''Unfaithfully Yours'' is a 1984 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film directed by Howard Zieff, starring

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 ...

and Nastassja Kinski and featuring

Armand Assante Armand Anthony Assante Jr. (; born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He played mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film '' Gotti'', Odysseus in the 1997 mini-series adaptation of Homer's ''The Odyssey'', Nietzsche in ''When ...

and

Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein ; July 22, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's '' Broadcast News'' and was widely praised for his performance as a ...

. The screenplay was written by Valerie Curtin,

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ...

, and Robert Klane based on

Preston Sturges Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' The Great McGinty'' (1940), h ...

' screenplay for the 1948 film of the same name. The original music score is by

Bill Conti William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (and four of its sequels), ''The Karate Kid'' (and all of its sequels), '' For Your Eyes Only'', ''Dynasty'' (and its ...

and the song "Unfaithfully Yours (One Love)" was written for the film and performed by Stephen Bishop.

Plot

Claude Eastman (

) is a composer and the conductor of a prestigious symphony who has recently married beautiful Daniella ( Nastassja Kinski), a much younger woman. While travelling, he sends a message to his friend Norman Robbins (

) to keep an eye on his wife, but the message is garbled by Claude's Italian valet Giuseppe (

Richard Libertini Richard Joseph Libertini (May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for playing character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents. His films include ''Catch-22'' (1970), '' The I ...

), and instead of looking after Daniella, Norman hires a private detective named Keller (

Richard B. Shull Richard Bruce Shull (February 24, 1929 – October 14, 1999) was an American character actor. Biography Early life Shull was born in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Zana Marie (née Brown), a court stenographer, and Ulysses Homer Shull, a manufa ...

) to investigate her. The private eye's report, which comes with a fuzzy video, is that Daniella had an assignation with a man who, by wearing Argyle socks, appears to be Maxmillian Stein (

), a handsome violinist with the orchestra – and Claude's protégé – who is well known as a ladies man. In fact, Max merely used Claude's flat for an assignation with Norman's wife Carla. Claude attempts to surprise Max and Daniella together, leading Max and Carla to believe that he knows about their affair. When Max eventually meets Daniella, it is at a restaurant where Claude, overwhelmed with jealousy, duels Max with violins by playing a

Csárdás Csárdás (, ; ), often seen as Czárdás, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from ' (old Hungarian term for roadside tavern and restaurant). It originated in Hungary and was popularized by bands in Hungary and neighboring l ...

, the famous composition of

Vittorio Monti Vittorio Monti (6 January 186820 June 1922) was an Italian composer, violinist, mandolinist and conductor. His most famous work is his '' Csárdás'', written around 1904 and played by almost every Romani orchestra. Monti was born in Naples ...

. Claude separately confronts both Daniella and Max. Daniella feels guilty because she is keeping the affair a secret from her husband, while Max apologises only for using Claude's flat for the affair. Not realising that Claude believes Max was meeting Daniella, neither of them clarifies that Max was meeting Carla, and Claude takes this as confirmation of his suspicions, while he is enraged by their apparent lack of contrition. He plots to kill both of them. As he conducts

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's " Violin Concerto", the full elaborate plan to kill Daniella and frame Max for the murder runs through his mind, leaving him laughing hysterically, but afterwards, when he tries to carry out his plan, unforeseen circumstances intervene. Meanwhile, Keller realises his mistake after seeing Carla leave Claude's apartment on the tape. After failing to catch Claude at the concert to explain, he goes to Claude's flat and interrupts him while he is struggling to carry out his murder plan. Daniella is initially furious when she learns the truth - seemingly more because Claude believed she was unfaithful than because he planned to kill her - and leaves. Claude rushes after her and explains that he loves her but doesn't think he can stop being jealous, and the two reconcile.

Cast

as Claude Eastman * Nastassja Kinski as Daniella Eastman *

as Maxmillian Stein *

as Norman Robbins * Cassie Yates as Carla Robbins *

as Giuseppe *

as Jess Keller * Jan Triska as Jerzy Czyrek * Jane Hallaren as Janet * Bernard Behrens as Bill Lawrence * Leonard Mann as Screen lover Cast notes: *

Betty Shabazz Betty Shabazz (born Betty Dean Sanders; May 28, 1934/1936 – June 23, 1997), also known as Betty X, was an American educator and civil rights advocate. She was married to Malcolm X. Shabazz grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her foste ...

, the widow of

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

has a small part in the film.

Production

The project to remake

' 1948

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

, which was an artistic success but not a financial one, was originally intended for

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 ...

, before his death in 1980.

Reception

''Unfaithfully Yours'' received generally mixed to negative reviews from critics, and currently holds a 33% "Rotten" approval rating at review aggregator

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 Wan ...

. In spite of the lukewarm critical reception, the film was a minor commercial success.

References

External links

* * * *
Review
in ''

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 ...

'' {{Authority control 1984 films 1984 romantic comedy films 20th Century Fox films American romantic comedy films Remakes of American films 1980s English-language films Films scored by Bill Conti Films about classical music and musicians Films based on works by Preston Sturges Films directed by Howard Zieff 1980s American films