Taglines: They had the perfect love affair. Until they fell in love.
A Touch of Class movie storyline. American Steve Blackburn, in the insurance business, is married with two kids. Vickie Allessio, a self described design “stealer” for a knockoff fashion house, is a recent divorcée with two kids. Steve and Vickie are running into each other more and more in their day to day lives in London before even knowing who the other is, which suits them both fine, as when they do finally officially meet, Steve is up front that he wants to have an affair with her, Steve who has had affairs in the past whenever his wife Gloria, who is from old money, isn’t around which is currently the case as she is in the States visiting her parents.
Vickie, in turn, is up front that she is amenable to a no-strings affair with him under specific circumstances, namely that it be at least a classy short term affair, meaning no cheap motels, and preferably a weekend away somewhere warm. Able to arrange a business trip to Málaga, Spain, for a week, Steve convinces Vickie to change their agreed weekend to a week and spend it in the nearby resort of Marbella. However, one issue after another has the potential to derail the Marbella vacation and thus their affair, unless they can overcome all of the obstacles. If they can, they will have to decide if there is any sort of future for them in their real lives.
A Touch of Class is a 1973 British romantic comedy film directed by Melvin Frank which tells the story of a couple having an affair, who find themselves falling in love. It stars George Segal, Glenda Jackson, Hildegarde Neil, Paul Sorvino and K Callan. It was adapted by Melvin Frank and Jack Rose from Frank’s story “She Loves Me, She Told Me So Last Night”. However, it bears more than a passing resemblance to an earlier Frank film, The Facts of Life (1960), which likewise dealt with a middle-aged couple trying to have an affair, centering on a disaster-laden trip to a place where they would not be recognized.
The lead role of Steve was originally offered to Cary Grant, with a promise by Frank to rewrite the script to play up the age difference between Steve and Vickie. However, Grant opted to remain in retirement from filmmaking, and he turned the role down. He did remain connected to the film, however, as it was produced by Fabergé’s Brut Productions, and Grant was on the board of directors for Fabergé. Roger Moore was also offered the lead role before dropping out to star in Live and Let Die, his first appearance as James Bond. Moore did, however, have a hand in the production of this film.
Glenda Jackson revealed that she was approached by the director Melvin Frank after appearing on the comedy sketch and variety program The Morecambe & Wise Show on the BBC in the United Kingdom in 1971, in the “Antony and Cleopatra” sketch. After her role in this film won her an Oscar, Eric Morecambe sent her a telegram reading, “Stick with us and we will get you another one”.
A Touch of Class (1973)
Directed by: Melvin Frank
Starring: George Segal, Glenda Jackson, Paul Sorvino, Hildegarde Neil, Mary Barclay, Nadim Sawalha, Ian Thompson, Ève Karpf, David de Keyser, Gaye Brown, Rebecca De Los Reyes, Carl Oatley Felipe Solano
Screenplay by: Melvin Frank, Jack Rose
Production Design by: Terence Marsh
Cinematography by: Austin Dempster
Film Editing by: Bill Butler
Costume Design by: Ruth Myers
Art Direction by: Alan Tomkins
Music by: John Cameron
MPAA Rating: Rone.
Distributed by: AVCO Embassy Pictures
Release Date: June 20, 1973
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