''Lucky Lady'' is a 1975 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Stanley Donen Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are '' On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of which he co-directed with Gene Kell ...

and starring

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

Gene Hackman Eugene Allen Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is an American retired actor and former novelist. In a career that has spanned more than six decades, Hackman has won two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, one Screen Actors Guild Award, two BAFTAs ...

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

and

Robby Benson Robby Benson (born Robin David Segal; January 21, 1956) is an American actor and director. He rose to prominence as a teen idol in the late 1970s, appearing in the sports films '' One on One'' (1977) and '' Ice Castles'' (1978). He subsequently ...

. Its story takes place in 1930 during

Prohibition in the United States In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

. The film is notable for serving as a storefront for

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as c ...

and

Gary Kurtz Gary Douglas Kurtz (July 27, 1940 – September 23, 2018) was an American film producer whose list of credits includes ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Star Wars'' (1977), ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ''Retu ...

who were looking for crew to assist with the look of ''Star Wars''. Both visited the set during production and were impressed with what they saw. Several of the predominantly British crew were effectively recruited during this visit.

Plot

Late in the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic be ...

, Claire is an American living in Tijuana, Mexico. After her husband, who owned a dive bar, dies, she wants to return to the United States. Walker Ellis, a loser with whom she has long been having an affair, agrees to help wind up her business in Tijuana, which includes smuggling a last truckload of illegal Mexican immigrants across the border; this does not go according to plan. Walker is forced to go into business

rum running Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The t ...

across the border with Kibby Womack, one of those he was trying to smuggle across the border (as Kibby is also in trouble with the U.S. government). Instead of moving the goods overland, Walker hires Billy Mason to captain a sailboat to transport the contraband via water. While Billy is wise to the ways of the sea, he is unwise to the ways of the world. As Walker, Claire, Kibby, and Billy navigate the waters on this venture, they find two inherent risks. The first is the U.S. Coast Guard, led by the irritatingly officious Captain Moseley, who patrols these waters. Moseley and the Coast Guard can do nothing against vessels in international waters unless there is a sign of illegal cargo or a sale of illegal merchandise. Instead, Moseley works to "starve" rum runners, who can only sail up and down the coast, blocked from entering a U.S. port. The second hazard is other rum runners. While the small players generally leave each other alone, the East Coast mob has sent Christie McTeague to establish a foothold then a stranglehold on the entire West Coast Mexico–U.S. trade. Through it all, Claire has convinced Kibby and an initially reluctant Walker that their three partner business should extend into the bedroom.

Cast

as Claire *

as Kibby *

as Walker *

as Billy *

John Hillerman John Benedict Hillerman (December 20, 1932 – November 9, 2017) was an American actor best known for his starring role as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III on the television series '' Magnum, P.I.'' that aired from 1980 to 1988. For his role as ...

as McTeague * Geoffrey Lewis as Coast Guard Captain Moseley *

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online e ...

as Capt. Rockwell * Anthony Holland as Mr. Tully * John McLiam as Rass Huggins *

Val Avery Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a So ...

as Dolph *

Louis Guss Louis Guss (January 4, 1918 – September 29, 2008) was an American character actor with a long line of screen credits, having appeared in hundreds of TV series, feature films and stage productions, specializing in blue-collar ethnic roles, over ...

as Bernie * William Bassett as Charley

Production

Development

Katz and Huyck at the time were best known for writing ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...

''. Before that film came out they were struggling writers, looking for an original project. While Huyck was in the Army reserves, Katz was in the UCLA library "looking for anything for an idea." She came across an article in ''American Mercury'' magazine about rumrunners operating off Ensenada during prohibition and, feeling that it had never been used for a film before, started researching the period. When Huyck got out of the army they brought the idea to Mike Gruskoff, a producer, who liked the similarities to ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch C ...

'' and agreed to finance them writing it for $75,000 They worked on the script for six months. "It took us a long time to get our characters down," said Katz. "We tried it a lot of different ways. And we did a lot of research into the period and the language." When they handed the script in, Gruskoff sold the film within eighteen hours to 20th Century Fox for $450,000, which was then a record amount for an original screenplay. They were helped by the fact that ''American Graffiti'' had since come out and been a huge success.Gloria Katz-Willard Huyck Interview Warren, Madeline; Levine, Robert A. Film Comment; New York Vol. 11, Iss. 2, (Mar/Apr 1975): 47-53. "Mike Gruskoff was incredible, just incredible at selling a script," said Katz. "He got it immediately to the heads of the studios and he sold it very, very fast." The producer paid the writers $100,000 of the $450,000.

