Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon
Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Otto Preminger.[1] The film is based on the 1968 novel of the same name by Marjorie Kellogg.
Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon | |
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Original Poster by Saul Bass | |
Directed by | Otto Preminger |
Produced by | Otto Preminger |
Screenplay by | Marjorie Kellogg |
Based on | Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon by Marjorie Kellogg |
Starring | Liza Minnelli Ken Howard Robert Moore James Coco Kay Thompson Fred Williamson Pete Seeger |
Music by | Philip Springer |
Cinematography | Boris Kaufman |
Edited by | Henry Herman Dean O. Ball |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Plot
Junie Moon is a girl whose face was scarred in a vicious battery acid attack—by her boyfriend Jesse. In an institution, she meets Arthur, who lives with epilepsy, and Warren, a gay paraplegic who uses a wheelchair. The trio are disabled but not down, and they decide to live together in an older, rented house, determined to help one another and to prove themselves.[2]
Cast
- Liza Minnelli as Junie Moon
- Ken Howard as Arthur
- Robert Moore as Warren
- James Coco as Mario
- Kay Thompson as Gregory
- Leonard Frey as Guiles
- Anne Revere as Miss Farber
- Julie Bovasso as Ramona
- Fred Williamson as Beach Boy
- Angelique Pettyjohn as Melissa
- Ric O'Barry as Joebee (credited as Ric O'Feldman)
- Nancy Marchand as Nurse Oxford
Musicians
- Pete Seeger ("Old Devil Time")
- Pacific Gas & Electric ("The Rake", "Work Your Show", "Elvira")
Reception and legacy
Unlike Minnelli's previous film, 1969's The Sterile Cuckoo, which was successful artistically and financially, as well as netting Minnelli an Oscar nomination as Best Actress, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon was a disappointment to most critics and a financial failure at the box office. Roger Ebert was one of the few critics who did not dislike the film and particularly praised the performances of Minelli, Coco and Moore.
Ebert summed up his review:
The ending is not convincing, alas; we're never quite sure what happened to the Howard character, or why. And surely in 1970 people don't make tender speeches and then die on cue in their lover's arms. But, on balance, the movie works and tells us something about three or four good people who are trying to cope. That's enough.[2]
Olive Films announced that it would release Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on August 16, 2016.[3]
Awards
Otto Preminger was nominated for the Golden Palm at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.[4]
See also
References
- "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- Ebert, Roger (August 4, 1970). "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon". RogerEbert.com. Chicago Sun-Times.
- "Liza Minnelli's TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME, JUNIE MOON to Debut on Blu-ray". Broadway World. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- "Festival de Cannes: Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-11.