''The World of Henry Orient'' is a 1964 American

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 ol ...

directed by

George Roy Hill George Roy Hill (December 20, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American film director. He is most noted for directing such films as ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''The Sting'' (1973), both starring Paul Newman and Robert Re ...

and 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 ...

Paula Prentiss Paula Prentiss (née Ragusa; born March 4, 1938) is an American actress. She is best known for her film roles in ''Where the Boys Are'' (1960), ''What's New Pussycat?'' (1965), ''Catch-22 (film), Catch-22'' (1970), ''The Parallax View'' (1974), a ...

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

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 ...

Merrie Spaeth Merrie Marcia Spaeth (born August 23, 1948) is an American public relations and communications consultant. Early life and education Spaeth is the daughter of Dr. Philip G. Spaeth and Marcia Ryan Spaeth. She attended Germantown Friends School ...

Phyllis Thaxter Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012) was an American actress. She is best known for portraying Ellen Lawson in ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944) and Martha Kent in ''Superman'' (1978). She also appeared in ''Bewi ...

Bibi Osterwald Margaret Virginia "Bibi" Osterwald (February 3, 1920 – January 2, 2002) was an American actress. Life and career Osterwald was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the daughter of Dagmar (Kvastad) and Rudolf August Osterwald, a hotel own ...

and Tom Bosley. It is based on the novel of the same name by Nora Johnson, who co-wrote the screenplay with her father,

Nunnally Johnson Nunnally Hunter Johnson (December 5, 1897 – March 25, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and playwright. As a filmmaker, he wrote the screenplays to more than fifty films in a career that spanned from 1927 to 1967. He ...

. The original story was inspired in part by Nora Johnson's own experiences as a schoolgirl, as well as by a real-life incident involving singer

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

and two teenaged fans.

Plot

In early 1960s New York City, concert pianist Henry Orient (

) pursues an affair with a married woman, Stella Dunnworthy (

), while two adolescent private-school girls, Valerie "Val" Boyd (

) and Marian "Gil" Gilbert (

), stalk him and write their fantasies about him in a diary. Orient's paranoia leads him to believe that the two girls, who seem to pop up everywhere he goes, are spies sent by his would-be mistress's husband. In reality, fourteen-year-old Val, the bright and imaginative daughter of wealthy international trade expert Frank Boyd ( Tom Bosley) and his unfaithful, snobbish wife Isabel (

), has developed a teenage crush on Henry after seeing him in concert, and has involved her best friend Gil. Although Gil's parents are divorced, she lives a relatively happy and stable life in a townhouse in the city with her mother and her mother's also-divorced female friend, while Val, whose parents are still married (albeit unhappily), sees a psychiatrist daily and lives with paid caretakers while her parents travel the world. Val's parents return for Christmas, and Val becomes concerned that her mother Isabel is having an extramarital affair with a young pianist. Val's interference leads her mother to find and read Val's diary. Isabel chastises Val and seeks out Henry, ostensibly to tell him to stay away from her underage daughter. The cheating Isabel and the womanizing Henry are quickly attracted to each other and begin an affair, which Val and Gil accidentally discover while stalking Henry outside his apartment. Val's devastation and Isabel's attempts to cover up her own behavior cause Frank to figure out what happened. Frank and Isabel separate, while the paranoid Henry flees the country. However, positive changes for Val result as Frank, who unlike Isabel genuinely cares about his daughter, resolves to stop traveling so much and establish a real home where he and Val can spend more time together. In the end, Val and Gil have matured and moved on from fantasy play to makeup, fashion and boys their own age.

Cast

as Henry Orient *

as Valerie "Val" Campbell Boyd *

as Marian "Gil" Gilbert *

as Isabel Boyd * Tom Bosley as Frank Boyd *

as Stella Dunnworthy *

as Mrs. Avis Gilbert *

as Erica "Boothy" Booth *

John Fiedler John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

as Sidney * Al Lewis as Store Owner *

Peter Duchin Peter Oelrichs Duchin (born July 28, 1937) is an American pianist and band leader. Early life and education Duchin was born in New York City, the son of pianist and band leader Eddy Duchin. His mother was Marjorie Oelrichs, a Newport, Rhod ...

as Joe Daniels * Fred Stewart as Doctor *

Philippa Bevans Philippa Bevans (10 Feb 1913 – 10 May 1968) was an English actress of stage and screen. She was born in London, England, and was the daughter of actors Lionel Bevans and Viola Roache. She originally appeared as a child actress on stage. Along ...

as Emma Hambler * Jane Buchanan as Lillian Kafritz This was the first film appearance for both Tippy Walker and Merrie Spaeth.

