California Suite movie storyline. Staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel, classically trained British actress Diana Barrie (Dame Maggie Smith) and her antiques dealer husband Sidney Cochran (Sir Michael Caine) are in town to attend the Oscar ceremony as Diana has been nominated for her first Best Actress Oscar for what she considers a comic trifle of a movie.
Beyond Diana dealing with nerves in the lead up to the ceremony, Diana and Sidney confront the “elephant in the room” issue affecting their marriage, that elephant about which they rarely speak. A marriage long past is that of Bill Warren (Alan Alda) and Hannah Warren (Jane Fonda), who divorced nine years ago. New York City-based Hannah is staying at the hotel to meet with Los Angeles based screenwriter Bill, as their seventeen-year-old daughter Jenny (Dana Plato), of whom Hannah has primary custody, had earlier run off on her own volition to live with Bill until she comes of age next year and heads off to college.
Their discussion about what to do about Jenny highlights the fundamental differences in temperament between the two, with uptight intellectual Hannah abhorring the vacuous California lifestyle, which is now epitomized by Bill. A marriage more on solid ground is that of Philadelphia-based Marvin Michaels (Walter Matthau) and Millie Michaels (Elaine May), who are in town to attend the bar mitzvah of their nephew, the son of Marvin’s sex obsessed brother, Harry (Herb Edelman).
Marvin has arrived at the hotel a day earlier than Millie. But their marriage may be in trouble if Millie, upon her arrival, discovers what Marvin is hiding in his bed. And a lost reservation and a full hotel the result of the Oscars is only the latest problem facing travelling companions, couples Dr. Chauncey Gump (Richard Pryor) and Lola Gump (Gloria Gifford), and Dr. Willis Panama (Bill Cosby) and Bettina Panama (Sheila Frazier). Chauncey and Willis are increasingly at odds with each other on this, their driving vacation, which is exacerbated by what is turning out to be Murphy’s Law seemingly at every move that they make.
California Suite is a 1978 American comedy film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay by Neil Simon is based on his 1976 play of the same name. Similar to his earlier Plaza Suite, the film focuses on the dilemmas of guests staying in a suite in a luxury hotel. Maggie Smith won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film.
California Suite (1978)
Directed by: Herbert Ross
Starring: Maggie Smith, Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Michael Caine, Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Herb Edelman, Denise Galik, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Gloria Gifford , Sheila Frazier, Dana Plato
Screenplay by: Neil Simon
Production Design by: Albert Brenner
Cinematography by: David M. Walsh
Film Editing by: Michael A. Stevenson
Costume Design by: Patricia Norris
Set Decoration by: Marvin March
Music by: Claude Bolling
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: December 22, 1978
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