''Believe in Me'' is a 1971 American romantic drama film directed by

Stuart Hagmann Stuart R. Hagmann (born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin on September 2, 1942) is a television and film director primarily active from 1968 to 1977. His television work includes episodes of the series '' Mission: Impossible'' and ''Mannix''. In film ...

and written by

Israel Horovitz Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio an ...

. The film was produced by

Robert Chartoff Robert Irwin Chartoff (August 26, 1933 – June 10, 2015) was an American film producer and philanthropist. Early life and education Chartoff was born on August 26, 1933 in New York City, the son of Bessie and William Chartoff. His family was J ...

and

Irwin Winkler Irwin Winkler (born May 28, 1931) is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's '' Double Trouble'', starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, '' They Shoot ...

Plot

Cast

Michael Sarrazin Michael Sarrazin (May 22, 1940 – April 17, 2011)

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

as Pamela *

Jon Cypher Jon Cypher (born January 13, 1932) is an American actor and singer. He is best known as playing Chief of Police Fletcher Daniels in ''Hill Street Blues'' throughout the series' run. He is also known for his work in ''Cinderella'', ''As the World Tu ...

as Alan *

Allen Garfield Allen Garfield (born Allen Goorwitz; November 22, 1939 – April 7, 2020) was an American film and television actor. Early life Garfield was born in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family, the son of Alice ( née Lavroff) and Philip Goorwitz. He ...

as Stutter * Kurt Dodenhoff as Matthew * Kevin Conway as Clancy * Roger Robinson as Angel *

Marcia Jean Kurtz Marcia Jean Kurtz is an American film, stage, and television actress and director. She has appeared in such films as ''The Panic in Needle Park'', '' In Her Shoes'', and '' Big Fan'', appearing as Miriam Douglas in ''Dog Day Afternoon'' and ''In ...

as Emergency Room Nurse *

Ultra Violet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...

as Emergency Room Patient

Production

The film was originally called ''Speed is of the Essence'' and reunited the studio, director, producers and writer of ''

The Strawberry Statement ''The Strawberry Statement'' is a non-fiction book by James Simon Kunen, written when he was 19, which chronicled his experiences at Columbia University from 1966–1968, particularly the April 1968 protests and takeover of the office of the dean ...

''. Irwin Winkler wrote in his memoirs that MGM's then head of production James Aubrey was the one who cast Michael Sarrazin and Jacqueline Bisset, although the director and producer liked both actors. Winkler says Aubrey demanded reshoots be done by another director and the producers hired John Alviden to do another three weeks of filming; they would later work together on ''Rocky''.

Reception

The magazine ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

''s Judith Crist disliked Hagmann's direction and Horovitz's screenwriting and wrote, " tis a sloppy story about an intern driven to drugs because he sees kids and old people get sick, and who apparently makes his girl an addict too—or simply makes her stop wearing eyeliner. You can't tell which—and couldn't care less. Roger Greenspun of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that ''Believe in Me'' avoided melodrama seen in other drug films but found that it had predictable surprises and failed to explain "crucial" questions. He reviewed, " tis full of plot hints dropped and never retrieved, and it seems to have been cut—not so much edited as maimed. When allowed some emotional range ... Stuart Hagmann directs a rather decent movie. But such moments are too few, and in suppressing even pathos, the film also suppresses the other feelings that could have made it live."

References

External links