The cactus flower

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Movie
German title The cactus flower
Original title Cactus Flower
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1969
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Gene Saks
script IAL Diamond
production MJ Frankovich
music Quincy Jones
camera Charles Lang
cut Maury Winetrobe
occupation

The film Die Kaktusblüte is a romantic comedy from 1969 based on the play of the same name by Abe Burrows, Cactus Flower, in an adaptation by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Grédy under the title "Fleur de cactus".

The script for the film comes from writer IAL Diamond , a long-time friend of Hollywood legend Billy Wilder . Goldie Hawn made a breakthrough in the film business with this comedy. She received several awards for her role in this film, including the Oscar for best supporting actress .

action

Julian Winston, a dentist from New York , is in a relationship with the spirited and much younger Toni Simmons. He can't imagine being married. That's why he tells Toni that he has been married to another woman for ten years and is now the father of three children. One night Toni can no longer take the pressure and tries to kill herself in her room. Before that, she wrote Julian a suicide note to tell him how much she was in love with him. Her neighbor Igor Sullivan appears just in time and saves her. Igor is a writer and has only lived next door for a while.

She asks Igor a favor: he should call the dentist's office the next morning and tell Julian that she is alive. But the call comes too late because Julian has already read Toni's letter and is on the way to her. When he sees her in her room, he only realizes how important Toni is to him. He wants to divorce his - nonexistent - wife and marry Toni. Before getting married, however, Toni really wants to get to know this wife in order to ask her a few questions. She feels sorry for the woman because she had an affair with Julian during the marriage and feels bad about the upcoming divorce.

Julian now has to quickly find a woman who will pretend to be his wife for an hour. He persuades Stephanie Dickinson to play the wife. Stephanie has been his office assistant for almost ten years; she loves Julian without his knowing about it. She lives in a small apartment with her sister, two nephews and a dog. The next morning Toni gets to know the alleged wife in the record store. They talk for a while about Stephanie's future life. When Toni asks her about her feelings, she realizes that Stephanie has not yet got over the supposed separation. Toni feels sorry for Stephanie and gives her a black mink stole that she received from Julian as a present. Toni now really wants to get to know Stephanie's boyfriend to find out if she has someone to help her break up.

Now Julian has to find a man who pretends to be his wife's friend. Harvey Greenfield, a longtime friend of Julian, agrees. Harvey and Stephanie try to act out their role as lovers as well as possible. They talk to each other until Harvey is the first to leave the club. Toni found him unsympathetic and unsuitable for Stephanie at first glance.

In the end, Toni learns the whole truth about Julian and his lies. Toni doesn't want anything more to do with him. She falls in love with the writer Igor, who helped her a lot in difficult times. Julian realizes that Stephanie loves him and falls in love with her.

Reviews

  • "Cheeky boulevard piece, wonderfully played." ( TV feature film )
  • "A funny, lively comedy full of gags and eddies, staged by Gene Saks with flying colors and the star cast Ingrid Bergman, Walter Matthau and Goldie Hawn." (TVTV.de)
  • "'Die Kaktusblüte' is a funny comedy with good actors and an intelligent script by Billy Wilder's long-time partner IALDiamond." ( Moviemaster.de )
  • Ingrid Bergman and Walter Matthau play a gorgeous couple against their will in this "sophisticated broadcast of a tabloid comedy with excellent acting performances". ( Lexicon of International Films )
  • “Lovely comedy dialogue about a hoax out of love [...]. A cinematic, slightly relaxed boulevard stage play, which thanks to an excellent cast of the leading roles offers high quality smile entertainment. Recommended for ages 16 and over. "( Protestant film observer , review No. 551/1969)

additional

Awards

For the film Cactus Flower won Goldie Hawn the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress ; in their place, actress Raquel Welch accepted the award at the 1970 Academy Awards. In the same year, the film was nominated in five categories for a Golden Globe (including for the most hopeful newcomer); he also received the award for Best Supporting Actress (Goldie Hawn).

Academy Awards 1970

  • Best Supporting Actress - Goldie Hawn

British Film Awards 1971

  • nominated for Best Actress - Goldie Hawn

Golden Globe Awards 1970

  • Best Supporting Actress - Goldie Hawn

nominated in the categories:

  • Best Film (Musical / Comedy)
  • Best Film Actress (Musical / Comedy)
  • Best song
  • Best Young Actress

Further awards

David di Donatello

  • Special price for Goldie Hawn

Writers Guild of America

  • nominated in the category Best Screenplay (Comedy) - IAL Diamond

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lawrence J. Quirk: Ingrid Bergman and Her Films. Translated from American English by Marie Margarete Giese. Goldmann, Munich 1982, p. 152.