CACTUS FLOWER
US, 1969, 104 minutes, Colour.
Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn, Jack Weston, Rick Lenz.
Directed by Gene Saks.
French farce thrives on mistaken identities and coincidental awkward meeting of husbands, wives and lovers. Cactus Flower is a French farce transported to New York, a 5th Avenue dentist's surgery, an apartment, a record shop and a nightclub called 'The Slipped Disc'. It all adds up to a pleasantly farcical comedy with clever dialogue, the grace of Ingrid Bergman, Walter Matthau’s dead-pan humour, and a wonderful subdued and funny performance by Goldie Hawn who won her Oscar.
1. Was this a successful comedy? A comedy of manners? An American comedy of manners? Its main impact: its style, how funny was it, how clear in its observation of behaviour, how wise in its themes?
2. How successful were the comedy situations? The nature and humour of farce? Was it evident that the film was based on a stage play? Its appeal: the suspense of mistaken identities, etc.? Why do audiences generally respond to mistaken identity films?
3. The quality of the dialogue: dead-pan, witty, satiric?
4. Was Julian a real character or a caricature? Walter Matthauls dead-pan style and its success? Julian and his mouthing of the modern male myths? His lies, his age, the nature of his love, his wanting freedom, his taking his secretary for granted, Harvey and his patience. his jealousy and manipulation, getting his come-uppance, discovering his capacity for true love? Was he real or was he just meant to be a type?
5. How real was Toni? A character or a caricature? As a typical young New York girl, as nice, as kooky, mod, her love for truth, her falling in love with love, her capacity for love. questions of marriage and suicide? Her concern for Julian, her concern for Stephanie, her wanting to be proper, her capacity for being shocked? The sending of the mink to Stephanie? Her relationship with Igor? Her capacity for jealousy? Was she meant to be a character or a type?
6. How real a character was Stephanie? Cold, acting the part of the secretary, proper, devoted? Her shock at being asked to impersonate Julian’s wife, her curiosity in doing it. her gradual involvement, the discovery of her love? The mink making her bloom? The surprise of seeing her so vivacious and dancing? The truth? Her ultimate happiness? Her explanation of herself and her background? Was she a character or meant to be a type?
7. The function of Igor in the film? As a contrast with Julian, as a foil for Stephanie?
8. The incidental characters: Harvey and his lies, the man about town? The diplomat and his pushiness? The chorus girl and her ability to be shocked and thinking that people were rotten? What comments on human nature did these minor characters give?
9. What insight into love, marriage, personal relationships did the film give?
10. The moral atmosphere of the film? Standards of right and wrong? Criteria for values?
11. What portrayal of modern men and women did this film give? Comically realistic or unrealistic?
12. The title and its symbolism for the film?
