Butterflies Are Free

I bumped into this movie, a Goldie Hawn feature that I hadn't heard of. It turned out to bit of a gem. Clearly, written for the stage rather than the big stage, it did translate into a watchable couple of hours although I still consider that the stage is probably the most suitable home for this piece. The acting was terrific. Hawn was quirky, charming, frustrating, not to mention sexy. Such a confused and immature character, yet you couldn't help but like her. You wanted to sympathise with Edward Albert as the blind neighbour and yet, he didn't want people to sympathise with him. He displayed admirable courage and yet a fragility that could break at any second despite his noble. independence. Eileen Heckart won an Oscar for the mother. She was frustrating to start with and then her love and determination to look after her son shone through and you ended up being so full of admiration for her. Lots of talking and yet you get drawn in from an early stage so that you really, genuinely care. Don't let this butterfly pass you by.

I just finished watching this movie. I woke up this morning believing I saw this movie years ago, and decided to give it a chance to see if it jogged any memories. Turns out I did see it years ago but now with me being much older, it held much greater significance for me. This film was not dated at all and it would be relative to almost any period in time. The issues dealt with in the movie are the same issues that people deal with all the time, except of course for the role brilliantly played by Edward Albert in which he plays a blind man. One of the beautiful aspects of this film is that the script tries, and succeeds at eliminating the stereotypes and limitations of the handicap to instead focus on the real emotional ups and downs of the human soul. Absolutetly brilliant film.

Blinded since birth, Don Baker (Edward Albert) has a place in San Francisco. It's the first time he's living away from his overprotective mother (Eileen Heckart). His free-spirit neighbor Jill Tanner (Goldie Hawn) visits and is surprised by his blindness. She's a 19 year old aspiring actress divorcée. They get together and then his mother visits.

Goldie Hawn is the definition of free-spirit IT girl. It's a fine pairing that heightens when they are joined by Heckart. Her entry just elevates the humor to another level but it becomes more than a comedy. Goldie takes a turn that takes the story into good emotional drama. Heckart rides this roller-coaster role. This has a bit of characters-stuck-in-a-room feel from its source material as a play. Nevertheless, these are compelling characters.

This film version of Leonard Gershe's Butterflies are Free which ran for 1128 performances on Broadway from 1969 to 1972 transfers the location from Greenwich Village in Manhattan to the hippest areas of San Francisco circa the Seventies. Eileen Heckart and Paul Michael Glaser, later Starsky on Starsky&Hutch retain their original roles.

Replacing Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner in the leads are Edward Albert and Goldie Hawn. This was Edward Albert's film debut and Hawn was following up the Oscar she won for Cactus Flower. Both of them fit their parts perfectly.

But I can hardly see anyone else in the role of Albert's overprotective Mama than Eileen Heckart. Though she's only in the film in the second half, Heckart really dominates the proceedings. So much so she got an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress that year. Heckart also avoids the usual stereotyping as the mom, but she does register real concern for her kid going out in the world.

Edward Albert is her twenty something son who is trying to break free from his mom and is now living in an apartment that has a connecting door to the next apartment which is occupied by free spirited hippie chick, Goldie Hawn. Of course the key here is that Albert is blind, blind from birth. They develop into quite the romance that Heckart tries to break up.

Do love Goldie's fashion sense. See the episode where she takes Albert out of the apartment and clothes shopping. Remember those seventies fashions? Straight off the rack or the body of Barry Williams as Greg Brady.

I enjoyed this film very much; it appeals to the romantic in all of us, yet it is very candid. Goldie Hawn is perfect for the role of Jill, she seems so at ease with the character. Eileen Heckart is wonderful as the overbearing yet caring mother. She loves her son and it is hard for her to let go of him & to stop taking care of her son, Don, especially since he is blind. She feels that he needs someone to care for him and she thinks his new neighbor and love interest Jill is not the girl to do that. Heckart won the best supporting oscar that year for the film and she was much deserving because she is excellent. The film has some very touching scenes between each of the actors as Don struggles for independence from his mother and as he fights to convince Jill that they could have a relationship despite his blindness and how his mother has scared her away. I also love that the film has been adapted from a play and you can really sense that with simple apartment setting. A interesting note is that the Leonard Gershe who wrote the play was inspired by a real life person: Harold Krentz. Gershe heard Krentz talking on a radio show about being drafted for the military during the vietnam war, the odd thing is Harold Krentz has been blind since childhood. Harold Krentz wrote a book called "To Race the Wind" and he writes about being the inspiration for the story of Butterflies are free.