''S.O.B.'' is a 1981 American
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
black comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the olde ...
written and directed by
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.
Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...
. It stars
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
,
Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor known for his roles in the sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and ''Empty Nest'' (1988–1995),. Mulligan was the winner of two Emmy Awards (1980 ...
,
Robert Preston,
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera, ''Dal ...
,
Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; the ...
,
Robert Webber
Robert Laman Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film ''12 Angry Men''.
Early life
Webber was born in Santa Ana, ...
,
Loretta Swit
Loretta Jane Swit (born Loretta Szwed; November 4, 1937) is an American stage and television actress known for her character roles. Swit is best known for her portrayal of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on ''M*A*S*H'', for which she won two E ...
,
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...
and
William Holden
William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
in his final film role.
The film was produced by
Lorimar
Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisio ...
and was released by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
on July 1, 1981.
Plot
The story is a
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
of the film industry and
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
society. The main character, Felix Farmer (
Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor known for his roles in the sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and ''Empty Nest'' (1988–1995),. Mulligan was the winner of two Emmy Awards (1980 ...
), is a phenomenally successful
film producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...
who has just made the first
major flop of his career, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to his movie studio and his own sanity. Felix attempts suicide four times: He attempts to die of carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, only to have it accidentally slip into gear and crash through the side of his garage, down a sand dune and into the Pacific Ocean. He then attempts to hang himself from a rafter in an upstairs bedroom, only to fall and crash through the floor, injuring a poisonous Hollywood gossip columnist standing in the room below. Subsequently, he tries to gas himself in his kitchen oven, but is prevented from carrying out his intent by two party guests with other things on their mind.
Felix spends roughly the first quarter of the film in a catatonic state or heavily sedated while his friends and hangers-on occupy his Malibu beach house. The occupation leads to a party which degenerates into an orgy. Finally, he tries to shoot himself with a police officer's gun, but is prevented from doing so by the ministrations of a young woman wearing only a pair of panties. The experience gives him the sudden realization that the reason for his film's failure was its lack of sex.
Felix resolves to save both the film and his reputation. He persuades the studio to sell him the rights to the film and then tries to convince his wife Sally Miles (
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
), an
Oscar-winning movie star with a squeaky-clean image, to appear in the revised film - a soft-core
pornographic
Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults, musical in which she must appear
topless
Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is barechestedness, also commonly called shirtlessness.
Expose ...
. He liquidates most of his financial holdings to buy the existing footage and to finance further production. If he fails, both he and Sally will be impoverished, at least by Hollywood standards.
At first the studio executives are keen to unload the film onto Felix and recoup their investment, but when Sally goes through with the topless scene and the film seems a likely success, they plot to regain control. Using California's
community property laws, they persuade Sally to sign a distribution deal which also gives the studio the right to edit the film. An angry and deranged Felix tries to steal the film negatives from the studio's color lab vault. Armed with his son's water pistol, Felix takes the lab's manager (
Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp (Born Robin S. Camp, 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a London-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He became an American folk singer during he 1960s, and ev ...
) hostage. Hysterical, Felix points the water pistol at police; the police shoot and kill Felix, believing the toy gun to be real.
Felix's tragic death creates a crisis for his cronies Tim Culley (
William Holden
William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
), the director of ''Night Wind''; Ben Coogan (
Robert Webber
Robert Laman Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film ''12 Angry Men''.
Early life
Webber was born in Santa Ana, ...
), Sally's press agent; and Dr. Irving Finegarten (
Robert Preston), Felix and Sally's physician; the trio plan to save their friend from the lavish but hypocritical Hollywood funeral and give Felix a proper sendoff. They steal his body from the funeral home, substituting the corpse of a once popular but largely forgotten character actor who died on the beach near the Farmer home in the first scene of the film. After toasting their fallen comrade, the three give Felix a Viking funeral in a burning dinghy, while the actor gets the elaborate Hollywood sendoff many thought he deserved.
The epilogue later reveals that Felix's revamped film was a box office smash for the studio and Sally won another Academy Award for her performance.
The movie within the movie
Little is seen of the movie which is the focus of the plot, except for an extended dream sequence and a brief shot close to the end. The title is ''Night Wind'', which provokes the headline "Critics Break Wind" seen on a copy of
''Variety'' at the start of ''S.O.B.'' after the initial flop. The plot of ''Night Wind'' is kept vague; it involves a frigid businesswoman (played by Sally) whose inability to love a "male chauvinist" rival executive stems from a childhood trauma that led to her sexual detachment.
The climax of ''Night Wind'' is the first scene of ''S.O.B.'', an elaborate song and dance sequence set to "
Polly Wolly Doodle
"Polly Wolly Doodle" is a traditional American children's song. It was sung by Dan Emmett's Virginia Minstrels, who premiered at New York's Bowery Amphitheatre in February 1843, and is often credited to Emmett (1815–1904).
