Taglines: Here’s to our friends… and the strength to put up with them.
The Four Seasons movie storyline. Middle aged couples Jack and Kate Burroughs, Nick and Anne Callan, and Danny and Claudia Zimmer are best friends who do everything together. As couples, they have weathered the flood of divorces that have beset their other friends. When one of the six decides to make a change in life, the other five are forced to examine their marriages, their friendships with each other, the true meaning of love and their own personal foibles.
Over the course of one year, the movie is set against the backdrop of four vacations they take together, one in each of the four seasons, with Antonio Vivaldi’s associated suite of music introducing each. By their fourth vacation together, Jack feels that they need to “clear the air”.
The Four Seasons is a 1981 American romantic comedy film written and directed by and starring Alan Alda, which co-stars Carol Burnett, Len Cariou, Sandy Dennis, Rita Moreno, Jack Weston, and Bess Armstrong. It draws its title from the four concerti whose music Antonio Vivaldi composed, of which, along with other Vivaldi compositions, its music score consists. The film spawned a short-lived CBS series in 1984 produced by Alda.
Characters
Jack Burroughs (Alan Alda). Jack is a lawyer and happily married to Kate. He enjoys asking deep and probing questions and then volunteering an answer. Jack is moralistic, expressing disapproval of Nick for leaving his wife. He competes with the more athletic Nick in dirtbike racing, soccer, and skiing. His friends and wife consider him too judgmental at times. Instead of keeping true feelings to themselves, Jack thinks it’s better for everyone to clear the air, when some feelings could be better off hidden.
Kate Burroughs (Carol Burnett). Kate works as an editor for Fortune magazine. She suspects that her husband has fantasies of being worshipped by an attractive, younger woman the way Nick has. Since she comes across as well-organized and even perfect, Kate can feel invisible and neglected.
Nick Callan (Len Cariou). Nick is an insurance salesman and estate planner. He is bored with his wife Anne and divorces her. He admits to Jack that he wants a woman who can excite him. Ginny, a younger woman, begins joining him on seasonal vacations with the Burroughses and Zimmers. Although his four friends disapprove, Nick is happy. Ginny marries him and becomes pregnant with his child.
Danny Zimmer (Jack Weston). Danny is a dentist and married to Claudia. He shares with his male friends a passion for cooking and exotic dishes. He is oldest of the group and fears that he is approaching death. This has prompted diet changes and even irrational fears, like pressing strange elevator buttons. Danny can be quite cheap when it comes to money and often displays symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Claudia Zimmer (Rita Moreno). Claudia is an accomplished painter. She can be quite outspoken, even to the point of being insensitive to others. Whenever her candor is criticized, Claudia refuses to apologize and cites her heritage (“I’m Italian!”). She expresses the desire to feel in love the way Nick does with Ginny. After witnessing Nick and Ginny swim naked, Claudia and Danny try it themselves.
Anne Callan (Sandy Dennis). Anne is a housewife, mother, and aspiring photographer. She takes pleasure in taking photos of vegetables, much to Nick’s chagrin. After being left for a younger woman, Anne falls into depression. She believes that both Kate and Claudia deserted her following her divorce. To break out of her rut, Anne attempts to try new (but unusual) things such as buying a snake and planning a vacation to Czechoslovakia. Eventually she is able to support herself as a magazine photographer (taking “pictures of people, not kumquats,” as Nick observes).
Ginny Newley (Bess Armstrong). Ginny begins a relationship with Nick after meeting him on a flight. She is attractive, bubbly, and a bit naive. She is in awe of the older Nick, whom she regards as quite accomplished. Although the Burroughses and Zimmers resent her as “the other woman,” they eventually accept her as a friend. Ginny defends Danny when the group mocks him for his irrational fears. Ginny marries Nick and she becomes pregnant with his child.
Beth Burroughs (Elizabeth Alda). Beth is the daughter of Jack and Kate. She attends college and is an excellent student. Noting her upbeat attitude, Danny observes that she “takes a real bite out of life.” Beth’s relationship with Lisa, a classmate, has deteriorated at college.
Lisa Callan (Beatrice Alda). Lisa is the daughter of Nick and Anne. Her parents’ divorce greatly affected her and caused her to become sullen, withdrawn, and isolated at school. Lisa confesses her unhappiness to her father, who is unable to cheer her up.
The Four Seasons (1981)
Directed by: Alan Alda
Starring: Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Len Cariou, Sandy Dennis, Rita Moreno, Jack Weston, Bess Armstrong, Elizabeth Alda, Beatrice Alda, Robert Hitt, Kristi McCarthy, David Stackpole
Screenplay by: Alan Alda
Production Design by: Jack T. Collis
Cinematography by: Victor J. Kemper
Film Editing by: Michael Economou
Costume Design by: Jane Greenwood
Set Decoration by: Jerry Wunderlich
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: May 22, 1981
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