Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate | |
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Genre | Mystery/Suspense/Comedy |
Based on | the novel by Doris Miles Disney |
Screenplay by | John D. F. Black |
Directed by | Ted Post |
Starring |
Helen Hayes Vince Edwards Myrna Loy Mildred Natwick Sylvia Sidney |
Theme music composer | Jerry Goldsmith |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) |
Lee Rich (executive producer) Robert Jacks (producer) |
Cinematography | Stanley Cortez, A.S.C. |
Editor(s) | Folmar Blangsted, A C E |
Running time | 73 minutes |
Production company(s) | Samuel Goldwyn Studios |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Original release | November 9, 1971 |
Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate is an American television film made for the 90-minute series ABC Movie of the Week which broadcast it on November 9, 1971. Directed by Ted Post, it stars Helen Hayes, Myrna Loy, Mildred Natwick, Sylvia Sidney, John Beradino and Vince Edwards, with the screenplay adapted by John D. F. Black from a novel of the same name by Doris Miles Disney.
Residing in the Los Angeles County city of Pasadena, four middle class ladies in their late sixties (Helen Hayes, Myrna Loy, Mildred Natwick, and Sylvia Sidney) habitually meet for lunch and exchange small talk with their waitress (Dodo Denney). During the meal they discuss an "amusing" project to create a fictitious profile of a young woman and submit it to a computer dating service. Several days later, they start receiving letters from potential suitors and derive additional amusement from reading them out loud. Meanwhile, after dark, in a car parked in front of her home on a quiet residential street, a young woman (Diane Shalet) becomes alarmed by the aggressive behavior of her date (Vince Edwards) whose attempts to force himself upon her cause her to scramble out of his car and, when he comes out and attempts to manhandle and restrain her, she tearfully runs into the house, as her mother (Margaret Wheeler) calls out through the window, "Ruthie". The man gets back in his car and drives away while his audible thoughts reveal that he has difficulty relating to women and the resulting resentment and rage he feels towards them. He tries to recall the name of another prospect for a relationship and settles on the fictitious "Rebecca" submitted to the "Scientific Associates" computer dating agency by the aged ladies.