One Woman or Two
| One Woman or Two | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| French | Une femme ou deux |
| Directed by | Daniel Vigne |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by | Daniel Vigne |
| Produced by | René Cleitman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Carlo Varini |
| Edited by | Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte |
| Music by |
|
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Acteurs Auteurs Associés |
Release date |
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Running time | 97 minutes[2] |
| Country | France |
| Language | French[3] |
| Budget | 30 million French francs ($3 million)[1] |
One Woman or Two (French: Une femme ou deux) is a 1985 French screwball romantic comedy film directed by Daniel Vigne, who co-wrote the screenplay with Élisabeth Rappeneau. It stars Gérard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver, Ruth Westheimer and Michel Aumont.[4]
The film is a rework of the 1938 American screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.[5][6]
Plot
[edit | edit source] |
Shy paleontologist/archaeologist (Gérard Depardieu) makes an archeological find of the fossil remains of the first, two-million-year-old, French woman, whom he calls Laura.[7][8][9][10] He is approached and conned by a crass and greedy American model and Madison Avenue advertising executive (Sigourney Weaver), masquerading as a charity organisation executive in order to use the woman for her own perfume advertising campaign.[10][7]
Later the real charity organisation executive, ditzy rich American patroness of the sciences (Ruth Westheimer, in her feature film debut) turns up ... it all develops from there.[11][12][13][2]
Cast
[edit | edit source]- Gérard Depardieu as Julien Chayssac
- Sigourney Weaver as Jessica Fitzgerald
- Ruth Westheimer as Mrs. Heffner
- Michel Aumont as Pierre Carrière
- Zabou Breitman as Constance Michaux
- Tannis Vallely as Zoé
Most of the dialogue in the film is in French, including that of Weaver (an American) and Westheimer (originally from Germany).[14] This would not have been difficult for Westheimer, who had lived in Switzerland and France and had studied and taught at the Sorbonne in the 1950s.
Production
[edit | edit source]The film was shot in France (much of it in Paris) and New York City.[1][15] French paleontologist Yves Coppens advised on the film.[16]
Reception
[edit | edit source]The film was unsuccessful at the French box-office.[17]
Chicago Sun-Times reviewer Roger Ebert wrote of this film in a half star review, "Add it all up, and what you've got here is a waste of good electricity. I'm not talking about the electricity between the actors. I'm talking about the current to the projector."[18] In 2005 he included it on his most-hated films list.[19]
Richard Harrington, writing for The Washington Post said: "it's funny enough, and genial in the way French comedy tends to be."[7]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Films and Filming, Issues 411-423, 1989.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Harrington, Richard (March 2, 1987). "'One Woman or Two' (PG-13)", The Washington Post.
- ^ R. R. Bowker (1992). Bowker's Complete Video Directory, Volumes 1–4.
- ^ Scheuer, Steven H. (1989). Movies on TV and Video Cassette; 1989-1990
- ^ a b Maltin, Leonard (2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ The Family Guide to Movies and Videos, Office for Film and Broadcasting, Department of Communications, United States Catholic Conference, 1995.
- ^ The Blockbuster Entertainment Guide to Movies and Videos, 1999 Edition.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Day, David Howard (1997). A Treasure Hard to Attain; Images of Archaeology in Popular Film, with a Filmography
- ^ Elsa Zimmerman, Gérard Depardieu. Une vie libre, City éditions, 2013 ISBN 978-2-8246-0301-8, pp. 116-117
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- One Woman or Two at IMDbLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- One Woman or Two at Rotten TomatoesLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- {{TCMDb title}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
- A Woman or Two, in the Time Out film guide