Production

Development

The novel was published in 1958. The ''New York Times'' said it was written with "warmth, insight and nostalgia." The pianist's unusual surname, "Orient", came about because Nora Johnson based the character on

Oscar Levant Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian and actor. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for reco ...

, a real-life concert pianist, raconteur, and film actor on whom she had a crush as a teenager. Since the word "levant" means Orient in French (literally the direction from which the sun rises), the name is a play on words. In the film, several allusions to the pianist's unusual name occur when his two teenage fans put on Chinese conical hats, address their idol as "Oriental Henry,"

kowtow A kowtow is the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. In Sinospheric culture, the kowtow is the highest sign of reverence. It was widely used to show reverence ...

to an Asian-style altar, and adopt vaguely Japanese-sounding names for themselves. Nora Johnson's father Nunnally was a noted screenwriter but he said for three years, "it never occurred to me that it could be filmed, because I couldn't think of two girls to do it. "Johnson p 451 Johnson said his point of view changed when he saw

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...

in a film and felt it could be done with Mills and

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Aw ...

. Johnson decided to write the script on "spec" and gave it to his agent to sell - one of the rare times in his career he had done this. In April 1962, Nunnally Johnson said he wanted to adapt the book into a screenplay for 20th Century Fox. Johnson says his daughter had written a script herself but felt it did not work as she was too inexperienced as a dramatist and too faithful to the book. He purchased the screen rights from her and they agreed to split the screenplay fee fifty-fifty. United Artists were interested in buying the script.

Henry Koster Henry Koster (born Hermann Kosterlitz, May 1, 1905 – September 21, 1988) was a German-born film director. He was the husband of actress Peggy Moran. Early life Koster was born to Jewish parents in Berlin, Germany. He was introduced to cin ...

, who had directed several comedies written by Johnson at Fox, read the script and loved it and pressured

Richard Zanuck Richard Darryl Zanuck (December 13, 1934 – July 13, 2012) was an American film producer. His 1989 film '' Driving Miss Daisy'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Zanuck was also instrumental in launching the career of director Steven Spi ...

at Fox to buy it; Zanuck was keen but wanted his father

Daryl Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell. Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel. Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darell ...

to read it first. Daryl did not get around to reading it and Johnson decided to sell to United Artists. This upset Daryl Zanuck who felt he had been misled and ended the formerly close relationship between him and Johnson. In April 1963, George Roy Hill announced that he and producer Jerome Hellman had bought the screen rights and would film it for their Pan Arts company which had a deal with United Artists.

Casting

Johnson wrote the role of Henry Orient for

Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play ''French Without Tears'', in what ...

but Harrison turned it down as the part was not big enough.Johnson p 456 In May 1963, Peter Sellers signed to play the male lead. It would be his first American movie. Sellers reportedly became available when a broken ankle meant he missed out on another job. The film's production was sped up to take advantage of his availability.LEAN WILL FILM 'DOCTOR ZHIVACO': Ponti Production for M-G-M May Be Shot in Italy By EUGENE ARCHER. New York Times 6 Aug 1963: 26. Sellers said his character had "a dreadful Brooklynese accent but in an attempt to appear cultured and charming he hides it with a phony French accent." Spaeth, who was 15 at the time of filming, had no previous acting experience except for a minor role in a school production, and was cast after the head of her school's drama department suggested her to a talent scout. ''The World of Henry Orient'' is Spaeth's only film appearance, as she shortly thereafter left acting. Walker, who was 16 at the time of filming (turning 17 shortly before the film was released), had worked as a model and was suggested to the film's producer by a photographer. The filmmakers had auditioned hundreds of girls but the two who were chosen were recommended through friends. According to a 2012 article in ''

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 ...

'' by

John Colapinto John Colapinto (born in 1958) is a Canadian journalist, author and novelist and a staff writer at ''The New Yorker''. In 2000, he wrote the ''New York Times'' bestseller '' As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl'', which exposed ...

, director George Roy Hill handpicked Walker from hundreds of actresses who auditioned for the role of "Val". The filmmakers were so impressed with her performance that they reshaped the film during editing to focus more on her character, and shot the scene of her walking through a snowy

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

months after production had wrapped. According to Colapinto, in the 2000s Walker revealed through a series of posts on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

that she and Hill fell in love during the filming, and that the relationship lasted throughout most of Walker's senior year in high school, despite the fact that Hill was married with children and, at age 44, was nearly 30 years older than Walker. Walker claimed that the resulting Hollywood gossip made others reluctant to cast her and contributed to her decision to stop acting in the early 1970s.

