''Some Call It Loving'', also known as ''Sleeping Beauty'' is a 1973 romantic mystery

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scu ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written, produced, and directed by

James B. Harris James B. Harris (born August 3, 1928) is an American film screenwriter, producer, and director. Born in New York City, he attended the Juilliard School before entering the film industry. He worked with film director Stanley Kubrick as a produc ...

and starring

Zalman King Zalman King (born Zalman King Lefkowitz; May 23, 1941 – February 3, 2012) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica. Early life Zalman Kin ...

Carol White Carole Joan White (1 April 1943 – 16 September 1991) was an English actress. She achieved a public profile with her performances in the television play ''Cathy Come Home'' (1966) and the films ''Poor Cow'' (1967) and '' I'll Never Forg ...

Tisa Farrow Theresa Magdalena "Tisa" Farrow is a retired American actress and model. Early life Farrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Irish-born actress Maureen O'Sullivan and Australian-born film director John Farrow. She is the yo ...

, and

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

. It is based on a short story by John Collier.

Plot

The film opens on a mansion balcony overlooking the sea. A young man, Robert Troy (

), approaches a woman, Scarlett (

), who is wearing a funeral veil. They discuss the young man that they are mourning. Troy asks Scarlett if she loved him, and she answers that she did. Troy visits a carnival where he pays $1 to enter a "Sleeping Beauty" attraction. Inside the tent, a

carny Carny, also spelled carnie, is an informal term used in North America for a traveling carnival employee, and the language they use, particularly when the employee operates a game ("joint"), food stand ("grab", "popper" or "floss wagon"), or ride ...

is dressed up as a doctor (

Logan Ramsey Logan Carlisle Ramsey Jr. (March 21, 1921 – June 26, 2000) was an American character actor of television and film for nearly 50 years. Early life Ramsey was born in Long Beach, California, the son of Harriet Lillian (née Kilmartin) and Capta ...

), alongside two women dressed as nurses. The doctor makes a show of examining the Sleeping Beauty (

) to demonstrate that she is healthy. He then announces that "red-blooded men" can pay another $1 to kiss the Sleeping Beauty and try to wake her. After the show, Troy presses the carny for details about the woman, finding out that she has been asleep for eight years. The doctor offers to leave Troy alone with her for $50. Instead, Troy asks how much it would cost to buy her. The carny suggests $20,000, and Troy agrees. The carny gives Troy a bottle and explains that its contents will keep the woman asleep. Troy takes the woman back to the mansion. Troy announces to Scarlett, who is in bed with a bald female lover, that he has purchased a Sleeping Beauty. Troy then goes to his regular gig at a nightclub, where he plays

baritone sax The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contrab ...

and leads a 6-piece band. After his set, he checks in with a junkie named Jeff (

) to make sure he is taking the pills that Troy bought for him. Scarlett and Troy live a cloistered life of privilege in their mansion. They play elaborate games with each other and a string of women. Currently, Scarlett is pretending to run a finishing school. Her newest student is a young woman named Angelica (Veronica Anderson), who dresses as a French maid and waits on Scarlett and Troy. Scarlett gently corrects mistakes in Angelica's service. Meanwhile, the Sleeping Beauty awakes, and Troy discovers that her name is Jennifer. He gradually shows her around the house, as she acclimates to being awake for the first time in years. Together, they watch Scarlett and Angelica do a dance routine while dressed as nuns. When the jukebox switches to a tango, Troy hastily shuts it off and closes a curtain to hide the women from Jennifer. He puts her to bed. Jennifer thanks him for waking her, quoting Alfred Tennyson's "

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

": "I'd sleep another hundred years, O love, for such another kiss." Troy jokes that he did not kiss Jennifer to wake her, and she responds that she did not sleep for 100 years. Troy heads back downstairs, turns the jukebox back on, and lifts the curtain. Scarlett and Angelica have remained frozen in the same position from when Troy closed the curtain. The resume their dance. The next day, Troy and Jennifer dress up and go out on a date to the jazz club, which is empty save for Jeff. Troy plays a song and dedicates it to the two people he loves the most: Jeff and Jennifer. When he comes home, he announces to Scarlett that he is going to take Jennifer away. He explains that he is having genuine feelings when he interacts with Jennifer. After so many years of the pretenses that he and Scarlett employ to amuse themselves, he is shocked to find that he does not want to create a false reality with Jennifer. Scarlett convinces Troy to let Jennifer stay for a while, in order to ascertain if his feelings are genuine. Back at the club after closing, Troy gets a waitress to dance topless as a cheerleader for him. He gives her a very elaborate premise about whom she is rooting for, and encourages her to make it more genuine. She takes off her skirt and tries one more time, but Troy has gone home, where he makes love to Jennifer for the first time. Realizing that his feelings are indeed real, he takes Jennifer away from the mansion in the Sleeping Beauty van included with his purchase of her. After a little while away, they return to the mansion where Scarlett and Angelica don their nun costumes. Scarlett reveals that Angelica shaved her head in order to join their order. Troy puts on a priest costume, and Scarlett pretends to initiate Jennifer as a novice. Troy is heartbroken by the ruse. He pours some of the sleeping potion into the wine that Jennifer must drink during the ceremony. Realizing that Troy does not want to keep up the pretense, Jennifer asks him why he does not want to continue the game. She explains that she wants to keep playing the game forever, as if she were a child. As she grows tired from the potion, Troy tearfully picks her up and carries her away. The film ends with Jennifer back in the Sleeping Beauty tent. Troy is now playing the role of the doctor, and Scarlett plays his nurse.

Cast

- Robert Troy *

- Scarlett *

- Jennifer *

- Jeff *Veronica Anderson - Angelica *

- Carnival Doctor *Brandy Herred - Nude Cheerleader * Pat Priest - Carnival Nurse

Production

James B. Harris found John Collier's story in '' Fancies and Goodnights'' while doing research for Stanley Kubrick's ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Hum ...

''. In the original, the Sleeping Beauty is so unlikable when she awakes that the man puts her back to sleep. Harris was more interested in a relationship that soured because of the man's inability to escape his own obsessions. The baritone saxophone solos in the film were recorded by

Ronnie Lang Ronnie Lang (sometimes spelled Ronny; born July 24, 1929) is an American jazz alto saxophonist. His professional début was with Hoagy Carmichael's Teenagers. He also played with Earle Spencer (1946), Ike Carpenter, and Skinnay Ennis (1947). L ...

. The rest of the band consisted of

Conte Candoli Secondo "Conte" Candoli (July 12, 1927 – December 14, 2001) was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orc ...

(trumpet),

Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of G ...

(trombone),

Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

(keyboard), Ray Brown (bass) and

Stan Levey Adolph Stanley Levey known professionally as Stan Levey (April 5, 1926 – April 19, 2005) was an American jazz drummer. He was known for working with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the early development of bebop during the 1940s, and in ...

(drums).

Reception

James B. Harris was invited to the

Director's Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festi ...

at the

1973 Cannes Film Festival The 26th Cannes Film Festival was held from 10 to 25 May 1973. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film went to ''Scarecrow'' by Jerry Schatzberg and ''The Hireling'' by Alan Bridges. At this festival two new non-competitive sections were ...

, where the film was received well. He explained the decision to make Troy a jazz musician was meant to underscore the games he plays with Scarlett. Troy has a " jazz mentality that prefers 'playing variations' to 'playing the melody.'" Rosenbaum, Jonathan.
Cannes Journal (1973)
. American reviewers tended to dismiss the film as "a rambling, contemporary fable that is merely pretentious."

References

External links