Lee Grant (L) confronts Walter Matthau at their daughter’s wedding. Image: TCM
Plaza Suite (1971) is a movie where you have to decide, early on, if you can accept its parameters.
The film, based on the successful Neil Simon Broadway play, is an omnibus of sorts, comprised of three one-act plays about three successive couples who rent suite 719 in New York’s Plaza Hotel. The original Broadway cast included George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton who played the three couples.
Since the film is basically a stage play, here is the first parameter you have to accept: Most of the action takes place in the hotel suite; rarely does the camera move outside of it.
The second parameter is this: Walter Matthau plays the husband in all three movie couples, while different actresses play the wives/paramours. Now, Matthau is as splendid as they come, but we’re too conscious of him as Actor; it feels gimmicky. Happily, he’s counterbalanced by exceptionally talented female leads.
In the first act, Matthau is a Manhattan executive wrestling with a Mid-Life Crisis. He’s married to Maureen Stapleton (reprising her Broadway role), a woman who can’t remember how long she’s been married or how old she is.
(Have you ever met a woman who truly doesn’t remember these things?)
In the second act, Matthau is a visiting Hollywood Producer who invites an old girlfriend (Barbara Harris) to his suite for a brief fling. Here Matthau wears a wig that’s so unflattering, you can hardly take your eyes off it. This wig would steal the entire scene if Harris weren’t so funny.
The last act has Matthau as a money-conscious Father of the Bride whose daughter barricades herself in the bathroom because she’s too afraid to get married.
In this act, Matthau is married to the fabulous Lee Grant, a woman with the resolve of an army general.
Getting wet, on top of Everything Else. Image: RareFilm
Now, we don’t want to give you the wrong impression about Grant’s character. She’s not the type who yells – that’s Matthau’s job. Rather, she’s the one who thinks strategically and directs the troops through the battleground.
And there’s a lot of ground to cover:
- The bride refuses to come out of the bathroom, despite Grant’s cajoling. “Just come out and get married,” she says. “If you want, I’ll have it annulled next week.”
- The groom’s parents are, understandably, concerned about the delay. Each time the groom’s father calls from downstairs, Grant’s voice tightens as she promises they’ll be Right Down.
- Matthau, obsessed with wedding expenditures, bangs on the bathroom door: “I want you and your four-hundred-dollar wedding dress out of the bathroom this minute.”
- Grant’s stocking rips. (If you’ve had a stocking rip at the worst possible time, raise your hand.)
- Matthau tries to break down the bathroom door and injures himself.
Between a stubborn daughter, frantic in-laws and Matthau’s self-victimization, Grant has a time of it, brokering this wedding Deal.
It’s only when her head gets wet – ruining her hat and hair – that she Breaks Down and cries.
Spoiler: When the daughter finally emerges from the bathroom, Matthau starts hollering and Carrying On, but Remick will not allow this wedding to be derailed. She ushers her family out of the suite and down to the ceremony, brushing Matthau’s (torn) coat and straightening her daughter’s dress.
Matthau has amusing lines (“I’m only paying for the instruments I can hear!”), but Grant keeps our attention on her, that motherly scene-stealer.
Grant’s smile shows a job well done. Image: Alamy
Plaza Hotel was shot at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, while the exteriors were filmed at the real Plaza in New York.
The film received mixed reviews when released; even playwright Simon wasn’t thrilled with it. He’s widely quoted online saying he felt casting Matthau in all three acts was a mistake.
That’s not necessarily Matthau’s fault, and it’s not the only reason the film doesn’t quite gel. Simon tends to stretch a joke too thin, in our opinion, and the humour doesn’t always age well.
However, he does create interesting characters, and that’s who you’ll meet in Plaza Suite. It’s the women you’ll be cheering for, especially Lee Grant’s determined Mother of the Bride.
This post is part of the LOVELY LEE GRANT BLOGATHON hosted by Realweegiemidget Reviews and Angelman’s Place.
Plaza Suite: starring Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris. Directed by Arthur Hiller. Written by Neil Simon. Paramount Pictures, 1971, Technicolor, 104 mins.
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Plaza Suite and the similarly formatted Last of the Red Hot Lovers are movies I get a kick out of, but mainly because they remind me of the good time I’ve had with various stage productions over the years.
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Thanks for the heads-up on Red Hot Lovers. I’ve never come across it, for some reason.
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I enjoy Neil Simon’s work like California Suite and this film. I loved Lee Grant and Walter Matthau in the above scene. They just fed off of one another with the one-liners and delivered them perfectly.
Tam May
The Dream Book Blog: https://thedreambookblog.wordpress.com/
Mother Time Musings Blog: https://www.mothertimemusingsblog.com/
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Lee Grant and Walter Matthau are perfect as a middle-aged married couple. Lee Grant can certainly hold her own against Matthau, that’s for sure.
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I probably like CALIFORNIA SUITE better for the all the reasons that you state. Still, I’m a Walter Matthau fan and I agree it’s great part for Lee Grant (who–like Elizabeth Ashley–could have been better used by Hollywood on the whole).
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I have yet to see California Suite, but it’s on my List.
You’re right about Elizabeth Ashley. Talented, but not the big career she could’ve had, in my opinion.
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Neal Simon is light and fun but not my favorite. A little too “normal” for me.
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I think he has moments – many good moments – but I can’t get overly enthused…
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Thanks so much for participating in the Lee Grant Blogathon! This truly is one of her most memorable roles; there’s nothing more fun than a high-strung Lee Grant character, especially one who spouts Neil Simon witticisms. I agree with you about a little too much Matthau here; he is better in small doses, in my opinion, leavened by a great costar such as Jack Lemmon or in a key supporting role like in Charade…
Need to see this one again, though, thanks to you—and the amazing Miss Grant.
-Chris
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Thanks for co-hosting. I never would have thought of this blogathon, but Lee Grant totally deserves it. She is one very talented woman.
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Thanks for joining our blogathon, I did love your post and this now top of the pile of Lee Grant films to watch. I’m always astounded at Grant’s leading men, and here with Matthau and your splendid review, its another reason for me to buy her autobiography.
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Thanks for co-hosting this & inviting me to join. I can’t wait to read the rest of the entries. 🙂
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I cant wait to see this film, thanks to your lovely review.
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What fun! I kind of adore Walter Matthau.
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I adore him too. He is a bit much altogether in this film, but he’s very good in each individual role. Lee Grant and Barbara Harris (RIP) are amazing.
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Nice post about this movie. Will have to see it again sometime. Agree that Lee Grant is one of those actors who always classes up a picture.
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She does, doesn’t she? Lee Grant always gives an audience their money’s worth.
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