Goodbye Charlie
1964 theatrical poster
Directed byVincente Minnelli
Written byGeorge Axelrod (play)
Harry Kurnitz
Produced byDavid Weisbart
StarringDebbie Reynolds
Tony Curtis
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
November 18, 1964
Running time
116 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million[1]
Box office$3,700,000 (US/ Canada rentals)[2]

Goodbye Charlie is a 1964 comedy film about a callous womanizer who gets his just reward. It was adapted from George Axelrod's play Goodbye, Charlie and starred Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis. The play also provided the basis for Switch, with Ellen Barkin and Jimmy Smits.

Plot summary

Charlie Sorrel is shot and killed by Sir Leopold Sartori (Walter Matthau) when he is caught fooling around with Sartori's wife. Later, passerby Bruce Minton III (Pat Boone) comes to the aid of a dazed woman (Debbie Reynolds) wandering on a beach. She doesn't remember much other than directions to Charlie's residence.

The next morning, it all comes back to her: she is the reincarnation of Charlie. After getting over the shock, she convinces her best (and only) friend, George Tracy (Tony Curtis), of her identity. All manner of complications arise as she first accepts the situation and then decides to take advantage of it, with Tracy's reluctant help.

Charlie has changed his sex, but he cannot change his ways, and eventually he gets murdered again ... only to be reincarnated one more time: as a dog.

Television adaptation

In 1985, Goodbye Charlie was made into a TV series (starring Suzanne Somers as the reincarnated Charlie), but only the pilot episode was broadcast.[1]

References

  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p254
  2. ^ This figure consists of anticipated rentals accruing distributors in North America. See "Big Rental Pictures of 1965", Variety, 5 January 1966 p 6 and Solomon p 229. Please note these figures are rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
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