''Goodbye Again'' (released in Europe as ''Aimez-vous Brahms?'') is a 1961 American-French romantic drama film produced and directed by

Anatole Litvak Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Литвак; 21 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), better known as Anatole Litvak, was a Ukrainian-born American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in vari ...

. The screenplay was written by Samuel A. Taylor, based on the novel '' Aimez-vous Brahms?'' by

Françoise Sagan Françoise Sagan (born Françoise Delphine Quoirez; 21 June 1935 – 24 September 2004) was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois chara ...

. The film, released by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

, stars Ingrid Bergman,

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influentia ...

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (), better known as Yves Montand (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), was an Italian-French actor and singer. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer, Ivo held stron ...

, and

Jessie Royce Landis Jessie Royce Landis (born Jessie Medbury, November 25, 1896 – February 2, 1972) was an American actress. Her name is also seen as Jesse Royce-Landis. She remains perhaps best-known for her mother roles in the Hitchcock films ''To Catch a Thief' ...

Plot

Paula Tessier is a 40-year-old interior designer who for the past five years has been the

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

of Roger Demarest, a "philandering business executive" who refuses to stop seeing other women. When Paula meets Philip, the 25-year-old son of one of her wealthy clients, he falls in love with her and insists that the age difference will not matter. Paula resists the young man's advances, but finally succumbs when Roger initiates yet another affair with one of his young "Maisies". While she is initially happy with Philip, her friends and business associates disapprove of the May–December romance. By the time of the ending, the plot has undergone a triple reversal that thrusts one of life's wry ironies up the nose of the viewer.

Cast

* Ingrid Bergman as Paula Tessier *

as Roger Demarest *

as Philip Van der Besh *

as Mrs. Van der Besh *

Pierre Dux Pierre Dux (21 October 1908 – 1 December 1990) was a French stage director, stage actor, and film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1932 and 1990. Filmography References External links * * 1908 births 1990 deaths Burials ...

as Maitre Fleury * Jackie Lane as First Maisie * Jean Clarke as Second Maisie *

Michèle Mercier Michèle Mercier (born 1 January 1939 as Jocelyne Yvonne Renée Mercier) is a French actress. In the course of her career she has worked with leading directors like François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Deray, Dino Risi, Mario Monic ...

as Third Maisie * Uta Taeger as Gaby * André Randall as Mr. Steiner *

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British character actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', ''Tom Jones'', and ''Dr. Strangelove''. Biography He was the fourth and youngest son o ...

as Client * Alison Leggatt as Alice * David Horne as Queen's Counsel * Diahann Carroll as Night Club Singer Uncredited Cast * Lee Patrick as Mme. Fleury * Annie Duperoux as Madeline Fleury * Raymond Gerome as Jimmy * Jean Hebey as Mons. Cherel * Michel Garland as Young Man in Club * Colin Mann as Assistant Lawyer The cast includes brief, uncredited

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s by

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...

and

Jean-Pierre Cassel Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon; 27 October 1932 – 19 April 2007) was a French actor. Early life Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite (née Fabrègue), an opera sin ...

Production

Litvak and others thought "''Aimez-vous Brahms?''" would be a confusing title for U.S. audiences, and initially chose ''Time on My Hands'' as the title for the American release, after the song of that name they had selected as the main

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

; when the song's publishers insisted on a $75,000 license for its use, they dropped plans to use the song, and the production team settled on "''Goodbye Again''" as the title, a suggestion from Perkins that he had taken from a Broadway production in which his father Osgood had had a role. Scenes were filmed on location in Paris. During

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

, Perkins thought Bergman was a "little too persistent" in her attempts to get him to rehearse their kissing scenes; Perkins later said "Bergman would have welcomed an affair with him", but Bergman had a different explanation in her 1980 autobiography, saying it was her shyness and tendency to blush: "You see, although the camera has no terrors at all for me, I'm very bad at this sort of intimacy on the screen, especially when the men are practically strangers." Uncredited "stars" of the film were the automobiles: as ''Time'' magazine pointed out, ''Goodbye Again'' "is thoroughly French. That is to say, all of its important scenes take place in restaurants or automobiles."

Music

The score is by

Georges Auric Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 he ...

, with additional music by

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

. The Brahms motifs are the 4th movement from Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, and the 3rd Movement from Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90. Film critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

called the score "almost as elegant as the settings, which are the most respectable things in the film." The soulful theme of the third movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 3 is heard repeatedly, including as the tune of a song ("Love Is Just a Word") sung by the night club singer ( Diahann Carroll). Lyrics to the film are by Dory Langdon (later known as

Dory Previn Dorothy "Dory" Veronica Previn ( Langan; October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Previn was a lyricist on songs intended for motion pictures and, with her t ...

). The soundtrack was released by

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

(UAS 5091) in "electronic" (i.e., simulated) stereo.

Reception

The film "found success in Europe, where Perkins won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance, but in America critics and audiences were generally unenthusiastic." According to

, "Taylor's derivative screen play has a few flights of fancy and wit, but on the whole it is solemn and pedestrian"; "Perkins not only has the most engaging role but he also plays it in the most engaging fashion and almost carries the picture by himself." Years later, Andrea Foshee, writing for

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

, agreed:

Co-star Anthony Perkins was just coming off his smash 1960 success as
Norman Bates Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main antagonist in his 1959 thriller novel '' Psycho''. He has an alter, Mother, who takes from the form of his abusive mother, and later victim, Norma, wh ...
in Alfred Hitchcock's '' Psycho'', a role that would typecast him for the rest of his career. Yet, as the charming, aimless Philip in ''Goodbye Again'', Perkins clearly demonstrates his versatility as an actor in a role that couldn't be further removed from his turn as a cross-dressing schizophrenic killer.

Perkins won the Best Actor Award at the

1961 Cannes Film Festival The 14th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 18 May 1961. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Une aussi longue absence'', directed by Henri Colpi and '' Viridiana'', directed by Luis Buñuel. The festival opened with '' Che gioia vivere'', directed ...

and Anatole Litvak was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

. It was the 25th most popular movie of the year in France.

References

External links

* * {{Anatole Litvak Films based on French novels American romantic drama films 1961 romantic drama films Films shot in Paris 1961 films United Artists films American black-and-white films Films based on works by Françoise Sagan Films directed by Anatole Litvak Sexuality and age in fiction Films scored by Georges Auric Johannes Brahms 1960s English-language films 1960s American films