John and Mary is a 1969 American romantic drama film directed by Peter Yates (directly following the success of his film Bullitt), and starring Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow in the title roles (directly following their successes in Midnight Cowboy and Rosemary's Baby, respectively). It was the film debut of Tyne Daly.[1] The screenplay was adapted by John Mortimer from the 1966 Mervyn Jones novel.
| John and Mary | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Peter Yates |
| Screenplay by | John Mortimer |
| Based on | John and Mary 1966 play by Mervyn Jones |
| Produced by | Ben Kadish |
| Starring | Dustin Hoffman Mia Farrow |
| Cinematography | Gayne Rescher |
| Edited by | Frank P. Keller |
| Music by | Quincy Jones |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $4.1 million (US/ Canada rentals)[2][3][a] |
Plot
editJohn and Mary begins the morning after John and Mary meet in a bar, during a conversation about Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend, and go home with each other. The story unfolds during the day as they belatedly get to know each other over breakfast, lunch and dinner. Flashbacks of their previous bad relationships are interspersed throughout when something in their conversation brings the thought up.
Cast
edit- Mia Farrow as Mary
- Dustin Hoffman as John
- Michael Tolan as James
- Olympia Dukakis as John's Mother
- Stanley Beck as Ernest
- Tyne Daly as Hillary
Release
editThe film premiered at the Sutton Theatre in New York City on Sunday, December 14, 1969, and opened the following day.[4][5] It received an R rating upon its original release, but was re-rated PG in 1973.[citation needed]
In February 1969, before the release of the film, both Hoffman and Farrow made the cover of Time, with the headline: "The Young Actors: Stars and Anti-Stars". This marked and celebrated new actors like Hoffman and Farrow (both hot off their successes in The Graduate and Rosemary's Baby, respectively) as significant to their generation.[6][7]
Critical reception
editRoger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "John and Mary is supposed to be a contemporary movie, I guess, and yet it's curiously out of touch. John and Mary shadow box uneasily with the American language, trying to sound like all people their age without sounding too much like any particular person."[8]
Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "There is nothing wrong with the idea of 'John and Mary,' just with its execution. John Mortimer's screenplay is short-focused, its action confined mostly to John's apartment where John and Mary eat, talk and lie about with such dreary verisimilitude that you eventually find yourself less interested in John and Mary than in the settings, clothes and objects that surround them."[9]
Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 38%, based on 13 reviews.[10]
Box office
editAccording to Fox records, the film required $6,300,000 in rentals to break even, and by December 11, 1970, it had made $8,150,000, resulting in a profit to the studio.[11]
Awards
editWon:
- 1970 BAFTA Award, Best Actor – Dustin Hoffman (For Midnight Cowboy and John and Mary)[12]
Nominated:
- 1970 BAFTA Award, Best Actress – Mia Farrow (For: Rosemary's Baby, Secret Ceremony and John and Mary)[12]
- 1970 Golden Globes, Best Actor, Musical/Comedy – Dustin Hoffman[13]
- 1970 Golden Globes, Best Actress, Musical/Comedy – Mia Farrow[13]
- 1970 Golden Globes, Best Screenplay – John Mortimer[13]
- 1970 WGA Awards, Best Adapted Screenplay – John Mortimer[14]
Musical score and soundtrack
edit| John and Mary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 1970 | |||
| Recorded | 1969 | |||
| Genre | Film score | |||
| Length | 31:10 | |||
| Label | A&M SP-4230 | |||
| Producer | Quincy Jones | |||
| Quincy Jones chronology | ||||
| ||||
The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the soundtrack, featuring vocalists Evie Sands, The Strange Things, Jeff Bridges, The Morgan Ames Singers and four classical pieces performed by a brass ensemble, was released on the A&M label in 1970.[15][16]
Track listing
editAll compositions by Quincy Jones except where noted
- "Maybe Tomorrow (Vocal)" (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) − 3:10
- "Bump in the Night" − 1:58
- "Lost in Space" (Jeff Bridges) − 3:15
- "Silent Movies" − 2:11
- "Maybe Tomorrow" (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) − 4:18
- "Main Title" − 2:48
- "22nd Fugue for Well-Tempered Clavichord" (Johann Sebastian Bach) − 1:31
- "Rondo No. 1" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) − 1:58
- "Opus 54, Variations Serieuses" (Felix Mendelssohn) − 2:05
- "Allegro from Royal Fireworks Suite" (George Frideric Handel) − 3:58
- "Maybe Tomorrow" − 3:58
Personnel
edit- Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones
- Evie Sands (track 1), The Strange Things (track 2), Jeff Bridges (track 3), The Morgan Ames Singers (track 5) − vocals
- The John and Mary Brass Ensemble (tracks 7–11)
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Please note figures are rentals accruing to distributors and not total gross.
References
edit- ^ a b "John and Mary (1969)". AFI Catalog.
- ^ "Big Rental Films of 1970". Variety. January 6, 1971. p. 11.
- ^ Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1.
- ^ "John & Mary (Lindsay) No-Show at Fox Film - And 'Twas Made in N.Y.". Variety. December 17, 1969. p. 5.
- ^ "Pre-Yule Slows B'way; 15 Pix Due This Wk.; 'Charlie Brown' Huge 290G; 'Cuckoo' Big 15G, 8, 'Z' Record 41G". Variety. December 17, 1969. p. 9.
- ^ "Cover". Time. February 7, 1969. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ "Cinema: The Moonchild and the Fifth Beatle". Time. February 7, 1969. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (December 23, 1969). "John and Mary". RogerEbert.com.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (December 15, 1969). "Screen: 'John and Mary' at the Sutton: A Familiar Love Story Is Told Backward Hoffman-Farrow Team in Constricted Roles". The New York Times.
- ^ "John and Mary". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 328. ISBN 978-0818404856.
- ^ a b "Film in 1970". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ a b c "1970 Winners & nominees". Golden Globes. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ "John and Mary". Made in Atlantis. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
- ^ "John and Mary". Soundtrack Collector. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
- ^ Eyries, P.; Edwards, D.; Callahan, M. "A&M Album Discography, Part 2: SP 4200-4299 (1969-1971)". Retrieved January 30, 2018.