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"An Unmarried Woman" (1978) (1 Viewer)

The Drifter

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I've seen An Unmarried Woman a couple of times over the years on the old DVD. Excellent film, and a real time capsule of late '70's NYC. The city may as well have been another character in the film.

This film seems to be a fairly accurate depiction of the changing sexual mores & attitudes in the '70's (that started in the late '60's)....I.e., more couples were divorcing by that time & as such divorced people (especially women) didn't have the stigma that they did in previous decades.

The late Jill Clayburgh was truly gorgeous in the '70's - she also looked fantastic in the film "Silver Streak" (w/Gene Wilder & Richard Pryor, 1976).

For some reason, the final scene with JC walking down the crowded street past those two guys carrying that painting really sticks in my mind.
 
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greenscreened

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Agree about her in Silver Streak. I just watched it a couple of weeks ago.

I also liked her in 'Starting Over' (1979), and 'The Rockford Files' ('The Big Ripoff').

I've only seen 'An Unmarried Woman' once, decades ago, when it made it's first round on cable.

I know there was a scene where she 'hurled' in the street, but I don't remember if it was real or not, though it wouldn't surprise me if it was, as I do know that in SO, there was a scene where actual nose goo came out of her nostril.

A beautiful spirit and great actress that was taken too soon, in regards to her own life, and for her acting career as well.


In researching dates for this post just now, I found out she dated Al Pacino for five years.
 

The Drifter

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Yeah, I definitely felt AUW was an excellent, realistic film. Glad to see it has fans.

One of my favorite scenes was somewhat after JC & her husband (the incomporable Michael Murphy, a veteran of Woody Allen films) split up: There was a sequence where the affair with his younger gf was falling apart, and so he was trying to get back together with JC. But, JC stood her ground & refused to take him back - even though the split/divorce had definitely unsettled her to a great extent. I admired this strength/resolve of her character - and, again, this was obviously reflecting the changing social attitudes that the country was seeing in the '70's.

I know there was a scene where she 'hurled' in the street, but I don't remember if it was real or not, though it wouldn't surprise me if it was, as I do know that in SO, there was a scene where actual nose goo came out of her nostril.

Wow - I don't remember this scene at all, though I don't think I'll want to go back & re-watch the movie just for this - LOL. I do know that sometimes things like this get kept in a film (even though they should probably be edited out).

I'm reminded of the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) when Belloq (Paul Freeman) is talking to Indiana Jones, who is on a cliff & threatening to destroy the Ark. A fly lands on Freeman's face, and he ignores it - and it may even go into his mouth - ugh. I'm surprised he didn't just brush it away....
 
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greenscreened

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Yeah, I definitely felt AUW was an excellent, realistic film. Glad to see it has fans.

One of my favorite scenes was somewhat after JC & her husband (the incomporable Michael Murphy, a veteran of Woody Allen films) split up: There was a sequence where the affair with his younger gf was falling apart, and so he was trying to get back together with JC & apparently somewhat regretting the affair (or at least regretting that it hadn't worked - LOL). But, JC stood her ground & refused to take him back - even though the split/divorce had definitely unsettled her to a great extent. I admired this strength of character - and, again, this was obviously reflecting the changing social attitudes that the country was seeing in the '70's.



Wow - I don't remember this scene at all, though I don't think I'll want to go back & re-watch the movie just for this - LOL. I do know that sometimes things like this get kept in a film (even though they should probably be edited out).

I don't blame you, though I must admit, it was repeated and slo-mowed several times when we first caught it to see if what we thought we saw, was actually real!

As far as editing it out, that was at a time Hollywood was in full swing in the show more gritty reality, as they did in the AUW hurl scene, if in fact it was in that movie at all, and if it was real.

It was the poignant "I-am-no-one-nighter" scene where she accidentally tells Burt that she thinks she could love him, sort of chuckles/reflects over it, which instigated it on the exhale.

She then apologizes for the premature reflective comment by saying, "I'm sorry, that just came out"!
 

greenscreened

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The Deer Hunter is not my favorite type of movie as it's too violent, and it's a war movie.
I saw it on cable after hearing the guys at work going on and on about it.

So for that reason alone, I automatically put AUM ahead of TDH, even though Meryl Streep looked great in it.

I see my local library has a copy of AUW, I'll have to get around to viewing it soon.
 

Filmgazer

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"An Unmarried Woman" is one of writer - director Paul Mazursky's best films. Jill Clayburgh is unforgettable in the title role and should have won the Best Actress Oscar that year over Jane Fonda for "Coming Home".

