''John and Mary'' is a 1969 American romantic drama film directed by

Peter Yates Peter James Yates (24 July 1929 – 9 January 2011) was an English film director and producer. Biography Early life Yates was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. The son of an army officer, he attended Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from ...

, directly following the success of his film ''

Bullitt ''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleine ...

''. It stars

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...

and

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

in the title roles, directly following their success in ''

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...

'' and '' Rosemary's Baby'', respectively. The screenplay was adapted by John Mortimer from the 1966

Mervyn Jones Mervyn Thomas Jones (born 23 November 1942) is a British diplomat who was Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands The Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's British Ove ...

novel.

Plot

''John and Mary'' begins the morning after John and Mary meet in a bar, during a conversation about Jean-Luc Godard's '' Weekend'', and go home with each other. The story unfolds during the day as they belatedly get to know each other over breakfast, lunch and dinner. Flashbacks of their previous bad relationships are interspersed throughout when something in their conversation brings the thought up.

Cast

Casting

It was the film debut of Tyne Daly.

Release

The film had its premiere at the Sutton Theatre in New York City on Sunday, December 14, 1969 and opened the following day. It received an R rating upon its original release, which was later downgraded to a PG rating.

Critical reception

Before the release of the film, both Hoffman and Farrow made the cover of ''Time'' in February 1969, with the headline "The Young Actors: Stars and Anti-Stars". This marked and celebrated new actors like Hoffman and Farrow (both hot off their successes in ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...

'' and '' Rosemary's Baby'' respectively) as significant to their

generation A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and gr ...

. Roger Ebert of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' wrote "''John and Mary'' is supposed to be a contemporary movie, I guess, and yet it's curiously out of touch. John and Mary shadow box uneasily with the American language, trying to sound like all people their age without sounding too much like any particular person." John Thompson of the ''Orlando Weekly'' calls it "a delectable New Wave–inspired dish for thoughtful viewers tired of the same old menu."

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote "There is nothing wrong with the idea of ''John and Mary'', just with its execution." Rotten Tomatoes reports 5 positive and 6 negative reviews of the film for a score of 45%.

Box office

According to Fox records, the film required $6,300,000 in rentals to break even, and by December 11, 1970, it had made $8,150,000, resulting in a profit to the studio.

Musical score and soundtrack

The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

and the soundtrack, featuring vocalists

Evie Sands Evie Sands (born July 18, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Sands' music career spans more than 50 years. She began her career as a teenager in the mid-1960s. After a rocky start, she eventually found chart success in 1969, be ...

, The Strange Things,

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

, The Morgan Ames Singers and four classical pieces performed by a brass ensemble, was released on the A&M label in 1970.

Track listing

All compositions by Quincy Jones except where noted # "Maybe Tomorrow (Vocal)" (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) − 3:10 # "Bump in the Night" − 1:58 # "Lost in Space" (Jeff Bridges) − 3:15 # "Silent Movies" − 2:11 # "Maybe Tomorrow" (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) − 4:18 # "Main Title" − 2:48 # "The Well-Tempered Clavier, 22nd Fugue for Well-Tempered Clavichord" (Johann Sebastian Bach) − 1:31 # "Rondo No. 1" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) − 1:58 # "Variations sérieuses, Opus 54, Variations Serieuses" (Felix Mendelssohn) − 2:05 # "Music for the Royal Fireworks, Allegro from Royal Fireworks Suite" (George Frideric Handel) − 3:58 # "Maybe Tomorrow" − 3:58

Personnel

* Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones *

(track 1), The Strange Things (track 2),

(track 3), The Morgan Ames Singers (track 5) − vocals * The John and Mary Brass Ensemble (tracks 7–11)

Awards

Won: *1970 BAFTA Award, Best Actor – Dustin Hoffman (For ''Midnight Cowboy'' and ''John and Mary'')John and Mary Awards
IMDb. Nominated: *1970 BAFTA Award, Best Actress – Mia Farrow (For: ''Rosemary's Baby'', ''Secret Ceremony'' and ''John and Mary'') *1970 Golden Globes, Best Actor, Musical/Comedy – Dustin Hoffman *1970 Golden Globes, Best Actress, Musical/Comedy – Mia Farrow *1970 Golden Globes, Best Screenplay – John Mortimer *1970 Writers Guild of America, WGA Awards, Best Adapted Screenplay – John Mortimer

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:John And Mary 1969 films 1969 romantic drama films American romantic drama films Films based on British novels Films set in New York City Films directed by Peter Yates Films scored by Quincy Jones 20th Century Fox films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films