Director

The writers wanted

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

to direct and he was interested but had made a commitment to do ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

''."FORTUNE AND GLORY: Writers of Doom! Quint interviews Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz!" ''Aint It Cool New'' 23 May 2014
accessed 23 April 2015 Eventually

signed. Donen's fee was $600,000, Grusskoff's was $400,000.'Inferno' 'Lady' Pile Up Payrolls Los Angeles Times 26 Nov 1974: e6. Katz said, "our reaction was, Stanley Donen seems so bizarre for this kind of film! Then we realized he's the ideal director because he is really a romantic director, and he can do this kind of character stuff and the kind of humor that the film has." Some changes to the script were made. "Stanley wanted very much to play up the relationships, the menage-à-trois," said Huyck. "Which was fine with us. The script was probably overloaded with action since we wanted to sell it. Actually, action is boring to write. We have much more fun with dialogue." "Stanley's big emphasis to us is that you must love the characters," said Katz. "And any place he feels the characters are being lost, he wants us to put in something to develop the characters further. "

Casting

The writers said their inspiration for the lead characters were

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

and

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

. It took 18 months for Donen to cast the film. Donen says this was due to problems with billing, pay and the fact the woman's role was central made it difficult to find male stars to play opposite her. "We thought the idea of three stars was a terrific notion because it would make ''Lucky Lady'' very salable and very castable," said Katz. "Ironically, it made it salable, but casting turned out to be a very big problem because one of the three stars was a woman. A lot of male actors didn't want to be in an ensemble piece or a piece with a woman as a strong character." The only two female stars considered "bankable" at the time were

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

and

. Minnelli was the first star cast, for a minimum of $350,000. Donen originally wanted

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

, who also wanted Spielberg to direct, and

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...

for the lead male roles with production scheduled to begin in October 1974. However the stars could not be locked down. Later, in November 1974, Burt Reynolds was signed along with

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...

. Huyck said Reynolds "didn't really like doing macho roles, he didn't want to play the tough guy role, he wanted the silly part." Reynolds' fee was reportedly $500,000, Segal's $750,000. Reynolds said it was "very important" the film was a success "since my last three films went down the tubes." Segal later dropped out of the project and was quickly replaced with Hackman. Gene Hackman initially did not want to do the film, but

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

kept offering him more and more money. Finally, Fox offered him $1.25 million, and according to

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...

Sue Mengers Sue Mengers (September 2, 1932 – October 15, 2011) was a talent agent for many filmmakers and actors of the New Hollywood generation of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Early life Susi Mengers was born to a Jewish family in Hamburg, Germany, ...

, "it was almost obscene for him not to do the film." "I was seduced," said Hackman.

Shooting

Filming began in

Guaymas Guaymas () is a city in Guaymas Municipality, in the southwest part of the state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. The city is south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and from the U.S. border. The municipality is located on the Gulf of Califo ...

, Mexico in February 1975 and finished in July of that year. It was an exceedingly difficult shoot, compounded by the isolation of the location, poor weather, and the fact so much of it was shot on water.'Lucky Lady' Filming Just Plain Unlucky: 'Lucky' Filming Plain Unlucky 'Lucky' Filming Plain Unlucky 'Lucky' Filming Plain Unlucky Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 29 June 1975: t1. "I remember water," said Minnelli later. "For days. And shrimp. That's all we ate – shrimp. We were stranded. There was no TV, no radio, no American papers. The only way we knew what was going on away from the location was by telephone."Minnelli talks movies and gets the pictures Siskel, Gene. Chicago Tribune 19 Sep 1976: e3. The film went over budget to nearly $13 million. Other estimates put it as high as $22 million. The artist Lilly Fenichel served as the film's art director. "I will never make another film on water," said Donen later. "I can't tell you how painful it is." "I'm going bananas," said Hackman during the shoot. "The work is not satisfying." Reynolds later recalled:

I loved Liza Minnelli and Gene Hackman, and I loved the
Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
kind of character I played, but there were times when I felt Stanley Donen was petrified and lost. Scared of the boats, scared of the explosions, of the gunshots. I'd look at him between takes and he'd be like this rouching with hands over his head But the bedroom scene with the three of us was so beautifully done. I remember going to rushes and saying, "This is going to be a winner – it really works." It was a beautifully mounted picture, but the last forty minutes, the battle, was not his kind of film. Nobody knew what was happening and you didn't care for the characters.McBride, Joseph & Riley, Brooks. "'The End' is just the beginning". ''
Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...
''; New York Vol. 14, Iss. 3, (May/Jun 1978): 16-21.

