A Touch of Class **** (1973, George Segal, Glenda Jackson, Paul Sorvino) – Classic Movie Review 10,729

Melvin Frank’s 1973 romantic comedy film A Touch of Class is one of the highspots of Glenda Jackson’s career, bringing her a second Best Actress Oscar, and co-star George Segal won a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

Writer-producer-director Melvin Frank’s 1973 romantic comedy A Touch of Class is one of the highspots of Glenda Jackson’s career, bringing her a second Best Actress Oscar (after 1969’s Women in Love). She also won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and co-star George Segal won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.

Melvin Frank and Jack Rose are the writers to praise for this romantic farce about a divorced English dress designer called Vickie Allessio having an affair with a married American businessman named Steve Blackburn (George Segal).

Glenda Jackson and George Segal make a delightful, charming team, bickering and falling in love, and some of this tough-edged, though soft-centred yarn is quite hilarious. It was a big hit too, and the stars returned to rekindle their screen chemistry for Lost and Found (1979).

The screenplay is based on the story She Loves Me, She Told Me So Last Night by Marvin Frank.

Also in the cast are Paul Sorvino, Hildegarde Neil, Cec Linder, Mary Barclay, Michael Elwyn, Eve Karpf, David Healy, Gaye Brown and Donald Hewlett.

There were four other Oscar nominations: Best Picture (Melvin Frank), Best Adapted Story and Screenplay (Melvin Frank, Jack Rose), Best Original Song (‘All That Love Went to Waste’, George Barrie music, Sammy Cahn lyrics) and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score (John Cameron).

Glenda Jackson is also a Best Actress Oscar nominee for Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) and Hedda (1975).

RIP George Segal, who died on March 23, 2021, aged 87, after complications from surgery. After King Rat (1965), he scored an Oscar-nominated performance in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

Glenda Jackson (9 May 1936 – 15 June 2023) one of the few to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, winning two Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. She was made CBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1978. She won Best Actress Oscars for Women in Love (1970) and A Touch of Class (1973), and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress for Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971). Her other notable films include Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), The Romantic Englishwoman (1975), Hedda (1975), The Incredible Sarah (1976), House Calls (1978), Hopscotch (1980) and The Rainbow (1989).

Glenda Jackson was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, and her mother named her after the Hollywood film star Glenda Farrell.

 © Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,729

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