It was known to have ...
", in which Sally wanders through a room full of giant toys (several of which come to life), singing the song while dressed as a
tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
. The implication is that her father's death caused Andrews's character to renounce childhood and become a cold, frigid person.
A second scene, taking place at the end of the film, has Sally's character arrive at the home of her would-be lover after the dream, where he reveals that he still loves her, "despite everything."
When Felix rewrites the film to make it into
soft porn
Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Softc ...
, changes are made: Sally's character goes from sexually frigid to being a
nymphomaniac
Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...
. Her lover goes from
male chauvinist
Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism ...
to being a secret
cross dresser
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
. Felix axes the entire song sequence, turning it from a dream to a
hallucination
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...
"... caused by a powerful
aphrodisiac
An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. Substances range from a variety of plants, spices, foods, and synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs like cannabis or cocain ...
put into her
Bosco
Bosco may refer to:
People Given name Bosco
* Bosco (drag queen) (born 1993), Drag Queen
* Bosco Lin Chi-nan (born 1943), Taiwanese bishop
* Bosco Frontán (born 1984), Uruguayan soccer player
* Bosco Hogan (born 1949), Irish actor
* Bosco Lo ...
" and replacing the regular version of "Polly Wolly Doodle" with a more haunting version. He has the "toys" dress in more erotic outfits, and includes a
carnival barker
A barker, often a carnival barker, is a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events, such as a circus or funfair, by exhorting passing members of the public, announcing attractions of show, and emphasizing variety, novelty, beau ...
-type muscle man (portrayed by ''S.O.B.s choreographer,
Paddy Stone), who tempts Andrews' character before she rejects him by flashing her breasts.
Cast
*
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
as Sally Miles, the star of ''Night Wind'' and the wife of film producer Felix Farmer
*
William Holden
William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
as Tim Culley, the director of ''Night Wind'' and Felix's best friend
*
Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor known for his roles in the sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and ''Empty Nest'' (1988–1995),. Mulligan was the winner of two Emmy Awards (1980 ...
as Felix Farmer, the producer of ''Night Wind'' and the husband of Sally Miles
*
Robert Preston as Dr. Irving Finegarten, Felix and Sally's physician
*
Robert Webber
Robert Laman Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film ''12 Angry Men''.
Early life
Webber was born in Santa Ana, ...
as Ben Coogan, Sally's press agent
*
Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; the ...
as David Blackman, the president of Capitol Studios
*
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera, ''Dal ...
as Dick Benson, a Capitol studios executive and Blackman's right-hand man
*
Marisa Berenson
Vittoria Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson (born February 15, 1947) is an American actress and model. She appeared on the front covers of ''Vogue'' and ''Time'', and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as N ...
as Mavis, an actress and mistress to David Blackman
*
Stuart Margolin
Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American film, theater, and television actor and director who won two Emmy Awards for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series ''The Rockford Files''. In 1973, h ...
as Gary Murdock, Sally's personal secretary and an aspiring producer
*
Loretta Swit
Loretta Jane Swit (born Loretta Szwed; November 4, 1937) is an American stage and television actress known for her character roles. Swit is best known for her portrayal of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on ''M*A*S*H'', for which she won two E ...
as Polly Reed, a Hollywood gossip columnist
*
Craig Stevens as Willard Pratt, Polly Reed's henpecked husband
*
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...
as Eva Brown, Sally's agent
*
Robert Loggia
Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...
as Herb Maskowitz, Sally's lawyer
*
Jennifer Edwards
Jennifer Edwards (born March 25, 1957) is an American actress. She came to national prominence for her role in the 1968 NBC made-for-television movie Heidi.
Career
Her best known role was the NBC made-for-television movie ''Heidi'' (which in ...
as Lila, a young hitchhiker picked up by Culley
*
Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song ( ...
as Babs, Lila's friend, also picked up by Culley
*
John Lawlor as the Capitol Studios Manager
*
John Pleshette
John Pleshette (born July 27, 1942) is an American actor and screenwriter, best known for his role as Richard Avery on the television drama ''Knots Landing'', and for portraying Lee Harvey Oswald in the TV movie '' The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald ...
as the Capitol Studios Vice-president
*
Ken Swofford
Kenneth Charles Swofford (July 25, 1933 – November 1, 2018) was an American film and television actor often cast as a villain or a police officer.
Between 1962 and 1995, Swofford's film credits included ''Thelma & Louise'', '' Skyjacked' ...
as Harold P. Harrigan, a studio security guard
*
Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp (Born Robin S. Camp, 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a London-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He became an American folk singer during he 1960s, and ev ...
as Lipschitz, an executive at Capitol Color Lab, where the negative of ''Night Wind'' is stored.