I asked Nick Redmon a few years ago if Twilight Time might be releasing the movie at some point. He replied that he was negotiating with 20th Century-Fox Home Video and hoped to add that title as a TT release. Let's hope that Brian Jamieson and Julie Kirgo can negotiate such a deal. I would imagine that the Blu-ray would include the interesting commentary track from the DVD that features Mazursky and Clayburg talking about the film.
 

bujaki

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"An Unmarried Woman" is one of writer - director Paul Mazursky's best films. Jill Clayburgh is unforgettable in the title role and should have won the Best Actress Oscar that year over Jane Fonda for "Coming Home".

I asked Nick Redmon a few years ago if Twilight Time might be releasing the movie at some point. He replied that he was negotiating with 20th Century-Fox Home Video and hoped to add that title as a TT release. Let's hope that Brian Jamieson and Julie Kirgo can negotiate such a deal. I would imagine that the Blu-ray would include the interesting commentary track from the DVD that features Mazursky and Clayburg talking about the film.
Definitely Best Actress for Jill. She was awesome!
 

The Drifter

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Glad to hear that AUW film has so many fans. It's amazing that it's 41 years old this year.

I will also have to check out Clayburgh in Starting Over (1979) - never seen this, but it sounds interesting.
 
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Aunt Peg

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Count me as another fan of An Unmarried Woman. Don't know if Twilight Time still have some Fox titles to release but I sure hope this is one of them.
 

greenscreened

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Since it’s Valentine’s Day, and as further enticement to view SO, for a role that Jill was perfect for, here’s a clip that Candice showcased for Johnny’s Tonight Show before or during initial release.

I fell asleep before she came on, but was rudely awoken by Bergen’s character, who divorced Reynolds not too long before her unexpected song writing career took off.

She gets him in a hotel room to try and win him back.

Does she?

Do they?


The above is not a spoiler, as I’m sure she set up the clip as well.






I love the simple session-playered backing track and wouldn’t mind having it, sans the b/u voices.
 

The Drifter

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"An Unmarried Woman" is one of writer - director Paul Mazursky's best films. Jill Clayburgh is unforgettable in the title role and should have won the Best Actress Oscar that year over Jane Fonda for "Coming Home".

I actually feel AUM is Mazursky's best film, and I've seen most of the ones he's directed. Excellent movie that really captures a time & place perfectly. I also agree that JC should have absolutely won the Best Actress Oscar that year - that being said, I feel the AA's are, in many cases, nothing more than popularity contests.
 
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The Drifter

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I just re-watched AUW & it was even better the third time around. Several points:

-There was a key sequence when JC was unfortunately stuck in a taxi with a middle-aged guy her friends set her up with. She had 0 interest in him, and at one point he practically attacked her - she had to fight him off, and then kicked him out of the taxi. It's notable that this guy had an ugly comb-over, and looked like he had never been to a dentist in his life :(; his teeth were probably as bad - or worse - than the "We don't need no stinkin' badges!" actor in The Treasure of Sierra Madre - LOL. This type of "reality" is not something you typically see in contemporary films, and is one of the many reasons the '70's is my favorite decade for cinema - i.e., in many cases re: films from this era, you actually feel like you're watching a documentary more than a film.

-I misspoke in my first post of this thread re: the ending scene; this actually featured JC carrying a painting that she had been given by her bf - and having difficulty doing this. I just thought it was a really cool scene that encapsulated NYC to a great extent. I.e., the crowds not batting an eye at the sight of a woman walking down the street carrying a huge painting - LOL.

I know there was a scene where she 'hurled' in the street, but I don't remember if it was real or not, though it wouldn't surprise me if it was, as I do know that in SO, there was a scene where actual nose goo came out of her nostril.

This time around, I did pay special attention to this scene. Specifically, this happened right after the JC character was told by her husband (MM) that he had been having an affair with a younger woman for a year - this was outside on the street, after they had eaten lunch. She was obviously shocked, and not long after (when she was alone) she puked in the street - and it did look real. What's interesting is that this really fit the storyline - i.e., she was so horrified by the revelation that she vomited in disgust/horror.

Separately, I did watch Starting Over for the first time - another great film, with a similar plot to AUW - except that it dealt with a man getting divorced & having a tough time as a result. And, I think I do remember the snorting scene with JC in that film, though it wasn't as gross as the scene in AUW - LOL.

Again, it's interesting that they kept these scenes in the film - usually things like this are edited out ahead of time.
 
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