''The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart'' is a 1970 American film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) about a confused college student's experiences with sex, relationships, and drugs in late 1960s New York City. Produced by

Martin Poll Martin Poll (November 24, 1922 – April 14, 2012) was an American film and television producer. Poll produced eleven feature films during his career, including '' The Lion in Winter'', for which he received a 1968 Academy Award nomination for ...

and directed by Leonard J. Horn, the film was based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Robert T. Westbrook, who was also an associate producer of the film. It was the film debut of

Don Johnson Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Em ...

, who appeared in the title role.

Plot

Stanley Sweetheart (Don Johnson) is an aspiring filmmaker and junior at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

who moved to New York City from

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

. His father is dead, he is not close to his mother, and his family is running out of money. He lives alone in a Manhattan apartment on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

across from a noisy construction site, and seems to have no friends. Bored with his classes and seeking a sexual outlet, he fantasizes about a beautiful blonde classmate. Later, he visits a local bar where he runs into a talkative

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

acquaintance, Barbara (Linda Gillen), who has recently changed her name to Shayne. He has a one-night stand with Barbara, and in the night he sees and is attracted to her beautiful roommate, Andrea (Victoria Racimo). On a later visit to the bar, he meets their friend Danny (

Michael Greer Michael Greer (born James Robert Malley; April 20, 1938 Although some sources list Greer's birth date as April 20, 1942, no support for a 1943 birth date has yet been found in publicly available birth records.Dianne Hull Dianne Hull (born November 24, 1949) is an American actress whose film career spanned from 1969 to the early 1990s. The films she has acted in include ''The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart'', ''Aloha, Bobby and Rose'', '' The Arrangement'', ' ...

). Cathy and Stanley fall in love, but she is a virgin and initially refuses his sexual advances, leaving him frustrated. Finally she agrees to sleep with him and the two settle into happy domestic life for a time, but Stanley soon becomes bored with the relationship and fantasizes about Andrea. When Cathy expresses concern about the promiscuous behavior of her chubby roommate Fran (

Holly Near Holly Near (born June 6, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist. Early years Holly Near was born in Ukiah, California, United States, and was raised on a ranch in Potter Valley, California. She was eight years o ...

), Stanley invites Fran over under the pretext of filming her for an underground movie called "Masturbation." He gets Fran drunk and films her in a variety of sexual positions, culminating with her masturbating in a bathtub, after which Stanley and Fran have sex. He initially feels guilty, but Fran comes to his apartment when Cathy is away and entices him into continuing the affair behind Cathy's back. Stanley, who by now has dropped out of college, accompanies Danny (who relates that he himself "used to go to

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

") to a

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

rock concert/ happening in a

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

performance space. Soon after, Danny, Barbara and Andrea drop by Stanley's apartment while he is home with Cathy. They all smoke pot together and Stanley finally gets to talk with Andrea, while Cathy is attracted to Danny. Later, Cathy breaks up with Stanley, saying that they haven't loved each other for a long time and she wants to see Danny instead. Stanley gets mad and throws her out of his apartment, but afterwards misses her and unsuccessfully looks for her. He confronts Danny, who admits that he doesn't really care about Cathy, but won't tell her to stop coming around. Stanley visits Andrea's apartment, where they smoke pot and eventually make love, joined later by Barbara. Stanley moves in with the girls and they form a makeshift family with Stanley as "big daddy", Andrea as "mama" and Barbara as "little sister", and spend their time together getting high, having group sex and exploring

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. At first Stanley is the happiest he has ever been in his life, but soon finds himself again losing interest. When he finally sees Cathy at another psychedelic event, he is so high he can't respond to her efforts to talk to him. Danny shoots himself behind his mother's house. Stanley wakes up at Andrea and Barbara's apartment and tells Andrea he's going uptown to change his clothes. Andrea asks him to please come back, because she needs him. Stanley says he will come back, but as he leaves, it's unclear whether he will actually keep that promise.

Cast

as Stanley Sweetheart *

as Cathy * Linda Gillen (as "Linda Gillin") as Barbara / Shayne * Victoria Racimo as Andrea *

as Fran *

Karen Lynn Gorney Karen Lynn Gorney (born ) is an American actress who had roles in television shows and films including the soap opera ''All My Children'' and the movie ''Saturday Night Fever''. Early life Gorney's father is Jay Gorney, who was born in Białyst ...

as Alicia * Brandon Maggart as Man In Café

Production

Although Richard Thomas was originally intended to play the lead role of "Stanley Sweetheart",

was cast after having been seen in the lead role ("Smitty") of

Sal Mineo Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer, and director. He is best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), which earned him a nomination f ...

's Los Angeles stage production of the prison drama ''

Fortune and Men's Eyes ''Fortune and Men's Eyes'' is a 1967 play and 1971 film written by John Herbert about a young man's experience in prison, exploring themes of homosexuality and sexual slavery. Plot of the play The plot follows Smitty, a 17-year-old, after he ...

''. Robert Westbrook has stated that he did not like Johnson, considering him a "hustler of the worst kind" and "utterly miscast", but was overruled by producer Martin Poll. According to Westbrook, Cathleen (Kate) Heflin (daughter of

Van Heflin Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...