New ending

In the original script, the two male leads were killed by government agents and the final scene happened ten years later with Liza Minnelli's character married to a boring businessman remembering the men she once loved. The writers said when they sold it, "The studio loved the script, and at that point no one objected to the ending."Why Couldn't This 'Lady' Have an Unhappy Ending?: Why No Unhappy Ending for 'Lady'? By STEPHEN FARBER. New York Times 14 Dec 1975: D1. "One of the first images in our minds when we began to work on the script was the ending," said Katz. "The idea of this woman remembering the two men she loved. We worked backwards from that. To us, the romance of the piece was in the idea of separation and loss. Because the film was booked in for a Christmas release, Donen only had three months to edit the film. During this time Donen became concerned about the ending, feeling that the film had become much lighter than originally intended, and tried several different ones, including simply cutting off the final ten minutes. He eventually decided the film needed a happy ending and Fox agreed to finance a reshot scene. Because Minnelli was filming ''A Matter of Time'' in Rome, Donen, Hackman and Reynolds flew to Rome in November and shot a new ending. The ending consisted of the three characters in bed together ten years later. Huyck and Katz wrote the new ending, albeit reluctantly. "To us the original ending made a comment about the choices a woman has to make. But instead of making it the story of this woman, Stanley has made it a story of three people. That's valid. It's just different from what we originally intended." Garth Wigan, a Fox executive at the time, later recalled, "We previewed the movie nine times. The 2-hour, 30-minute version was wonderful. Burt Reynolds and Liza Minelli died at the end and everything was set up for them to die. But market research told us they shouldn't die, so we started chopping a bit here, a bit there. We took the seriousness out. The only good preview we had was when the film broke, and Stanley Donen, the director, did a dance for the audience while it was being spliced." It was decided that the new ending was not suitable, in part due to poor make up. So a third ending was used, which cut off the last ten minutes of the film. Minnelli later criticized Donen for taking "out the part that made you feel like the three of us are in peril. I saw the finished picture and I never once was afraid for us. Most of the serious moments were removed too." Reynolds and Minnelli both criticized the new ending, requesting that the studio show the three different endings to the press. Donen refused and since he had final cut the studio backed him. Donen called Minnelli an "emotional child" for this criticism.Murphy, Mary (December 17, 1975). "Fox's 'Lucky Lady' at Loose Ends".: ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. Part IV, p. 19-20.

Release

The film opened on Christmas Day 1975.

Reception

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and called it "a big, expensive, good-looking flop of a movie; rarely is so much effort expended on a movie so inconsequential."

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

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 ...

'' called the film "ridiculous without the compensation of being funny or fun. This is difficult to understand, considering the people who are involved."

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' wrote, "This mercenaries' film is so coarsely conceived it obliterates any emotion, any art." Arthur D. Murphy 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), ...

'' called the film "strident, forced hokum. Stanley Donen's film caroms from one sequence to another with pointless abandon ... This is a major disappointment."

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and stated, "There's an arrogance to this project I don't like. Apparently the filmmakers believed that the public would be sufficiently impressed with the antics of Gene, Liza, and Burt that it wouldn't care if the story made sense."

Charles Champlin Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an American film critic and writer. Life and career Champlin was born in Hammondsport, New York. He attended high school in Camden, New York, working as a columnist for the '' ...

of the ''

'' declared, "By squinting hard in the mind's eye, you can almost make out what it was that made 'Lucky Lady' seem worth doing. The movie we actually see is a cynical, vulgar, contrived, mismated, violent, uneven and uninteresting disaster." Gary Arnold of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote, "If you were looking forward to an entertainment with a little class ... 'Lucky Lady' ... is likely to prove a resounding letdown. Despite all the big-time reputations involved, class is the last word that would spring to mind while one was watching the film."

Box office

The film grossed $2,265,103 in its opening weekend (Thursday to Sunday) from 213 cities. It went on to earn

theatrical rental A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freq ...

s of $12.1 million in the United States and Canada.

Home media

The film went unreleased on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

until February 1, 2011 via

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

Additional information

This film was also released under the following titles: *''Abenteurer auf der Lucky Lady'' - West Germany *''Belali sevgili'' - Turkey *''I tyheri kyria'' - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title) *''In 3 sul Lucky Lady'' - Italy *''Los aventureros de Lucky Lady'' - Spain *''Oh, vilket sjöslag!'' - Sweden *''Os aventureiros de Lucky Lady'' - Brazil (TV title) *''Tre smarte smuglere på 'Lucky Lady'' - Denmark *''Uma Mulher dos Diabos'' - Portugal (imdb display title) *''Una dama con suerte'' - Venezuela *''Viskiseikkailu Lucky Ladyllä'' - Finland

Soundtrack

*"Empty Bed Blues" - Written by J.C. Johnson, Performed by Bessie Smith *"Ain't Misbehavin'" - Music by Fats Waller and Harry Brooks, Lyrics by Andy Razaf, Performed by Burt Reynolds *"A Hot Time in the Old Town" - Music by Theo. A. Metz, Lyrics by Joe Hayden, Performed by Bessie Smith *" (Get) While the Getting is Good" - Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Performed by Liza Minnelli *"Lucky Lady Montage" - Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Performed by Liza Minnelli *"Lucky Lady (reprise)" - Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Performed by Liza Minnelli

Novelization

A month before the release of the film,

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

issued a tie-in novelization of the screenplay by historical fiction writer

Cecelia Holland Cecelia Holland (born December 31, 1943) is an American historical fiction novelist. Early life and education Holland was born December 31, 1943, in Henderson, Nevada. She grew up in Metuchen, New Jersey, where she started writing at age 12, rec ...

under the pseudonym "Julia Rood." It achieved some minor notoriety at the time for retaining the original ending, which reflected the earlier draft script from which Holland worked.

References

External links

* * {{Stanley Donen 1975 films American adventure comedy-drama films Films directed by Stanley Donen Liza Minnelli soundtracks Films with screenplays by Willard Huyck Films with screenplays by Gloria Katz 1970s adventure comedy-drama films Films about the United States Coast Guard 20th Century Fox films Films about prohibition in the United States Films set in 1930 Films set in San Diego Films shot in Mexico 1975 comedy films 1975 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films