Author! Author! (film)
| Author! Author! | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Arthur Hiller |
| Produced by | Irwin Winkler |
| Written by | Israel Horovitz |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Dave Grusin |
| Cinematography | Victor J. Kemper |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $13.1 million (US) |
Author! Author! is a 1982 American comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Hiller, written by Israel Horovitz, and stars Al Pacino, Dyan Cannon and Tuesday Weld. The film which is loosely autobiographical, concerns a Broadway playwright who strives to solve his family and relationship troubles while trying to get a new play into production.
Playwright Ivan Travalian has a new Broadway play (English with Tears) in rehearsal and the backers want rewrites. His wife, Gloria, moves out, leaving him with custody of their five children: four from her previous marriage and his own son. His lead actress, Alice Detroit, wants to move in with him, but cannot have children.
Screenwriter Israel Horovitz first worked with Al Pacino in 1968, when Pacino starred in his play The Indian Wants the Bronx, for which they both received Obie Awards. They remained friends over the years and jumped at the chance to work again on Author! Author! The film was based on Horovitz's own personal experiences as a divorced father responsible for looking after two of his three children. "I felt there was a lot of room to explore the ease with which people get married in this country, the way kids come along in huge bunches and the irresponsibility of parents in taking care of those children." He also talked to his three children for inspiration. He said, "The film had to be written in a comic mode, because otherwise it's too painful to deal with." Horovitz made the protagonist Armenian American to give him a strong ethnic identity parallel to his own Jewish background. Director Arthur Hiller was drawn to the project because it was about an extended family and that it showed "that love is what makes a family strong, not necessarily who's the natural parent."
Dyan Cannon was originally asked to play Gloria, but turned it down because she found the character "bitchy" and had played that kind of role before. She was then asked to play Alice and agreed because she loved the character. Cannon enjoyed making the film and compared the experience to "being on a cruise". Alan King also enjoyed filming, and said that his character was a cross between Hal Prince and Zero Mostel.
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