The April Fools
| The April Fools | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Stuart Rosenberg |
| Produced by |
Gordon Carroll Carter De Haven Jr. (associate producer) |
| Written by | Hal Dresner |
| Starring |
Jack Lemmon Catherine Deneuve Myrna Loy Peter Lawford |
| Music by | Marvin Hamlisch |
| Cinematography | Michel Hugo |
| Edited by | Bob Wyman |
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Production
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| Distributed by |
National General Pictures (1969, original) CBS Films (2014, DVD) |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4.5 million (US/ Canada rentals) |
The April Fools is a 1969 romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve. It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg.
Howard Brubaker (Lemmon) is married to Phyllis (Sally Kellerman), who doesn't love him. Catherine (Deneuve) is the stunning wife of an equally uncaring husband, Howard's philandering boss Ted Gunther (Peter Lawford).
The very evening of the same day Ted promotes Howard, at a house party hosted by Ted, he urges Howard to pick up an available woman at the party and proceeds to show him how. Howard reluctantly tries it on Catherine, who instantly accepts. The two leave the party for the evening and go out for a little adventure on the town, while Ted is oblivious, as he is concentrating on other women at the party.
The two find their marriages are loveless as they discover more about each other that night and decide to run away together the next evening. But Ted doesn't realize the other man is Howard until Howard is about to board the plane with Catherine to go to Paris.
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):
The 1980 Rosenberg film Brubaker's title character is also named H. Brubaker, there played by Robert Redford.
The female lead was originally going to be played by Shirley MacLaine but she was not available due to commitments on Sweet Charity and campaigning for Robert F. Kennedy. Catherine Deneuve was cast instead.
The New York Times review said, "The April Fools, written by Hal Dresner and directed by Stuart Rosenberg, manipulates its stereotypes with elegance and style. ... The best things in the movie, however, are the extraordinarily good supporting performances by Peter Lawford (Miss Deneuve's husband), Jack Weston, Harvey Korman, Sally Kellerman, and by two stars who invented movie elegance almost 30 years ago, Charles Boyer and Myrna Loy."
Published slightly in advance of the film's release (as was the usual custom of the era), a paperback screenplay novelization by the ubiquitous and gifted tie-in scribe William Johnston was issued by Popular Library.
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Wikipedia