) was originally signed to play "Cathy", before being replaced by Dianne Hull. Westbrook and Cathleen Heflin later married. Jolie Jones, daughter of record producer Quincy Jones, was originally cast to play Barbara's roommate, Andrea, but dropped out and was replaced by Victoria Racimo.

Warhol superstar Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by the pop artist Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life, epitomizing his fam ...

Joe Dallesandro Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro III (born December 31, 1948) is an American actor and Warhol superstar. Having also crossed over into mainstream roles such as mobster Lucky Luciano in the film ''The Cotton Club (film), The Cotton Club'', Dallesandro ...

was originally cast as "Danny," Stanley's older, more experienced counterculture friend, but clashed with the assistant director and was fired from the film after only one day.

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 ...

'' and other newspapers in October 1969, MGM announced that

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

would make his commercial film debut in the movie, in his first-ever speaking role as a "freaked-out psychiatrist" in a hallucination orgy scene. It was further reported that Warhol superstars

Ultra Violet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...

Candy Darling Candy Darling (November 24, 1944 – March 21, 1974) was an American actress, best known as a Warhol superstar and transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not ...

, and

Gerard Malanga Gerard Joseph Malanga (born March 20, 1943) is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, actor, curator and archivist. Early life Malanga was born in the Bronx in 1943, the only child of Italian immigrant parents. In 1959, at the beginning of h ...

(as well as Joe Dallesandro) had also been cast in the film, with Ultra Violet playing a nurse during the hallucinated orgy scene. Candy Darling was signed to appear in the "Electric Head" sequence of the film, and can be seen in an uncredited brief, wordless cameo reclining on a mattress during the scene where Stanley attends an underground psychedelic performance. Warhol, Malanga and Ultra Violet do not appear in the released film. The construction shown in the film as taking place across the street from Stanley's apartment (which, according to the movie dialogue, is located on the

of Manhattan near

and the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

) is actually real-life footage of the early construction of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

. The film was initially rated "X", but was changed to "R" after MGM agreed to two minor cuts.

Reception

The movie was a box office flop and resulted in MGM dropping Don Johnson. Johnson later said, "It was a big book during that era, but as a movie, it damn near buried me! It damn near sent me back to Missouri!" Robert Westbrook has theorized that "the 60s were over-exploited by the media, and when the movie came out in 1970 everyone was completely sick of the whole sex/drugs/hippie thing." Critics also disliked the film, viewing it as a dated attempt to exploit the market for youth-oriented films.

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 ...

called it "calculatingly bland" and

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 '' ...

deemed it a "disaster" and a "vile little turn-on".

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 ...

gave the film zero stars out of four, calling it "an insult to the young people it is trying to lure." The film's reputation did not improve with time;

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

's 2015 movie guide described it as "vapid" and gave it one and a half stars. Warhol nevertheless praised the film as "the quintessential, most truthful studio-made film about the '60s counterculture". In ''The Andy Warhol Diaries'', Warhol recounted that Martin Poll had approached him in 1986 about doing a movie on Warhol's life story, to which Warhol responded that "a wonderful movie had already been made on the sixties, and he should just remake it — ''The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart.''" The film has never had an official release on VHS,

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 ...

, or

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

Music

The film introduced the song " Sweet Gingerbread Man", composed by

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

(music) and

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *A ...

and

Marilyn Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

(lyrics). It was performed on the film's soundtrack by The Mike Curb Congregation. Released as a single to promote the soundtrack album, the song was a minor hit, reaching #16 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It was subsequently covered by numerous artists, including

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

, Jack Jones,

Bobby Sherman Robert Cabot Sherman Jr. (born July 22, 1943), known professionally as Bobby Sherman, is an American retired paramedic, police officer, singer, actor and occasional songwriter who became a teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had a s ...

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

, and Australian pop singer Dave Allenby. In 1977, the song was performed by

Muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are ...

gingerbread men A gingerbread man or a Gingerbread man cookie is a biscuit or cookie made from gingerbread, usually in the shape of a stylized form / caricature of a human being, although other shapes, especially seasonal themes (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, et ...

on Episode #201 of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

''. The film's opening theme song, "Nobody Knows", also composed by Legrand/ Bergman/ Bergman and performed in the film by

Bill Medley William Thomas Medley (born September 19, 1940) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as one half of The Righteous Brothers. He is noted for his bass-baritone voice, exemplified in songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Med ...

, has also been covered a number of times, including by

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

, Jack Jones, and

Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

. MGM released a soundtrack album for the film including various artists, such as

Eric Burdon and War War (originally called Eric Burdon and War) is an American funk/rock music, rock/soul music, soul band from Long Beach, California, known for several hit songs (including "Spill the Wine", "The World Is a Ghetto (War song), The World Is a Ghett ...

, The Mike Curb Congregation, David Lucas,

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...

, Angeline Butler, and

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart 1970 films 1970 drama films American drama films Films scored by Michel Legrand Films based on American novels Films set in New York City Films set in universities and colleges Films shot in New York City Hippie films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Leonard Horn 1970s English-language films 1970s American films