*
Paul Stewart as Harry Sandler, Felix's agent
*
Benson Fong
Benson Fong (Chinese: ; October 10, 1916 – August 1, 1987) was an American character actor.
Born in Sacramento, California, Fong was from a mercantile family of Chinese extraction. After graduating from high school in Sacramento, he studied ...
as Felix and Sally's personal chef
*
Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel Storch (January 8, 1923 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor and comedian best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows such as Mr. Whoopee on ''Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales'' and hi ...
as Professor Krishna Mansa Kesari, Sally Miles' spiritual guru, who officiates at Felix's funeral.
* Mimi Davis as Joyce Benson, Dick's wife and Sandler's daughter
* David Young as Sam Marshall, a popular young actor
* Byron Kane as the Funeral Director
*
Virginia Gregg
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
as the Funeral Director's Wife
* Herb Tanney as Burgess Webster (as Stiffe Tanney)
*
Joe Penny
Joseph Edward Penny Jr. (born 24 June 1956) is an English people, English-born American actor best known for his roles as Nick Ryder on the detective series ''Riptide (American TV series), Riptide'' from 1984 to 1986, and as Jake Styles in the C ...
as Officer Buchwald, a police officer called to the Farmer residence
*
Erica Yohn
Erica Yohn (October 1, 1928 – January 27, 2019) was an American stage and television actress.
Yohn had many bit parts in film and television, such as '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure'', and television shows, such as '' Rhoda'', '' ER'', '' Murphy ...
as Agnes, the costume designer of ''Night Wind''
*
Colleen Brennan
Colleen Brennan (born December 1, 1949) is an American former pornographic actress. She has also gone by the name Sharon Kelly.
Career
A buxom, freckled redhead, Colleen Brennan began her career posing for men's magazines such as '' Swank'' and ' ...
as Tammy Taylor (as Katherine MacMurray)
*
Charles Lampkin
Charles Lampkin (1913–1989) was an American actor, musician and lecturer.
Early life
Charles Lampkin was born on March 17, 1913 in Ward 4 of Montgomery, Alabama. He was the third son of Edgar Lampkin and Sarah Bidell. His paternal lineage is ...
as Felix and Sally's Butler
* Bert Rosario as the Mexican Gardener
*
Gene Nelson
Gene Nelson (born Leander Eugene Berg; March 24, 1920 – September 16, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, screenwriter, and director.
Biography
Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he and his family moved to Seattle when he wa ...
as Clive Lytell
Title
"S.O.B." (in the film) stands for "Standard Operational Bullshit" and refers to misinformation being the norm.
[ The abbreviation means "]sexually oriented business In United States law, a sexually oriented business (S.O.B.) is a business that is part of the sex industry, such as sites of erotic performance and erotic paraphernalia stores. Often regulations of SOBs enter law as part of zoning regulations by jur ...
" (if pertaining to strip clubs) and more generally "son of a bitch" (a ruthless person).
A Spanish dub of the film keeps the abbreviation S.O.B., claiming that it stands for "Sois hOnrados Bandidos" (You Are Honest Crooks). The Argentine title for the movie was changed to ''Se acabó el mundo'' (The World is Ended), having no relation to the original title.
Three years later, when Edwards had his name removed from the writing credits of 1984's ''City Heat
''City Heat'' is a 1984 American buddy-crime-comedy film starring Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds, written by Blake Edwards, and directed by Richard Benjamin. The film was released in North America in December 1984.
The pairing of Eastwood and R ...
'', he was billed under the pseudonym Sam O. Brown. (S.O.B.)
Influences
When writing the screenplay
''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993.
Background
After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...
, Edwards drew upon several of his own experiences as a film maker. The character of Felix Farmer is a person not unlike Edwards, while actress Sally Miles bears certain similarities to real-life wife Julie Andrews (who plays her).
The story of ''S.O.B.'' parallels the experiences of Edwards and Andrews in their infamous, but Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-nominated, failure, ''Darling Lili
''Darling Lili'' is a 1970 American romantic-musical spy film, written by William Peter Blatty and Blake Edwards, the latter also directing the film. It stars Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, and Jeremy Kemp, with music by Henry Mancini and lyrics by ...
''. Intended to reveal Andrews' heretofore unseen wicked and sexy side, that film had a troubled shoot, went significantly over budget, and was subjected to post-production studio interference. The early 1970s brought more bad news for Edwards; he made two more films, ''Wild Rovers
''Wild Rovers'' is a 1971 American Western film directed by Blake Edwards and starring William Holden and Ryan O'Neal.
Originally intended as a three-hour epic, it was heavily edited by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer without Edwards' knowledge, including ...
