The Group (1966)

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Mary McCarthy (novel)
Sidney Buchman (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 March 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

It's 1933, and eight young women are friends and members of the upper- class group at a private girl's school...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Nobility | Baby Born | College | Party

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Candice Bergen	...	Lakey
Joan Hackett	...	Dottie
Elizabeth Hartman	...	Priss
Shirley Knight	...	Polly
Joanna Pettet	...	Kay
Mary-Robin Redd	...	Pokey
Jessica Walter	...	Libby
Kathleen Widdoes	...	Helena
James Broderick	...	Dr. Ridgeley
James Congdon	...	Sloan Crockett
Larry Hagman	...	Harald Peterson
Hal Holbrook	...	Gus Leroy
Richard Mulligan	...	Dick Brown
Robert Emhardt	...	Mr. Andrews
Carrie Nye	...	Norine
Philippa Bevans	...	Mrs. Hartshorn
Leta Bonynge	...	Mrs. Prothero
Marion Brash	...	Radio Man's Wife
Sarah Burton	...	Mrs. Davison
Flora Campbell	...	Mrs. MacAusland
Bruno Di Cosmi	...	Nils
Leora Dana	...	Mrs. Renfrew
Bill Fletcher	...	Bill, the Actor
George Gaynes	...	Brook Latham
Martha Greenhouse	...	Mrs. Bergler
Russell Hardie	...	Mr. Davison
Vince Harding	...	Mr. Eastlake
Doreen Lang	...	Nurse Swenson
Chet London	...	Radio Man
Baruch Lumet	...	Mr. Schneider
John O'Leary	...	Put Blake
Hildy Parks	...	Nurse Catherine
Lidia Prochnicka	...	The Baroness
Polly Rowles	...	Mrs. Andrews
Douglas Rutherford	...	Mr. Prothero
Truman Smith	...	Mr. Bergler
Loretta White	...	Mrs. Eastlake
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arthur Anderson	...	Pokey's Husband (uncredited)
Peter Boyle	...	(uncredited)
Ron Charles	...	Dr. Jones (uncredited)
Richard Graham	...	Rev. Garland (uncredited)
Edward Holmes	...	Mr. MacAusland (uncredited)

Directed by
Sidney Lumet

Writing credits
Mary McCarthy		(novel)
Sidney Buchman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Sidney Buchman	....	producer
Charles K. Feldman	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Boris Kaufman

Film Editing by
Ralph Rosenblum

Casting by
Jessica Levy

Production Design by
Gene Callahan

Set Decoration by
Jack Wright Jr.
Marvin March		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Anna Hill Johnstone

Makeup Department
Irving Buchman	....	makeup artist
Frederic Jones	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Mel Howard	....	unit production manager
Henry Spitz	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tony Belletier	....	assistant director
Dan Eriksen	....	assistant director

Art Department
Willis Conner	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Jack Fitzstephens	....	sound editor
Alan Heim	....	sound editor (as Allan Heim)
Dennis Maitland	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Howard Fortune	....	lighting (as Buddy Fortune)
Edward Knott	....	set grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
George Newman	....	wardrobe
Flo Transfield	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Sheila Bakerman	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Robert De Cormier	....	conductor
Charles Gross	....	music supervisor
Frank Kulaga	....	music recordist (uncredited)

Other crew
Charles K. Feldman	....	presenter
Fred T. Gallo	....	production assistant (as Fred Gallo)
Belle Iacobellis	....	production secretary
Maggie James	....	script supervisor
Frank Simpson	....	production assistant
Louis A. Stroller	....	production assistant (as Lou Stroller)

Production Companies

• Famartists Productions S.A.

Distributors

• United Artists (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1971) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• CBS/Fox (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)

Runtime:

USA:150 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | USA:Approved | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Famartists Productions S.A.

Trivia:

George Gaynes' first film.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Kathleen Widdoes, as Helena, arguing politics with Norine, says, "The whole class voted for Roosevelt," when she means "the whole group". Pauline Kael, who was watching the filming and following the script, wrote that she pointed this mistake out to director Sidney Lumet, but he never corrected it.

Quotes:

Mr. Andrews: We madmen are the aristocrats of mental illness.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1 (1999) (TV)

Busy, bustling, chatty character study-cum-soaper...several stand-out performances

Film producer Sidney Buchman also took on the enormous task of adapting Mary McCarthy's well-loved novel to the screen, that of eight Vassar graduates in 1933 who take different paths in life but who always manage to stay in touch. Buchman and director Sidney Lumet almost pull it off, despite insurmountable story obstacles, some awkward and/or frivolous performances, a self-defeating length, and a persistent claim from professional critics at the time that maybe a female screenwriter should have been hired to adapt McCarthy's prose (Pauline Kael of The New Yorker was the most vocal in this area). With much criss-cross editing between apartments, hospitals, and places of employment, it's nearly impossible to determine how many years pass in the course of the story--and this episodic structure leaves Candice Bergen's Lakey and Mary-Robin Redd's Pokey with hardly any screen-time. Joan Hackett as Dottie makes a very appealing impression in her early scenes (falling for heartless womanizer Richard Mulligan), but then she too disappears. There's far too much of Joanna Pettet in the overtly-showy role of Kay (and with her comes Larry Hagman, doing nothing new in the impossible role of Kay's hard-drinking, womanizing husband). Elizabeth Hartman as Priss and Shirley Knight as Polly end up doing the finest acting work, with Knight practically carrying the film's final third, but then the screenplay is tipped towards our liking those characters the most (if Jessica Walters' gossiping Libby was revealed to have half a heart, we might feel the same towards her). The scattershot humor is there, but it's always undercut by sourness--which is then replaced with grimness. If Buchman was inappropriate as the writer, Lumet was equally a questionable choice as director. He keeps the pacing lively, but the film is without vitriol, without nostalgia. **1/2 from ****