Cinderella Liberty (1973)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Mark Rydell

Writers:

Darryl Ponicsan (screenplay)
Darryl Ponicsan (novel)

Release Date:

7 April 1974 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

She's 32. She drinks too much. She hustles pool. She's got a 10-year old mulatto son. She's got a different boyfriend every night. She's in trouble. And he's in love.

Plot:

A lonely Navy sailor falls in love with a hooker and becomes a surrogate father figure for her son during...

Plot Keywords:

Navy | Illegitimate Son | Shore Leave | Sex | Nudity

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

James Caan	...	John Baggs Jr.
Marsha Mason	...	Maggie Paul
Kirk Calloway	...	Doug
Eli Wallach	...	Lynn Forshay
Burt Young	...	Master at Arms
Bruno Kirby	...	Alcott (as Bruce Kirby Jr.)
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Miss Watkins
Dabney Coleman	...	Executive Officer
Fred Sadoff	...	Dr. Osgood
Allan Arbus	...	Drunken Sailor
Jon Korkes	...	Dental Corpsman
Don Calfa	...	Lewis
Ted D'Arms	...	Cook
Sally Kirkland	...	Fleet Chick
Diane Schenker	...	Nurse

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Belgium:KNT | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Company:

Sanford

Trivia:

James Caan appeared six years later almost identically in sailors garb for an uncredited cameo in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979) as the sailor who throws the first punch in the ballroom fight sequence.

Quotes:

Maggie Paul: Why is it everybody else gets chicken and I always get the feathers?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Wednesday Special

affecting tale

Granted there are some literary devices which are a tad far-fetched that simply have to be accepted to allow this story to work - for one, the cavalier way in which Baggs is treated while his papers are 'lost', and for so long. None the less, this is, in the end an affecting and inspiring tale. Perhaps one of the reasons for its dubious reception here is that in this extremely cynical and selfish age people have difficulty accepting a tale about someone who assumes so much grief in order to help people ("It makes me feel good," says Baggs, simply and disarmingly.) Perhaps the world would be a better place if we could all be more like the guileless Boatswain, played by James Caan in a good-guy departure from his usual tough guy parts.

Of particular note is the fine job Eli Wallach does with the minor part of Baggs' nemesis Forshay. It's a memorable moment when Baggs, asking Forshay, as he is drummed out of the service without benefits or pension, "Where are you going? Home?", hears Forshay reply "THIS was home." The combination of sadness, bitterness, and fear of the future that Wallach puts into these three words is testimony to his power as an actor.

A bit of judicious editing might have been called for, as the movie was a tad long (cutting Paul Williams' execrable songs would have been a good place to start), but none the less it's a feel-good movie that rises above its gritty setting.