'', a western with William Holden
William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
, and ''The Carey Treatment
''The Carey Treatment'' is a 1972 American crime thriller film directed by Blake Edwards and starring James Coburn, Jennifer O'Neill, Dan O'Herlihy and Pat Hingle. The film was based on the 1968 novel ''A Case of Need'' credited to Jeffery Hudso ...
'' with James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...
. Once again, the studio interfered in the post-production of both films, which were edited without any input from Edwards. Both movies opened to negative reviews and poor business. Hit hard financially and personally by these events, Edwards moved to Europe to work independently, away from the meddling and restrictions of the Hollywood studios. The plan worked, leading to several successful projects including three very profitable ''Pink Panther
''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film ''The Pink ...
'' sequels starring Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
.
In ''S.O.B.'', Andrews's character agrees (with some pharmaceutical persuasion) to "show my boobies" in a scene in the film-within-the-film. For this scene, comedian Johnny Carson
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...
thanked Andrews on the Academy Awards for "showing us that the hills were still alive," alluding to a famous line from ''The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
'' opening sequence.
Production
''S.O.B.'' had been in development by Edwards since 1976.[ In 1979, the film was set for pre-production at ]Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...
with distribution by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
, Edwards's third film with Orion after '' 10'' and ''The Ferret'', which was due to star Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...
. In July 1979, Orion put the film into turnaround. Later in 1979, Edwards signed a deal with Lorimar through 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 ...
set to distribute.[ In 1981, Lorimar's agreement with UA ended and a distribution deal with ]Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
was made even though there were was still much animosity between Edwards and Paramount over the ''Darling Lili'' debacle.[
Filming took place between March and July 1980 in ]Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, Malibu and Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
on a budget of $12 million.[
]
Reception
Critical response
''S.O.B.'' was released in July 1981, with critical opinion of the film sharply divided. Remarkably, the screenplay was nominated for both a Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
Th ...
for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen, and a Razzie Award
The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
for Worst Screenplay. It was also nominated for a Razzie for Worst Director and a Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
for Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical.
''S.O.B.'' currently holds an 81% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
from 26 reviews, with an average rating of 6.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A sustained blast of unbridled vitriol from writer-director Blake Edwards, ''S.O.B.'' is one of the blackest – and most consistently funny – Hollywood satires ever put to film."
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 ...
, writing for ''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 ...
'', described ''S.O.B.'' as 'a nasty, biased, self-serving movie that also happens to be hilarious most of the time...It's difficult to remember a film as mean-spirited as ''S.O.B.'' that also was so consistently funny.' 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 ...
and 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 ...
, then hosts of the PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
film review program ''Sneak Previews
''Sneak Previews'' (known as ''Opening Soon...at a Theater Near You'' from 1975 to 1977 and ''Sneak Previews Goes Video'' from 1989 to 1991) is an American film review show that ran for over two decades on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It wa ...
'', both gave ''S.O.B.'' a positive review.
Box office
The film grossed $3,116,078 over the 5-day 4th of July
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music)
In music a fourth is an interval spanning four staff po ...
holiday weekend and went on to gross $14.8 million in the United States and Canada.[ '']The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' dubbed the film a box office flop
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
.[
]
Television version
Broadcast television prints of ''S.O.B.'' contain alternate takes and edits of several scenes originally containing sex and nudity, such as the party and orgy scenes and '' Night Wind''s erotica dream sequence where Julie Andrews exposes her breasts. The television version contains a scene where Robert Vaughn, as studio head David Blackman, receives a phone call while in bed with his mistress, and is simply seen naked from the waist up. In the original theatrical print, he is wearing a bustier
A bustier (, alternatively bustiere) is a form-fitting garment for women traditionally worn as lingerie. Its primary purpose is to push up the bust by tightening against the upper midriff and forcing the breasts up while gently shaping the waist ...
, nylon stockings and other transvestite paraphernalia.
Home media
The original video release was made by CBS Video Enterprises in 1982, on both VHS and CED Videodisc
The Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) is an analog video disc playback system developed by RCA, in which video and audio could be played back on a TV set using a special stylus and high-density groove system similar to phonograph records.
Fir ...
, and was later reissued on VHS by CBS/Fox Video in the mid-1980s. Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
bought ancillary rights in 1989 with their purchase of Lorimar, and the film was released on Laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
through Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...
in 1990. Warners released a 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 ...
edition in 2002 and reissued in 2012.
References
Notes
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Citations
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:S.O.B. (1981 Film)
1981 films
1980s sex comedy films
American satirical films
American sex comedy films
1980s English-language films
Films scored by Henry Mancini
Films directed by Blake Edwards
Films with screenplays by Blake Edwards
Films about film directors and producers
Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles
Films set in Los Angeles
Paramount Pictures films
1981 comedy films
1980s American films