingly between Sellers' difficulty in keeping the girls at bay while he's conducting his farcical seductions, to their charming romantic fantasies about their personal god. As the plot develops, Hill also subtly insinuates a serious theme about parental responsibility without in any way hampering the film's comic spirit. Any opportunity to appreciate the genius of Sellers is worth the trouble, but the two young girls are equally delightful in their roles, and Lansbury is memorable as the selfish mother. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Bibi Osterwald - Boothy; Peter Duchin - Joe Byrd; John Fiedler - Sidney; Al Lewis - Store Owner; Fred Stewart - Doctor; Jane Buchanan - Kafritz; Philippa Bevans - Emma; William Le Massena; Howard Mann; Claudia Morgan; Peter Turgeon
Credit
Jan Scott - Art Director, Ann Roth - Costume Designer, Michael Hertzberg - First Assistant Director, George Roy Hill - Director, Stuart Gilmore - Editor, Elmer Bernstein - Composer (Music Score), Ken Lauber - Composer (Music Score), Dick Smith - Makeup Special Effects, James Sullivan - Production Designer, Boris Kaufman - Cinematographer, Arthur Ornitz - Cinematographer, Emmett Emerson - Production Manager, Jerome Hellman - Producer, Nunnally Johnson - Screenwriter, Nora Johnson - Book Author
Concert pianist Henry Orient (Peter Sellers) is trying to have an affair with a married woman, Stella Dunnworthy (Paula Prentiss), while two preteen private-school girls, Valerie Boyd (Tippy Walker) and Marian Gilbert (Merrie Spaeth), stalk him and write their fantasies about him in a diary. Much of the humor of the film derives from Orient's paranoia that the two girls, who seem to pop up everywhere he goes, are spies sent by the husband of his would-be mistress. When Val's mother, Isabel Boyd (Angela Lansbury), finds their diary, she suspects that Henry has acted inappropriately with her daughter. She contacts Orient and they have an affair. Tom Bosley has a supporting role as Mr. Boyd.
The pianist's unusual surname, "Orient", came about because Nora Johnson based the character on Oscar Levant, a real-life concert pianist, raconteur and film actor. Since the word "levant" means orient in French (literally the direction from which the Sun rises), the name is a play on words. In the film, the only comment on the pianist's unusual name occurs when his two teenage fans put on Chinese conical hats and address their idol as "Oriental Henry".
The film was well-received by critics and has an 88% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote that it was "one of the most joyous and comforting movies about teenagers that we've had in a long time".[3]
Although the show was not a success, one of its performers, Alice Playten received a 1968 Theatre World Award, and was nominated for a Tony Award for "Best Featured Actress in a Musical." In addition, Michael Bennett was nominated for a Tony for "Best Choreography."[6]
