Tootsie
| Tootsie | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Sydney Pollack |
| Produced by |
Charles Evans Sydney Pollack Dick Richards Ronald L. Schwary |
| Screenplay by |
Larry Gelbart Murray Schisgal Barry Levinson (uncredited) Elaine May (uncredited) |
| Story by |
Don McGuire Larry Gelbart |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Dave Grusin |
| Cinematography | Owen Roizman |
| Edited by |
Fredric Steinkamp William Steinkamp |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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116 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $21 million |
| Box office | $177.2 million |
Tootsie is a 1982 American comedy film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman, with a supporting cast that includes Bill Murray, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Geena Davis (in her acting debut), and Doris Belack. The film tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to adopt a new identity as a woman in order to land a job. The film was adapted by Larry Gelbart, Barry Levinson (uncredited), Elaine May (uncredited) and Murray Schisgal from the story by Gelbart and Don McGuire.
In 1998, the Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The theme song to the film, "It Might Be You," which was sung by singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop, whose music was composed by Dave Grusin, and whose lyrics were written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, was a Top 40 hit in the U.S., and also hit No. 1 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart.
Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is a respected but perfectionist actor. Nobody in New York wants to hire him anymore because he is difficult to work with. According to his long-suffering agent George Fields (Sydney Pollack), Michael's attention to detail and difficult reputation led a commercial he worked on to run significantly over-schedule, because the idea of a tomato sitting down was "illogical" to him. After many months without a job, Michael hears of an opening on the popular daytime soap opera Southwest General from his friend and acting student Sandy Lester (Teri Garr), who tries out for the role of hospital administrator Emily Kimberly, but doesn't get it. In desperation, and as a result of his agent telling him that "no one will hire you", he dresses as a woman, auditions as "Dorothy Michaels" and gets the part. Michael takes the job as a way to raise $8,000 to produce a play, written by his roommate Jeff Slater (Bill Murray) and to star Sandy, titled Return to Love Canal. Michael plays his character as a feisty, feminist administrator, which surprises the other actors and crew who expected Emily to be (as written) another swooning female in the plot. His character quickly becomes a television sensation.
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