''Period of Adjustment'' is a 1962 American comedy-drama film directed by

George Roy Hill George Roy Hill (December 20, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American film director. He is most noted for directing such films as ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''The Sting'' (1973), both starring Paul Newman and Robert Re ...

from a screenplay written by

Isobel Lennart Isobel Lennart (May 18, 1915 – January 25, 1971) was an award-winning American screenwriter and playwright. She is best known for writing the book for the Broadway musical '' Funny Girl'' which premiered in 1964, although she also wrote scripts ...

, based on

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

' 1960 play of the same name and stars Tony Franciosa, Jane Fonda,

Jim Hutton Dana James Hutton (May 31, 1934 – June 2, 1979) was an American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name, and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, ...

, and Lois Nettleton. In the film; a newlywed couple on their honeymoon visit friends who are having marital problems of their own. ''Period of Adjustment'' was theatrically released on October 31, 1962 by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was a moderate box office success grossing $4 million against a $1.9 million budget. The film marked Roy Hill's

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

and launched Fonda to bankable film stardom, also earning her a nomination for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical is a Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for ...

Plot

On Christmas Eve, two couples are experiencing a period of difficulty in their marital relationships. Newlyweds Isabel ( Jane Fonda) and George Haverstick (

) (who had met when she was his hospital nurse), are having a problem because George has bouts of sexual performance anxiety and has quit his job without telling her. The second couple, Ralph (

Anthony Franciosa Anthony George Franciosa (né Papaleo; October 25, 1928 – January 19, 2006) was an American actor most often billed as Tony Franciosa at the height of his career. He began his career on stage and made a breakthrough portraying the brother of t ...

) (a former Korean War buddy of George) and Dorothea Baitz ( Lois Nettleton), have their problems based on the fact that he married her only for her money—and she knows it, and he dislikes her wealthy parents. The couples individually counsel each other about their insecurities, problems, and plans while drinking in the Tennessee home of one of them.

Cast

* Tony Franciosa as Ralph Baitz (as Tony Franciosa) * Jane Fonda as Isabel Haverstick *

as George Haverstick * Lois Nettleton as Dorothea Baitz *

John McGiver John Irwin McGiver (November 5, 1913 – September 9, 1975) was an American character actor who made more than a hundred appearances in television and motion pictures over a two-decade span from 1955 to 1975. The owl-faced, portly character ac ...

as Stewart P. McGill *

Mabel Albertson Mabel Ida Albertson (July 24, 1901 – September 28, 1982) was an American actress of television, stage, radio and film who portrayed Phyllis Stephens in the TV sitcom ''Bewitched''. Early years Mabel Ida Albertson was born on July 24, 1901, in ...

as Mrs. Alice McGill *

Jack Albertson Harold Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981), known professionally as Jack Albertson, was an American actor, comedian, dancer and singer who also performed in variety. Albertson was a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy winning actor. For his perfo ...

as Desk Sergeant

Reception

According to MGM records, the film earned $2,750,000 in North America and $1.5 million overseas, making the studio a profit of $558,000..

Awards and nominations

References

External links