''Jennifer on My Mind'' is a 1971 American drama film based on the 1968 novel ''Heir'' by

Roger L. Simon Roger Lichtenberg Simon (born November 22, 1943) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He was formerly CEO of PJ Media (formerly known as Pajamas Media) and is now its CEO Emeritus. He is the author of eleven novels, including the Moses Win ...

. It was directed by

Noel Black Noel Black (June 30, 1937 – July 5, 2014) was an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. Black was born in Chicago, Illinois. He won awards at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival for an 18-minute short subject filmed in ...

from a screenplay by

Erich Segal Erich Wolf Segal (June 16, 1937January 17, 2010) was an American author, screenwriter, educator, and classicist who wrote the bestselling novel '' Love Story'' (1970) and its hit film adaptation. Early life and education Born and raised in a ...

, stars

Michael Brandon Michael Brandon (born Michael Feldman; April 20, 1945) is an American actor. He is known for his role as James Dempsey in the British drama series ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' (1985–1986). His theatre credits include the original Broadway (theat ...

and

Tippy Walker Tippy Walker (born February 19, 1947) is an American former actress, best known for her role in the film ''The World of Henry Orient'' (1964). Born Elizabeth Tipton Walker in New York City, her father was an engineer with Allied Chemical Corpor ...

, and features

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

in a minor role. This was one of the many early 1970s films dealing with

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

following the explosion of

recreational drug use Recreational drug use indicates the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime by modifying the perceptions and emotions of the user. When a ...

in the 1960s. The basic premise of the movie is centered around two rich American young adults who meet and fall in love in Venice, Italy. With plenty of money and no real responsibilities or direction in life, the couple begin experimenting with illicit drugs. The movie travels through a series of flashbacks showing their progression from marijuana to harder drugs as a result of their complex romantic entanglement with each other.

Plot

Marcus Rottner (Brandon), 24-year-old heir of his late grandfather's fortune, is living in his

New Jersey Palisades The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs s ...

apartment as he finds out

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

girlfriend Jennifer Da Silva (Walker) has died of a

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

in his living room. Fearing that he might be arrested for her death, he decides to dump her body, but not before his sister Selma (Taylor) and her psychologist boyfriend Sergei (Bonerz)—whom Marcus detests—suddenly drop in. They notice his strange behavior and suspect that he has gotten himself into trouble. They search his apartment but find nothing. A flashback shows how Marcus and Jennifer met: He first notices Jennifer in Venice, where both are enjoying their holiday. Marcus is immediately drawn to her reckless, careless behavior, and she falls for his looks and charm. She unexpectedly leaves Europe with her parents and he follows her to their home in Oyster Bay, where they briefly date until Jennifer again cuts all ties. Heartbroken, Marcus leaves for Venice, but returns to see Jennifer on her birthday; he's shocked to find her injecting heroin with two minstrels (Bostwick and Conaway). Marcus scares them away and tries to save Jennifer as she, under the influence, jumps from her rooftop. Fearing that she might become a heroin addict, Marcus convinces Jennifer to return to Venice, but she grows bored and expresses her desire to return to New York. As he visits the

Venetian Ghetto The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were forced to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ''ghetto'' is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice. The Venetian Ghetto was instituted on 29 March 151 ...

, she leaves a recording explaining that she cannot be with him. He returns to the Lower East Side in Manhattan meets with his friend Ornstein (Vinovich) to get advice on how to dispose of a body in a novel. Marcus follows his advice and drives to a river. His reverie is interrupted by three

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...

who harass him. Their shake-down is interrupted by two police officers on motorcycles. Marcus drives off, dreamily talking of how this is the most time he has spent with Jenny. Flashback: Marcus moves to New Jersey to clear his mind. Months later, Jennifer suddenly shows up on his doorstep, telling Marcus that she has traveled the world and still has not found her place in life. She asks to stay at his place for a while. As he cooks her dinner, Jennifer secretly puts several prescription capsules into the blender of chocolate milk and drinks the mixture. While he sets the table on the balcony, she freaks out and he finds her in the kitchen preparing a needle over the stove flame. She climbs up on the balcony railing but he pulls her down. She asks him to inject the syringe of heroin and he does, bringing on a fatal overdose. When a carload of men chase him, his sports car crashes, catches fire and explodes with the body in the trunk. In the final scene, he is dressed in white, back in Venice.

