More Heartbreak
- Aug 17, 2022
- 3 min read
Yesterday, I posted the hilarious, painful and tragic "pie scene" from the movie The Heartbreak Kid. The film is written by Neil Simon (adapted from a short story by Bruce Jay Friedman) -- and the tour-de-force scene masterfully played by Charles Grodin and Jeannie Berlin. What I foolishly failed to mention, though subsequently added to the article, is that the movie was directed by Berlin's mother -- Elaine May!
(To be clear, we're talking about the 1972 original, not the recent remake with Ben Stiller. And as long as I'm adding an addendum here, I should mention that for fans of the HBO series Succession, Jeannie Berlin has a semi-recurring role as 'Cyd Peach.')
This had all come up because I had mentioned discussing it with Charles Grodin the one time I crossed paths with him. Of all the things I could have brought up to talk about, that scene was #1 on my list.
But though it stands far on top for me in Grodin's work, it's not the only hilarious, painful and tragic scene in the movie.
I got into a brief discussion about it all on social media with Roger Greenbaum (another Camp Nebagamon alum...) and noted that there are two other companions scenes in The Heartbreak Kid almost as funny and painful and awkward.
As I mention, the basic story is that Charles Grodin has rushed into a marriage with Jeannie Berlin, and on his honeymoon realizes it was a terrible mistake -- which gets compounded when Berlin gets sunstroke, has to stay indoor, and Grodin meets and becomes utterly infatuated with a spectacularly gorgeous Cybill Shepherd (in her first film following her debut in The Last Picture Show).
The two scenes in question revolve around, first, when Grodin meets Shepherd's very wealthy, upper-class parents, lead by her highly-protective, bulldog of a father, played by a growingly-indignant Eddie Albert -- a scene where Albert is so truly-great without saying a single word for most of it. (Shepherd is excellent in it, as well, equally silent and almost bored-amused by it all, while her mother, played by Audra Lindley -- the landlord's wife in the sitcom Three's Company -- is also silent, and aghast.) But it's Grodin and the silently-imploding Albert's scene. And director May has the prescient sense to set the camera up and just hold it there, and stay out of the way, letting Grodin "laying my cards on the table" and Albert do the heavy lifting. (With Shepherd and Lindley in the background serving as a sort of silent Greek Chorus reacting.) And the later scene is at their home, when the determined Grodin has impulsively traveled a thousand miles and imposed himself on them for dinner in pursuit of their daughter -- among other things, going on a stream-of-conscious rambling that at one point praises how "there is no deceit in the cauliflower." None of which Eddie Albert takes well to.
I thought of posting them both, but the full context of the scenes do them full justice takes too much to explain, even more than this, in order to get to total impact of the comedy and angst of it all. But how good is Eddie Albert in the two scenes, one of which he's near-silent? The National Society of Film Critics awarded him Best Supporting Actor. (And did the same, along with the NY Film Critics, with Jeannie Berlin naming her Best Supporting Actress.)
As it turns out, though, when I went to track down the trailer for the movie, which I though would be worth posting here, that in fact they not only open on that first, "lay my cards on the table" scene, but actually use a great deal of it as the core foundation of the trailer. It's that good. And so, I figured that if it's good enough for the trailer, it's good enough to post here.
It's only a short potion of the "cards on the table" scene, so you won't get the full breadth of it -- nor the initial dinner scene -- and so the uncomfortable pain and tragedy of the scenes won't come through as much...though the comedy will. And you'll definitely get the point.
I think the movie is highly-worth seeing in full. For those interested, Amazon Prime has it for streaming but unfortunately is "not currently available," but Netflix has the DVD, which you can find here.
[UPDATE: I've been informed that though Netflix lists the movie and it can be put in one's "Saved" list, they don't currently have a copy. I found a used DVD on Amazon, but it's $40. However, a site called Classic Movie Reel (which I assume sells bootleg copies, of which I don't approve. Whether there being no other way to view the movie makes a bootleg viable or still at issue is a separate matter) has it on sale here for $12, down from $20.]
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