Main Cast: Barbra Streisand, David Selby, Jane Hoffman, John C. Becher, Jacobo Morales
Release Year: 1972
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Up The Sandbox is a complex and difficult film, and it is ambiguous on many points, particularly on whether the protagonist Margaret Reynolds (Barbara Streisand) is a women's liberationist, a closet lesbian, or a masochist. Based on the novel by Anne Richardson Rolphe, it follows Margaret's attempts to tell her husband that she is pregnant with yet another child. The everyday events of her life are punctuated by numerous and complex fantasy sequences which reveal her fears and her desires. It is clear that she is afraid that she and her husband Paul (David Selby) are growing apart -- and that he may be having an affair. Despite the increasingly elaborate and frantic nature of her fantasies, her disclosure, when she finally makes it, has happy results. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
The 1970s, though not as revolutionary cinematically as the 1960s, still saw many changes in the manner of films that Hollywood produced. Musicals were on their way out, which fact couldn't have come at a worse time for Barbra Streisand. However, she had shown with The Owl and the Pussycat that she could be very bankable in a contemporary comedy. Up the Sandbox was the next step. Produced by Streisand's production company, Sandbox was a very personal creation for the star. It is arguably the only time that Streisand played a normal, ordinary, down-to-earth woman (albeit one with a rich fantasy life to which the audience is privy.) When Streisand's character is in the real world, there's precious little of the mannerisms, the concern with how well the actress photographs, or the worries about how the character will come across, and it reveals just how fine an actress Streisand can be when she puts her mind to it. Unfortunately, the film containing this understated performance is a mess, a confused muddle that can't seem to make up its mind whether to be a comedy or a drama and lacking the expertise to be an effective hyphenate. The fantasy sequences are frequently jarring and do not add enough pay-off for their inclusion. There's an insightful film hidden inside all of this, but the filmmakers have been unable to uncover it. Streisand learned her lesson from Sandbox's failure; though some of her subsequent films have indeed meant something personal to her, they have all featured the actress playing variations on the same character. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Iris Brooks - Vicki; Conrad Bain - Dr. Gordon; Paul Benedict - Dr. Beineke; Sully Boyar - Fat Man; Janet Brandt - Aunt Ida; Ji-Tu Cumbuka - Black Captain; Lee Chamberlin - Jan; Stockard Channing - Judy Stanley; Marilyn Coleman - Rose White; Jennifer Darling - Joanne; John Dennis - Officer; Paul Dooley - Statue of Liberty Guard; David Downing - John; Moosie Drier - Billy; Norman Fields - Reporter; Cynthia Harris - Stella; Ariane Heller - Elizabeth Reynolds; Pitt Herbert - Uncle Dave; Jane House - Mrs. Keglin; George Irving - Dr. Keglin; Rita Karin - Mrs. Grossbard; Vassili Lambrinos - Jack Lawford; Renee Lippin - Connie; Anne Ramsey - Battleaxe; Barbara Rhoades - Dr. Boden; Conrad Roberts - Clay; Isabel Sanford - Maria; Pearl Shear - Aunt Till; Lois Smith - Elinore; Marc Vahanian - David; Carol White - Miss Spittlemeister; Margo Winkler - Hospital Clerk; Carl Gottlieb - Vinnie; Efrain Lopez Neris - Castro's Aide; Mary Louise Wilson - Betty; Joe Bova - John; Marina Durell - Dr. Lopez; Gary Smith - Peter
Credit
Albert Wolsky - Costume Designer, Howard W. Koch - First Assistant Director, Irvin Kershner - Director, Robert Lawrence - Editor, Billy Goldenberg - Composer (Music Score), Lee C. Harman - Makeup, Harry Horner - Production Designer, Gordon Willis - Cinematographer, Robert Chartoff - Producer, Martin Erlichman - Producer, Irwin Winkler - Producer, David M. Haber - Set Designer, Rodger Maus - Set Designer, Robert de Vestel - Set Designer, Richard Albain - Special Effects, Lawrence O. Jost - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Zindel - Screenwriter, Anne Richardson-Roiphe - Book Author
Paul Zindel's screenplay, based on the novel by Anne Roiphe, focuses on Margaret Reynolds, a young New York City wife and mother who, neglected by her husband and bored with her daily existence, slips into increasingly bizarre fantasies that involve, among other things, armed robbery, tribal fertility music, and a terrorist plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty.
Critics in general were impressed by Streisand's performance but thought the film itself was a confusing mess. Audiences avoided it in droves, and it proved to be one of her lowest-grossing films ever.
