An Unmarried Woman

An Unmarried Woman is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky and starring Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, Michael Murphy, and Cliff Gorman. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress (Clayburgh).

An Unmarried Woman
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPaul Mazursky
Written byPaul Mazursky
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyArthur J. Ornitz
Edited byStuart H. Pappé
Music byBill Conti
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • March 5, 1978 (1978-03-05) (United States)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.5 million[1]
Box office$24 million[2]

Plot

Erica Benton works part-time at a SoHo art gallery and is in a seemingly happy marriage to Martin, a successful businessman. They live together with their teenage daughter Patti in an upscale Upper East Side apartment. Martin, however, has been having a year-long affair with a much younger woman named Marcia. When he confesses to Erica that he loves his mistress and wants to marry her, Erica is devastated, and Martin moves out.

With the help of Patti, her circle of close friends, and a therapist, Erica slowly comes to terms with the divorce and begins to get her life back on track. She reluctantly tries dating again, but after Martin's betrayal and a disastrous blind date, she is even warier of ever finding a suitable man again. Her mistrust of men threatens her relationship with Patti, as she takes out her frustrations on Patti's boyfriend, Phil. Out of desperation, Erica has sex with Charlie, an obnoxious, chauvinistic co-worker, but she does not find the experience fulfilling.

As she grows more accustomed to her new life, she meets Saul, an abstract painter, and begins a relationship with him. Both value their independence and so have a difficult time adjusting to domestic life. When Patti meets Saul, she is initially hostile, believing Erica is trying to bring him in to replace Martin, which Saul assures Patti he does not want to do.

After a few tense meetings, Martin and Erica begin to act cordially towards each other, only for Martin to reveal that Marcia has left him and he wants Erica back. Erica rebuffs him.

Saul tries to convince Erica to come with him to his home in Vermont for the summer, where he spends five months every year with his children, but she declines, not wishing to leave her daughter and her life behind for so long. Outside Saul's building, Erica helps him lower one of his paintings from his loft to the sidewalk. Shortly before driving away in his car, Saul reveals that the painting is a gift for Erica, leaving her to carry the giant canvas through the busy streets of Manhattan.

Cast

The abstract expressionist paintings in the film were created by artist Paul Jenkins, who taught Bates his painting technique for his acting role.[3]

Production

Paul Mazursky began writing the script in 1976 after interviewing several different women about their thoughts on marriage and independence. He initially offered the role of Erica to Jane Fonda, who passed to star in Julia. Mazursky also considered Barbra Streisand for the lead but did not hear back from her agent. Finally, Jill Clayburgh was considered without an audition after Mazursky saw her in a New York play. At 32 years old, Clayburgh was thought to be too young to play a wife in a 16-year marriage with a teenage daughter, but Clayburgh returned to Mazursky's office having styled herself in fashions indicative of an older woman and secured the part.

Principal photography began on April 5, 1977, in New York City, with the main locations being Manhattan's Upper East Side and SoHo neighborhoods.[4] Clayburgh worked the entire shoot without a day off, as her character was written into every scene of a film that was on a tight budget.

Anthony Hopkins was given the role of Saul but turned it down because the character does not show up until past the midway point of the script. British actor Alan Bates, whom Mazursky had always admired and who had never appeared in an American film, was given the part. Bates had some misgivings because he did not want to leave his dying father in England, but Mazursky assured him that he would be given seven days to be with his father in case of a tragic event. Bates conceded and his father died after he returned home.

Reception

Critical response

Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that "Clayburgh is nothing less than extraordinary in what is the performance of the year to date. In her we see intelligence battling feeling – reason backed against the wall by pushy needs."[5]

Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote:

An Unmarried Woman may give Mazursky the popular success that his films Blume in Love, Harry and Tonto and Next Stop, Greenwich Village should have given him – Erica, the heroine, sleeps in a T-shirt and bikini panties. There are so few movies that deal with recognizable people that this detail alone is enough to pick up one's spirits... Jill Clayburgh has a cracked, warbly voice – a modern polluted-city huskiness... When Erica's life falls apart and her reactions go out of control, Clayburgh's floating, not-quite-sure, not-quite-here quality is just right.[6]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Jill Clayburgh is wondrous as a woman who loses her marriage – only to find herself – in this acutely observed and lived-in portrait of New York City life."[7]

Accolades
Award Year Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Cannes Film Festival 1978 Palme d'Or Paul Mazursky Nominated [8][9]
Best Actress Jill Clayburgh Won[lower-alpha 1]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Los Angeles Film Critics Association Paul Mazursky Won [10]
National Board of Review Awards Top Ten Films An Unmarried Woman 7th Place [11]
Academy Awards 1979 Best Picture Paul Mazursky and Anthony Ray Nominated [12]
Best Actress Jill Clayburgh Nominated
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Paul Mazursky Nominated
Bodil Awards Best Non-European Film Won [13]
British Academy Film Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Jill Clayburgh Nominated [14]
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Paul Mazursky Nominated [15]
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama An Unmarried Woman Nominated [16]
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Jill Clayburgh Nominated
Best Director Paul Mazursky Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Best Original Score Bill Conti Nominated
National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Film An Unmarried Woman 2nd Place[lower-alpha 2] [17]
Best Actress Jill Clayburgh 3rd Place
Best Screenplay Paul Mazursky Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Film An Unmarried Woman Runner-up [18]
Best Actress Jill Clayburgh Runner-up
Best Director Paul Mazursky Runner-up
New York Film Critics Circle Won
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Drama Written Directly for the Screenplay Nominated

The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in these lists:

Notes
  1. Tied with Isabelle Huppert for Violette Nozière
  2. Tied with The Deer Hunter

References
  1. Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1.
  2. "An Unmarried Woman, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  3. Kennedy, Randy (June 17, 2012). "Paul Jenkins, Painter of Abstract Artwork, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  4. "An Unmarried Woman (1978)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  5. Canby, Vincent (March 5, 1978). "'An Unmarried Woman,' Film With Jill Clayburgh". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  6. Kael, Pauline (1980). When the Lights Go Down: Film Writings, 1975–1980. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp. 410–414.
  7. "An Unmarried Woman". Rotten Tomatoes.
  8. "Official Selection 1978: All the Selection". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  9. "Awards 1978: All Awards". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  10. "Awards for 1978". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  11. "1978 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  12. "The 51st Academy Awards | 1979". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  13. "Bodilprisen 1979" (in Danish). Bodil Awards. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  14. "Film in 1979". BAFTA Awards. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  15. "An Unmarried Woman: Awards & Nominations". MSN Movies. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
  16. "Unmarried Woman, An". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  17. Maslin, Janet (January 4, 1979). "Critics Cite 'Get Out Your Handkerchiefs'". The New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  18. Maslin, Janet (December 21, 1978). "Miss Bergman, Jon Voight And 'Deer Hunter' Cited". The New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  19. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers Nominees" (PDF). American Film Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
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