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Staring:
Walter Matthau,
Maureen Stapleton,
Barbara Harris,
Lee Grant,
Louise Sorel
Director:
Arthur Hiller
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $9.98
Our Price: $17.49
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: MATTHAU,WALTER
EAN: 9780792193043
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0792193040
Label: Paramount
Manufacturer: Paramount
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Paramount
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2003-11-25
Running Time: 114
Studio: Paramount
Theatrical Release Date: 1971-05-12 |
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Description
In the first act of PLAZA SUITE, Sam Nash (Matthau) and his wife Karen (Stapleton) are celebrating their anniversary by returning to the suite where they honeymooned 24 years ago. Trying to get her inattentive husband’s attention and spruce up their failing marriage, Karen attempts to rekindle the romance that the couple once had while Sam has some secretly seductive plans of his own. In the second vignette, former movie producer, Jesse Kiplinger (Matthau), tries to put the moves on his old flame Muriel Tate (Harris) in true Hollywood fashion. And finally, the third sequence finds Matthau playing Roy Hubley, an anxious father who with his wife Norma (Grant) tries desperately to persuade his nervous daughter to leave the bathroom in which she has locked herself on her much-anticipated wedding day.
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Plaza Suite--movie, 2009-01-30
We laughed and laughed. There is no one like Walter Mathau to bring laughter and tears at the same time.....would highly recommend'
Curmudgeonly Matthau and Three Superb Actresses Keep Neil Simon's Three-Act Comedy Aloft, 2006-05-24
If you want a mildly entertaining snapshot of what made Walter Matthau such a skilled curmudgeon of an actor, you should take a look at this 1971 three-act Neil Simon comedy directed in a fairly pedestrian manner by Arthur Hiller. Based on Simon's Broadway hit, it feels very stagy with reams of dialogue and for the most part, a recreation of Suite 719 at the Plaza Hotel as the movie's only set. There is a central conceit in casting Matthau as the male lead in all three mini-plays, but fortunately the three characters suitably fit the contours of his talent. It also helps that Hiller cast three superb, relatively unsung actresses opposite him.
In the first and most dramatic piece, Matthau plays Sam Nash, a preoccupied, workaholic husband who sees his youth slipping away as he celebrates his 23rd (or 24th) wedding anniversary at the Plaza. Played by the wonderfully earthy Maureen Stapleton, his somewhat absent-minded wife Karen comes to realize that Sam is having an affair. Stapleton is really center stage here and performs superbly as she gradually realizes her anniversary celebration is unraveling into a much-too-delayed discussion of the true state of their marriage. The second mini-play is a light farce with Matthau playing self-absorbed Hollywood producer Jesse Kiplinger. Sporting an unflattering 1970's blonde wig and affecting a saucy, faux-hip accent, he is hilariously on the make for his former hometown flame, Muriel Tate, now a New Jersey housewife. The underappreciated Barbara Harris has an appropriate showcase for her spacey, improvisational flair as Muriel, especially as she asks about her favorite movie stars at the most inopportune times during his less-than-subtle seduction.
Probably because of its frenetic pace, broad characterizations and physical comedy, the last act is the funniest of the three with Matthau and Lee Grant playing Roy and Norma Hubley, who are desperately trying to talk their hesitant daughter out of a locked bathroom just minutes before her wedding. Their rat-a-tat chemistry is priceless as they encounter every possible mishap with Grant especially hilarious as Norma in simmering panic with her palpitations and torn stockings. As a whole, there is no getting away from the fact that the movie feels like a filmed stage play, but Simon's dialogue is crisp and insightful and the actors so expert that it is worth viewing. Sadly there are no extras with the 2003 DVD.
How Suite it is, 2006-01-18
Plaza Suite was the first of three "Suite" plays by Neil Simon. The premise is that the entire play takes place in on suite of a hotel. In this it was Suite 719 of NYC's Plaza Hotel. Each of the three acts has two main characters. On stage, the same two actors played all three acts. In the film, Walter Matthau plays the male lead but three different women play opposite him, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris and Lee Grant.
Visitors From New York -
It is the Nash's 24th Wedding Anniversary. Karen (Stapleton) wants everything to be perfect. She has reserved the same room as on their wedding night. The only problem is her husband Sam doesn't care. And he's having an affair with his secretary.
Maureen Stapleton has always been a great character actress. She would perfect the harried wife to perfection Her natural warmth and charm always makes her likeable to the audience.
Visitor From Hollywood -
Jesse Kiplinger is a Hollywood producer who is in New York for the opening of his new film. He has a couple of hours to fill and he is looking up an old flame from high school, Muriel (Harris). Muriel is happily married but she is star struck. All she wants to do is say that she was with a famous Hollywood producer, not that she slept with him just spent the afternoon. (Remember this was the 60's). Jesse tries but Muriel resists until he talks about the stars.
Barbara Harris has perfect comic timing, even when she does dramatic roles. She also is not afraid of physical comedy. In this she combines both perfectly and works off of Matthau with ease.
Visitors From Brooklyn -
Roy and Norma (Grant) Hubley's daughter is getting married today. That is if they can get her out of bathroom. This is pure Simon farce.
Lee Grant has proven she can do anything but all out farce is her forte. No one does a woman on the verge better.
Walter Matthau was a high profile character actor. That is until he and Jack Lemmon met up with Neil Simon. The Odd Couple permanently moved Walter to leading actor status. Therefore, when the next Simon project was ready for filming, that Matthau was the first choice. Walter had three very different characters to play here and he does each to perfection.
This is master class in comedy, not only acting but directing and writing.
DVD EXTRAS: None
A Tale of Comedy, 2009-04-09
Neil Simon presents a triple comedy trip through a suite in the Plaza Hotel in New York City; Walter Matthau, comedian extradinaire, plays the lead with three different female stars. The designated room is suite 719:
(1)Maureen Stapleton discovers that her husband is fooling around with his Secretary; (2)Barbara Harris is an old flame of a producer who has more than rekindleing a romance on her mind; (3)Lee grant and her husband are the parents of a bride-to-be who has locked herself in the bathroom just before the wedding is about to start. You will certainly enjoy this film writen in the author's sophisticated style in which he shows the tenderness of a romantic lifestyle.
Great parts 1 and 3, 2009-04-27
I'd like to give this movie 5 stars, but the 2nd act was rather prosaic and a bit annoying as Matthau plays the horny producer on the make. However, the first act is some brillant pathos and verbal banter of the frigid and angst ridden couple. The 3rd is pure bounce and jolly as the perplexed parents assist their catatonic daughter into marriage. Very strong performances by the 3 leading ladies. I enjoyed the theatresque chamber quality of this "play" movie.
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