''Sweet November'' is a 1968 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film written by

Herman Raucher Herman Raucher (April 13, 1928 – December 28, 2023) was an American author and screenwriter who penned the autobiographical screenplay and novel ''Summer of '42'', which became one of the highest-grossing films and one of the best selling novel ...

and starring

Sandy Dennis Sandra Dale Dennis (April 27, 1937 – March 2, 1992) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the drama '' Splendor in the Grass'' (1961). For her performance in the comedy-drama film '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1966), she ...

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, director, comedian, singer, and composer. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest ...

and

Theodore Bikel Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He made his stage debut in '' Tevye the Milkman'' in Mandatory Palestine, where he lived as ...

. The film originally had been written as a stage play by Raucher, but before it was performed,

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

got wind of the project and paid Raucher $100,000 () to stop work on the play and adapt it as a screenplay.. A 2001 remake starred

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor and musician. The recipient of numerous accolades in a career on screen spanning four decades, he is known for his leading roles in action films, his amiable public imag ...

and

Charlize Theron Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 201 ...

Plot

Successful British box manufacturer Charlie Blake (

) meets Sara Deever (

) when they both take a driver's exam in New York City. She tries to get a few answers from him, but he gets expelled for cheating. They run into each other later and go out on a date. When they return to her apartment, Charlie meets Alonzo (

), Sara's older, vegetarian friend. Then Richard (

Sandy Baron Sandy Baron (born Sanford Irving Beresofsky; May 5, 1936 – January 21, 2001) was an American actor and comedian who performed on stage, in films, and on television. He is best known for his recurring role of Jack Klompus on the NBC sitcom ''Sein ...

) bursts in; he begs her to let him stay with her, but she has already packed his bag. After he leaves, Charlie asks her why Richard referred to him as his successor. She explains that she has a "special therapy program"; she takes in a man for no longer than a month to diagnose and fix whatever problem he has. Richard was "October", and she wants him to be "November". She believes his trouble is his devotion to his work. Charlie accepts, though he is only interested in a short fling. He tells his employee, Digby ( King Moody), to send him a telegram after a week so he will have an excuse to leave. As November progresses, however, Charlie begins to fall in love (for the first time in his life) with the unorthodox Sara. When he gets the prearranged telegram, he telephones Digby to tell him to handle an important business meeting by himself. Clem Batchman (

Burr DeBenning Burris Franklin DeBenning (September 21, 1936 – May 26, 2003) was an American character actor who worked in both film and television. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. M.J. DeBenning, he was born in Seminole, Oklahoma, and grew up in Stil ...

), another of Sara's projects, shows up, inciting Charlie's jealousy, until Sara informs him that he just wants to introduce her to his fiancée, Carol (

Marj Dusay Marjorie Ellen Mahoney Dusay (; née Mahoney; February 20, 1936 – January 28, 2020) was an American actress known for her roles on American soap operas. She was especially known for her role as Alexandra Spaulding on ''Guiding Light'', a role ...

). Charlie becomes troubled by certain signs that Sara may be ill. When he asks Alonzo, his worst fears are confirmed: Sara has only a little time left. She lives as she does so that she will be remembered after she is gone. Charlie tries hard to get her to break her self-imposed rule, and believes he has succeeded. She later admits to Alonzo that, unlike all the others, she has fallen for Charlie, but wants him to remember her as she is now. Thus, when December (and a clumsy Gordon) arrives, she has secretly packed November's bag. Charlie reluctantly leaves, promising he will never forget her.

Cast

as Sara Deever *

as Charlie Blake *

as Alonzo *

as Clem Batchman *

as Richard *

as Carol * Martin West as Gordon *

Virginia Vincent Virginia Vincent (May 3, 1918 – October 3, 2013) was an American film, television and theatre actress. She was known for playing the role of "Jennie Blake" in the 1958 film '' The Return of Dracula''. Vincent died in October 2013, at the ...

as Mrs. Schumacher * King Moody as Digby * Robert Gibbons as Sam Naylor

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

originally was announced for the lead.

Reception

In her February 9, 1968, review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Renata Adler Renata Adler (born October 19, 1937) is an American author, journalist, and film critic. Adler was a staff writer-reporter for ''The New Yorker'' for over thirty years and the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1968 to 1969. She h ...

writes "Sweet November must be the most sentimental and sinister fantasy about contemporary love in years. One can't help leaving the theater sniffling and furious with oneself, which makes the movie a little hard to criticize. When

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

runs a movie about a girl — not a siren or a villainess, but a nice, fairly ordinary girl — who takes a different lover every month, there must be something very serious going on. And there is. A new myth that is deep and probably durable… (reversing) the terms of the modern urban argument: he wants to get married, and she, for her own special reasons, wants to have an affair.… There is only one possible resolution for all this perfection. True romantics have always seen it, and the movie quite mawkishly presents it. Tragedy attends promiscuity at the Music Hall. Still, Sandy Dennis is very good. Anthony Newley, hardly clowning at all and playing quite softly, is good, too. Theodore Bikel, as a kind of vegetarian friend of the family, has to handle most of the mawkish part, and there is not much he can do with it. The music by Michel Legrand (who did "

Umbrellas of Cherbourg ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' () is a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music by Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo star as two young lovers in the French city of Cherbourg, separat ...

"), is not very noticeable—except for one song, "Sweet November,"... which is ghastly. The dialogue, by Herman Raucher, is extremely solid and witty.… Unfortunately, Newley is supposed to be afflicted in the picture with a neurotic sense of haste that everyone keeps referring to as "Hurry, hurry, ding, ding." This is even more annoying than it sounds. But despite all the sick, dreadful assumptions about life that turn out to underlie the plot—and as you think about it after you've seen it, you'll probably be appalled — "Sweet November" succeeds."

Home media

On March 22, 2009, the film was released on DVD by Warner Bros.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet November (1968 film) 1968 films 1960s romantic comedy-drama films American films based on plays American romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Robert Ellis Miller Films scored by Michel Legrand Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Herman Raucher Warner Bros. films 1968 comedy-drama films Films produced by Elliott Kastner 1960s English-language films 1960s American films English-language romantic comedy-drama films