Eddie Duchin Edwin Frank Duchin (April 1, 1909 – February 9, 1951), commonly known as Eddy Duchin or alternatively Eddie Duchin, was an American jazz pianist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. Early career Duchin was born on April 1, 1909 in Cambri ...

's son

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

made his acting debut in the film.

Shooting

Filming started on July 29, 1963, at the Long Island studios at Roosevelt Field. It wrapped that October. Johnson said Hill made some notable contributions to the film including "those runs through the park. He used trampolines and some kind of slow motion, and it gave it a real quality of soaring childhood, released, all the way through. He's one of these dedicated directors, one that takes trouble. I thought he did it beautifully, and I appreciated it."Johnson p 454

Reception

''The World of Henry Orient'' premiered at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

on March 19, 1964.

Awards

It was the official U.S. entry at the

1964 Cannes Film Festival The 17th Cannes Film Festival was held from 29 April to 14 May 1964. On this occasion, the Palme d’Or was renamed "Grand Prix du Festival International du Film", a name that remained in use through 1974, after which it became the Palme d'Or agai ...

. In 1965, it was nominated for the

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 ...

in the category "Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy" and for 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 Written American Comedy."

Critical

The film was well received by critics and has an 88% rating at

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 ...

. In his review 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 ...

'',

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

wrote that it was "one of the most joyous and comforting movies about teenagers that we've had in a long time". It was voted one of the Year's Ten Best Films by the

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

in 1964. Johnson said "when I saw the picture, I was just delighted with it."

Box Office

Johnson says the film performed strongly at the box office in New York but struggled elsewhere and failed to return its costs. He and Hill felt that "the title was very bad though he didn't realize it then. It conveyed nothing to anybody." Johnson felt that this may have turned children off from going into the film. Johnson also thought Peter Sellers, while funny, played the role too broadly, and that the film would have worked better with Rex Harrison.

Musical adaptation

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

adaptation of ''The World of Henry Orient'' called ''

Henry, Sweet Henry ''Henry, Sweet Henry'' is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. Based on the 1964 novel ''The World of Henry Orient'' by Johnson's daughter Nora and the subsequent film of the same name, the plot focuse ...

'', with music and lyrics by

Bob Merrill Henry Robert Merrill Levan (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. He wrote ...

, book by

(the father of Nora Johnson), direction by

and choreography by Michael Bennett, opened at the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...

on October 23, 1967. It starred

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which l ...

as Henry Orient,

Neva Small Neva Small is an American theatrical, film, and television actress and singer. She made her singing debut at the age of 10 at the New York City Opera, and her Broadway debut the following year. She has numerous acting credits on and Off-Broadway. ...

as Marian Gilbert, Robin Wilson as Valerie Boyd, Milo Bouton as Mr Boyd,

Carol Bruce Carol Bruce (born Shirley Levy; November 15, 1919 – October 9, 2007) was an American band singer, Broadway star, and film and television actress. Early years Bruce was born Shirley Levy in a Jewish family, in Manhattan, to Beatrice and Har ...

as Mrs. Boyd and

Louise Lasser Louise Marie Lasser (born April 11, 1939) is an American actress, television writer, and performing arts teacher and director. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.'' She was ...

as Stella.

Pia Zadora Pia Zadora (born Pia Alfreda Schipani, May 4, 1954) is an American actress and singer. After working as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' (1964), she came to national attention ...

also appeared in the role of a student. The show ran for 80 performances and closed on December 31, 1967, receiving less than stellar reviews.

William Goldman William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays '' ...

, in his study of the 1967–68 theater year, '' The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway'', claimed that the musical was of high quality but was old fashioned, and "had the misfortune" to open just a week after all the critics "were overcome by ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

''," which had a modern sound. Although the show was not a success, one of its performers,

Alice Playten Alice Playten ('' née'' Plotkin; August 28, 1947 – June 25, 2011) was an American actress known for her high-pitched, child-like voice. Life and career Born in New York City, Playten began her career at age 11 in the Broadway musical ''Gyp ...

, received a 1968

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway theatre, Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945� ...

, and was nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

for "Best Featured Actress in a Musical" for playing the role of Kafritz, which was enlarged substantially for the play. In addition, Michael Bennett was nominated for a

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

for "Best Choreography."IBD
Awards
/ref>

References

Notes

External links

* * * * *
MGM site with stills, samples from the soundtrack and soundbites of dialogue
* {{DEFAULTSORT:World Of Henry Orient 1964 films 1964 comedy films 1964 drama films 1960s American films 1960s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1960s English-language films 1960s teen comedy-drama films Adultery in films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films Films about pianos and pianists Films about the upper class Films based on American novels Films directed by George Roy Hill Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Nunnally Johnson United Artists films