Butterflies Are Free

source: Butterflies Are Free

Butterflies are free is a wonderful film about the struggles of a young blind man trying to make a living on his own in the city. Eddie Albert Jr. is wonderful as the main character, and Goldie Hawn and Eileen Heckart give outstanding performances as the precocious next door neighbor and the over-protective mother. The film is a superb look into the internal and external struggles on the path of maturity.

Only a couple of days pass during "Butterflies Are Free", but Lives Are Changed Forever--or so they say--in the course of its story. Two neighbors (one blind) meet, fall in love without saying it, manage to take on his domineering mama, argue, and...well, you can guess the rest. Based on the popular play, the film uses its staginess to good advantage, making the blind man's apartment a character in the proceedings (with a bed up on stilts and a bathtub under the dinner table!), yet it's a one-note, one-idea movie which seldom takes its emotions very far. I wanted to be moved by the ending, but it's puzzlingly bland. All the acting here is very fine, Eileen Heckart won a Supporting Actress Oscar, but it isn't a picture that changed or improved careers. **1/2 from ****

If he weren't a drop dead handsome blind man, would Goldie have anything to do with him? Nay, I say!! Miss Superficial of 1972 posing as a free spirit doesn't come out as herself until her 80s films where she shows her materialistic and conniving sides. I think it was generally poorly cast. There was little magic here.

This film version of Leonard Gershe's Butterflies are Free which ran for 1128 performances on Broadway from 1969 to 1972 transfers the location from Greenwich Village in Manhattan to the hippest areas of San Francisco circa the Seventies. Eileen Heckart and Paul Michael Glaser, later Starsky on Starsky&Hutch retain their original roles. Replacing Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner in the leads are Edward Albert and Goldie Hawn. This was Edward Albert's film debut and Hawn was following up the Oscar she won for Cactus Flower. Both of them fit their parts perfectly. But I can hardly see anyone else in the role of Albert's overprotective Mama than Eileen Heckart. Though she's only in the film in the second half, Heckart really dominates the proceedings. So much so she got an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress that year. Heckart also avoids the usual stereotyping as the mom, but she does register real concern for her kid going out in the world. Edward Albert is her twenty something son who is trying to break free from his mom and is now living in an apartment that has a connecting door to the next apartment which is occupied by free spirited hippie chick, Goldie Hawn. Of course the key here is that Albert is blind, blind from birth. They develop into quite the romance that Heckart tries to break up. Do love Goldie's fashion sense. See the episode where she takes Albert out of the apartment and clothes shopping. Remember those seventies fashions? Straight off the rack or the body of Barry Williams as Greg Brady.

After listening to a witty radio interview featuring Harold Krentz—a blind man mistakenly classified as "1-A" by his local draft board—screenwriter Leonard Gershe (the 1958 Oscar winner for 'Funny Face') was inspired to write 'Butterflies Are Free', a play about a young blind man who moves from Scarsdale to Greenwich Village to get away from his overprotective mother and establish his independence. Opening at the Booth Theatre on W. 45th Street on Oct. 21, 1969, 'Butterflies' starred Keir Dullea ('2001, A Space Odyssey') as Don Baker, the blind protagonist; Eileen Heckart as Baker's mother; Blythe Danner as Jill Tanner, Baker's next-door neighbor and love interest; and Paul Michael Glaser as Ralph Austin, a friend of Jill's. A surprise hit, the play ran for nearly three years (1,128 performances) and earned Danner a 1970 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. In March 1970 producer Mike Frankovich ('Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice') paid Gershe $300,000 and a percentage of the film's future earnings for the screen rights to his play. Frankovich also hired Gershe to adapt his play to the screen and the play's director, Milton Katselas, to direct the film. Of the original cast, Eileen Heckart and Paul Michael Glaser were tapped to reprise their Broadway roles but television's favorite blonde hippie chick, Goldie Hawn ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"), replaced the then relatively unknown Blythe Danner and 20-year-old Eddie Albert, Jr. supplanted 35-year-old Keir Dullea in an obvious bid to lend the film greater youth appeal. Likewise, the setting was switched from New York City to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, to marinade the story in hippie counterculture ambiance. Viewed now, decades after its initial release, 'Butterflies Are Free' can be regarded as a time capsule of a short-lived Aquarian Age, or more cynically, as a transparently slick exercise in sentimentality dressed up in hippie garb. Eileen Heckart's turn as Mrs. Baker earned her the 1973 Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. A final irony: although the title sounds like the quintessence of hippie philosophy, it was actually derived from Charles Dickens' 1853 novel, 'Bleak House'! VHS (1996) and DVD (2002).

So I got home last night and there was a Goldie Hawn marathon on TCM. I thought I knew all her films but I guess B.A.F. slipped through the crack somehow. You can definitely tell this was a play because it looks like a play. Although there are a couple exterior and location shots most of it takes place in the same setting. But it works well as a film and it has held up well over the years even if many of the scenes are obviously visually dated. Hawn and Heckart are great – and it's a well deserved Oscar for Heckart. However I was really blown away by Albert's performance. Although he only won a Golden Globe this is also an Oscar worthy performance and in my opinion they most hypnotizing out of the 3. SPOILER**** I'm noting this as a 'SPOILER' but will try to be somewhat vague here to not actually spoil it for those who have not seen the film. There is a pivotal moment in the film where Albert's character realizes what's about to happen, and he has this moment of emotion. I was so incredibly choked up by his performance because we all have gone through a similar event in our lives. That one scene made the whole movie for me. He did an incredible job. This is definitely a must see movie – especially if you are an actor in search of learning a real craft!!

I like watching 1970s comedies based on plays. They're so simple; usually three or four characters in one or two settings in a story with light-hearted quick wit comedy. Butterflies are Free is one of those movies. This is the story of a young blind man (played by Eddie Albert, Jr.) trying to prove to his mother that he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He moves into his own apartment, adjacent to a young eccentric actress (Goldie Hawn). His overprotective mother is suspicious not only of him living alone, but that should he fall in love and then have his heart broken, he won't be able to deal with it. Everyone in the film is terrific. I started looking for more Eddie Albert, Jr. movies as well as more Goldie Hawn movies from what looks to be her hayday (her movies nowadays just don't have the same effect). It's a very simple, very fun little film.

I really enjoyed the movie, but one thing I noticed and appreciated was the long shots. Modern movies usually are changing angles and context every few seconds; while like a play, this movie will hold a shot for minutes at a time. I think it shows the strength of the actors, while most contemporary movies can mask poor acting with editing. This is especially true towards the end of the movie, in the scene where Don and Jill confront each other's feelings. I was amazed at how Goldie was able to hold the emotion of the scene and keep me drawn in for such an extended period. I've never been a big Goldie fan, but I had never seen this movie until recently. I have to say this movie changes my opinion and makes we wonder what other films of hers from this period are like.

Masterpiece film that has great quality production and acting.The story is a romance/drama that incorporates very real love/life struggles that come with it.Also a very good snapshot of early 1970's free spirit experimentation of 20 somethings without having to exaggerate.Also a good example of Goldie's acting skills.One of the top 20 Romantic Dramas of All Time and one of the 100 Best Movies All Time in my book.Only for romance/drama/play fans and big fans of the lead actors......