Taglines: What can Natalie do in Greenwich Village that she can’t do at home?
Me, Natalie movie storyline. Since she was a child, Natalie Miller (Patty Duke) has always thought she was an ugly ducking. Despite her mother’s encouragement that she will grow up to be pretty, Natalie has never believed it will happen. She rents a Greenwich Village apartment from an eccentric landlady and gets a job at the Topless Bottom Club. She rides a motorcycle to work, decorates her loft with a moose head, and rides up and down a dumbwaiter to get to her apartment. There Natalie meets David an artist, and the two have a love affair before she discovers he is married.
Me, Natalie is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe about a homely young woman from Brooklyn who moves to Greenwich Village and finds romance with an aspiring painter. The screenplay by A. Martin Zweiback is based on an original story by Stanley Shapiro. Patty Duke, who starred in the title role, won a Golden Globe Award for her performance. The film also starred James Farentino, Salome Jens, Elsa Lanchester, Martin Balsam and Nancy Marchand. It marked Al Pacino’s film debut.
About the Story
From childhood, Brooklyn teenager, Natalie Miller, who has upper front teeth that are slightly bucked, and a nose too large for her face, has considered herself to be homely, and has never subscribed to her mother’s determined belief that she will grow up to be pretty. By contrast, her best friend, Betty, is a popular and beautiful blonde cheerleader who has been going steady with the handsome Stanley since junior high school.
Natalie’s efforts to become a cheerleader herself, impress a blind date, and attend her graduation dance all fail. She is briefly cheered up by her beloved Uncle Harold, who tells her that someday a man will look beyond her face, and see her good inner qualities, but she becomes disillusioned after Harold gets engaged to a sexy, voluptuous go-go dancer, Shirley. Believing that Harold chose Shirley based on her looks, Natalie regards Shirley with contempt, and when Harold dies suddenly, avoids attending his funeral.
A year later, Natalie encounters Shirley, who has turned to drugs in her grief over Harold. Natalie sees that Shirley and Harold really did love each other, and that Shirley’s physical attractiveness has not brought her happiness. Natalie’s parents worry because she has been expelled from college, has not found a job, and has no boyfriends or marital prospects. They try to arrange dates for her, and her father attempts to bribe Morris, an unattractive aspiring optometrist, to marry her. After learning of the bribery scheme, an incensed Natalie moves out of her parents’ apartment, planning to move in with Shirley in Manhattan.
Upon arriving at Shirley’s bohemian apartment building in Greenwich Village, Natalie finds that Shirley has committed suicide. Natalie rents and fixes up Shirley’s vacant apartment, and gets a cocktail waitress job at the “Topless Bottomless Club”. Natalie is attracted to her downstairs neighbor, David Harris, an architect, who has left his job for three months to pursue his dream of becoming a painter.
Having dismissed David as a “sex pervert” because he is usually painting beautiful nude female models, she is taken aback when David finds her face “interesting” and asks her to model for him. Their friendship gradually grows into a romance, with Natalie encouraging his painting aspirations and David building her self-confidence. However, just after Natalie sees her old friend, Betty, make an unhappy marriage due to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, Natalie discovers David is actually married to a wealthy, beautiful woman and has two young sons.
After a confrontation, David reassures Natalie that he really loves her and he will go back to his family home, end his marriage, and return to her. At first Natalie waits eagerly in his apartment for his return, but as time goes by she feels guilty about separating him from his family. Finally she writes David a farewell letter, saying she will always love him but expressing the wish to take responsibility for her own happiness, and leaves.
Me, Natalie (1969)
Directed by: Fred Coe
Starring: Patty Duke, James Farentino, Salome Jens, Elsa Lanchester, Martin Balsam, Nancy Marchand, Philip Sterling, Catherine Burns, Salome Jens, Deborah Winters, Robbi Morgan, Bob Balaban, Al Pacino, Ann Thomas, Rdn Hale
Screenplay by: A. Martin Zweiback
Cinematography by: Arthur J. Ornitz
Film Editing by: John McSweeney Jr.
Costume Design by: Anna Hill Johnstone
Art Direction by: George Jenkins
Music by: Henry Mancini
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: National General Pictures
Release Date: July 13, 1969
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