Smile (1975)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writer:

Jerry Belson (written by)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

It's time again for California's "Young American Miss" beauty pageant, the biggest event of the year for Big Bob Freelander and Brenda DiCarlo...

Plot Keywords:

Beauty Pageant | Beautiful Woman | Ambition | Talent Contest | Satire

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Bruce Dern	...	Big Bob Freelander
Barbara Feldon	...	Brenda DiCarlo
Michael Kidd	...	Tommy French
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Wilson Shears
Nicholas Pryor	...	Andy DiCarlo
Joan Prather	...	Robin (Miss Antelope Valley)
Denise Nickerson	...	Shirley Tolstoy (Miss San Diego)
Melanie Griffith	...	Karen Love
Annette O'Toole	...	Doria Houston (Miss Anaheim)
Maria O'Brien	...	Maria Gonzales
Colleen Camp	...	Connie Thompson (Miss Imperial Valley)
Kate Sarchet	...	Judy Wagner
Dick McGarvin	...	Ted Farley
William Traylor	...	Ray Brandy
Titos Vandis	...	Emile Eidleman

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Santa Rosa, California, USA

Company:

David V. Picker Productions

Trivia:

In 1986, "Smile" was turned into a short lived Broadway musical. The show had music by Marvin Hamlisch, and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, who also directed. The musical featured Jodi Benson, who later provided the voice of Ariel, the title character in Disney's "The Little Mermaid", for which Ashman also wrote the lyrics.

Goofs:

Continuity: One of the audience members seen prominently during opening scene in Imperial Valley pageant later shows up again in closeup as Santa Rosa businessmen attending Bears Club luncheon.

Quotes:

Andy DiCarlo: Jesus! Doesn't anything get you down?
Big Bob Freelander: Yeah, I get my apple cart upset sometimes. I just learned a long time ago to accept a little less from life, that's all.

Movie Connections:

References "All in the Family" (1971)

Soundtrack:

Let the Good Times Roll

This is one of the great undiscovered comedies of all time.

Twenty-five years after this film about the Young America Miss contest was filmed in Santa Rosa, California, the fates sent me to that lovely town on business. During lunch in a local restaurant, I did an impression of one of the film's lines: "What does Santa Rosa think about that?" and half a dozen heads turned to stare at me in shock and anger. If a single line from a movie can still upset the local power structure of a self-satisfied town a quarter-century later, it must be doing something right. In fact, writer Jerry Belson, director Michael Ritchie and a great cast of veteran or young actors did about everything right. Funny, insightful and true. What more can a smart viewer want from a movie?