Save the Tiger (1973)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

John G. Avildsen

Writer:

Steve Shagan (writer)

Release Date:

21 July 1973 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Jack Lemmon in his most important dramatic role since "The Days of Wine and Roses."

Plot:

A businessman's professional struggles begin to conflict with his personal life over the course of two days.

Plot Keywords:

Businessman | Fashion Show | Beach | Suit | Tie

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Jack Lemmon	...	Harry Stoner
Jack Gilford	...	Phil Greene
Laurie Heineman	...	Myra
Norman Burton	...	Fred Mirrell
Patricia Smith	...	Janet Stoner
Thayer David	...	Charlie Robbins
William Hansen	...	Meyer
Harvey Jason	...	Rico
Liv Lindeland	...	Ula (as Liv Von Linden)
Lara Parker	...	Margo
Eloise Hardt	...	Jackie
Janina	...	Dusty
Ned Glass	...	Sid Fivush
Pearl Shear	...	Cashier
Biff Elliot	...	Tiger Petitioner (as Biff Elliott)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) (2005) | UK:AA (original rating) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Filmways Pictures

Trivia:

Sissy Spacek read for the part of Myra.

Goofs:

Continuity: Harry wipes Fred's face almost completely clean of the red body paint. In a subsequent shot, Fred's face is covered with red paint again.

Quotes:

Harry Stoner: How old are you?
Myra: Twenty.
Harry Stoner: Nobody's twenty.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

Stompin' At The Savoy

Lemmon deserved the Oscar for this one

This was definitely a tour-de-force performance for Jack Lemmon.

I believe the strength of this film is that his performance allows it to strike a multi-generational cord with viewers...a key theme of the movie is the way the world has changed since they way we remembered it when we were younger, which I think is a pang that all of us get, no matter what age. The world always seems darker and more complicated now and concept that needs no real transposition between eras.

Harry Stoner is a man of his times...swing bands, baseball, and World War II. His life is still influenced by all three, but only in quick flashes of fond memories or flashbacks of a beach in Italy. Lemmon gives us a character that does what he has to do in order to maintain what he has worked for, and that rationalizes that which may or may not be quite on the up-and-up.

Jack Gilford is excellent as his partner in Capri Casuals, representing a voice of conscience that is not quite as blind to circumstance as Jack's character, and there are several other good performances in the film. Jack Lemmon stands out, as he does in most films, and richly deserved the Academy Award for this one.