''Puzzle of a Downfall Child'' is a 1970 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...

Barry Morse Herbert Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008), known professionally as Barry Morse, was a British-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio, best known for his roles in the ABC television series '' The Fugitive'' and the British sci-fi drama '' ...

Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the d ...

Roy Scheider Roy Richard Scheider (; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer. Described by AllMovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", he gained fame for his leading and supporting ...

, and

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Plot

A beautiful but disturbed young woman lives alone at a beach cottage, reliving her past, a life of delusions and lies. Lou Andreas Sand is a former fashion model whose life has gone into a downward spiral, including drug use and a nervous breakdown. She tells an acquaintance, Aaron Reinhardt, her story for a film he is planning on her, but the details do not ring true. Lou evidently had a lover who abused her, and a penchant for sex with strange men. Along the way, she became engaged to marry Mark, an ad executive, but apparently jilted him on the day of their wedding, leading to her descent into drugs and an attempted suicide.

Cast

as Lou Andreas Sand *

as Aaron Reinhardt *

as Pauline Galba *

as Dr. Galba *

as Mark * Ruth Jackson as Barbara Casey * John Heffernan as Dr. Sherman *

Sydney Walker Sydney Walker (May 5, 1921 – September 30, 1994) was an American character actor of stage and screen and voice artist, with a career that spanned over five decades. Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Walker developed an interest ...

as Psychiatrist * Clark Burckhalter as Davy Bright * Shirley Rich as Peggy McCavage * Emerick Bronson as Falco * Joe George as 1st Man in Bar * John Eames as 1st Doctor * Harry Lee as Mr. Wong * Jane Halleran as Joan * Susan Willis as Neighbor *

Barbara Carrera Barbara Carrera (born Barbara Kingsbury) is an American actress, model and artist. She starred in the films ''The Master Gunfighter'' (1975), '' Embryo'' (1976), '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'' (1977), ''Condorman'' (1981), ''I, the Jury'' (1982) ...

as T.J. Brady * Sam Schacht as George

Production

The film was Schatzberg's first foray into feature-film making; at the time, he was primarily known as a fashion photographer and had directed a few commercials. Schatzberg initially worked with French screenwriter Jacques Sigurd, who had written a script involving a woman having an abortion, but the collaboration came to an end due to creative differences.

Carole Eastman Carole Eastman (February 19, 1934 – February 13, 2004) was an American actress and screenwriter. Among her credits are screenplays for Monte Hellman's '' The Shooting'' (1967), Bob Rafelson's '' Five Easy Pieces'' (1970) (for which she was ...

, whose unused draft for ''

Petulia ''Petulia'' is a 1968 British-American drama film directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. The film has a screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus from a story by Barbara Turner and is based on ...

'' Schatzberg had enjoyed, was approached to write a new screenplay, and only the title from Sigurd's script was kept on the insistence of Schatzberg. Eastman based the new script on recordings Schatzberg had made of his friend, model Anne St. Marie, while Aaron was in part based on Schatzberg himself. The phrase "downfall child" came from a friend of Schatzberg's who had recounted a nightmare where she was trying to save a child falling from a building. The name of Faye Dunaway's character is an allusion to Lou Andreas-Salomé.

Theatre

The movie was adapted as a two-character play by Elisabeth Bouchaud (in French) and put on at ''La Reine Blanche'' (Paris) in 2017.

References

External links