Plaza Suite *** (1971, Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris, Lee Grant) – Classic Movie Review 7.482

Neil Simon adapts his stage hit Plaza Suite but was unhappy with the film, thinking the idea of one actor playing the lead in all three acts didn’t work on screen, and that Walter Matthau was only right for the father-of-the-bride in the climax episode.

Neil Simon’s three-act Broadway stage triumph Plaza Suite, comprising three separate playlets, all flimsily linked solely by being set in the same plush suite number 719 in the Plaza hotel in New York City, provides a useful vehicle for three different character performances from the great and much missed Walter Matthau.

Director Arthur Hiller’s 1971 compendium movie is no more than just plainly filmed theatre. But it amuses a lot, especially in the climax episode with Matthau as Roy Hubley, the harassed father of a neurotic bride called Mimsey (Jenny Sullivan) who locks herself in the bathroom (with Lee Grant as the mom, Norma).

The curtain-raiser sees Maureen Stapleton as Karen Nash suspecting her husband Sam (Matthau again) of infidelity on their honeymoon anniversary. Then comes part two with Barbara Harris as Muriel Tate, the old flame of a movie producer, Jesse Kiplinger (Matthau yet again).

It is impossible to get too much of Matthau, so three for the price of one is a great bargain. And Stapleton, Harris and Grant are all delightful in their special, different ways, so it is frustrating not to see more of them

Also in the cast are Jose Ocasio, Dan Ferrone, Louise Sorel as Jean McCormack, Jenny Sullivan as Mimsey Hubley, Alan North as Mr Eisler and Tom Carey.

Plaza Suite runs 114 minutes, is made and released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Neil Simon, is shot by Jack Marta, is produced by Howard W Koch, and is scored by Maurice Jarre.

Release date: May 12, 1971.

Simon adapts his play but he was unhappy with the film, thinking the idea of the same actor playing the lead in all three acts worked on stage but not on screen, and that Matthau was only right for the beleaguered father-of-the-bride in the climax episode.

George C Scott, not at all a funny man, unexpectedly starred in the original Broadway production. He and Maureen Stapleton appeared in all three acts.

HBO broadcast a live production with Lee Grant and Jerry Orbach in all three roles on 31 December 1982.

In 1987, Carol Burnett starred all three female roles in a TV movie version along with Hal Holbrook, Dabney Coleman and Richard Crenna.

Plaza Suite premiered in 1968 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven and the Colonial Theatre in Boston. It then opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on 14 February 1968 and closed on 3 October 1970 after 1,097 performances and two previews. Mike Nichols won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.

Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker starred in a Broadway revival, which previewed from 25 February 2022 and opened on 28 March 2022. The run was extended to 10 July 2022. Broderick and Parker transferred it to London’s West End, previewing at the Savoy Theatre from 17 January 2024 before opening on 28 January 2024. The run was extended to 13 April 2024.

Broderick established his career when he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Neil Simon’s 1983 semi-autobiographical play Brighton Beach Memoirs. But the 1986 film version of Brighton Beach Memoirs stars Jonathan Silverman as Eugene. Silverman also stars  (as Stan) in the 1992 film version of Broadway Bound, the last chapter in of the Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues. Corey Parker plays Eugene. The 1988 film adaptation of Biloxi Blues stars Broderick as Eugene.

The play originally had four acts, one of which was cut. Simon later expanded it as the 1970 film The Out-of-Towners.

RIP Barbara Harris, remembered for Who Is Harry Kellerman, A Thousand Clowns, Plaza Suite, Nashville, Freaky Friday and Hitchcock’s Family Plot, who died at 83 on 21 August 2018. Her last film was Grosse Pointe Blank in 1997.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,482

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Barbara Harris in Hitchcock’s Family Plot.