Cast

as Marcus Rottner *

as Jennifer DaSilva *

Steve Vinovich Steve Vinovich (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor. Biography Vinovich was born in Peoria, Illinois, the son of Jennie J. (née Kuhel), a secretary, and Stephen J. Vinovich, an insurance salesman. His paternal grandparents are Croatian. ...

as Sigmund Ornstein *Lou Gilbert as Grandpa Max Rottner *

Chuck McCann Charles John Thomas McCann (September 2, 1934 – April 8, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, puppeteer, commercial presenter and television host. He was best known for his work in presenting children's television programming and animation, a ...

as Good Samaritan *

Peter Bonerz Peter R Bonerz (, born August 6, 1938) is an American actor and director. Early life Bonerzwas born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Elfrieda (née Kern) and Christopher Bonerz. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Marquette Uni ...

as Sergei *

Renée Taylor Renée Adorée Taylor (née Wexler; born March 19, 1933) is an American actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer and director.Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay for the film ''Lovers and Other Strangers'' ...

as Selma Rottner *Bruce Kornbluth as Larry Dolci *

as Mardigian, Cab Driver *Michael McClanathan as Hell's Angel #1 *

Allan F. Nicholls Allan F. Nicholls (born April 8, 1945) is a Canadian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, composer and musician. He was nominated for both a BAFTA and WGA award for his writing on the 1978 film '' A Wedding''. He is often credite ...

as Hell's Angel #2 *Ralph J. Pinto as Hell's Angel #3 *

Barry Bostwick Barry Knapp Bostwick (born February 24, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Brad Majors in the musical comedy horror film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom ''Spin City'' (199 ...

as Minstrel #1 *

Jeff Conaway Jeffrey Charles William Michael Conaway (October 5, 1950 – May 27, 2011) was an American actor. He portrayed Kenickie in the film '' Grease'' and had roles in two television series: struggling actor Bobby Wheeler in ''Taxi'' and security offic ...

as Minstrel #2 *

Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar N ...

as Jennifer's mother (scenes deleted) *Nick Lapadula as Motorcycle Cop *Leib Lensky as Cantor at Synagogue *Ketti Prosdocimo as Little Girl at Synagogue *Lino Turchetto as Singing Gondolier *Rehn Scofield as Hearse Passenger *Alfredo Michelangeli as Hotel Concierge

Production

A ''Los Angeles Times'' reviewer speculated that either Simon or Segal was inspired by the true 1966 case of Robert Friede, a 25-year-old Annenberg publishing heir, and Celeste Crenshaw, a drug-addicted 19-year-old socialite whose corpse was found in Friede's car. Friede was the son of Evelyn Annenberg Hall and her first husband, Kenneth Friede. Crenshaw and Friede's story is told in the book ''Turned On: The Friede-Crenshaw Case'' (1967) by

Dick Schaap Richard Jay Schaap (September 27, 1934 – December 21, 2001) was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and raised in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, Schaap began writ ...

. Based on Simon's 1968 novel, the film's working title was ''Heir''. The rights of the novel were initially acquired by Anthony Spinner and Barry Shear in October 1968. In June 1969, it was announced that

Herb Jaffe Herb Jaffe (May 20, 1921 – December 7, 1991) was an independent film producer in the United States. Biography He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and began his career as a literary agent, working for the likes of: Paddy Chayefsky – '' ...

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

was set to produce the film in collaboration with Joseph M. Schenck Enterprises. Actress

filmed some scenes as Jennifer's mother, but they were cut following a "disastrous preview" in San Francisco, which prompted the film's makers to edit it several times. The film marked the feature debuts for Bostwick and Conaway. It was shot on location in New York City, Venice and New Jersey.

Reception

The film received generally negative reviews. A reviewer of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' noted: "The delightfully ridiculous plot, mock-sentimental narration, absurd dialog, infectious syrupy music and intermittent idyllic interludes all parody '' Love Story''. And yet, like '' Pretty Poison'', this is a potpourri of disarming satire, black comedy and poignancy that creates a strangely haunting aura. Michael Brandon, as Marcus, is charmingly boyish and natural. Tippy Walker, as Jennifer, comes across with a bitchy ethereal allure."Review of Jennifer on My Mind
''

References

External links