Most actors would say that their job consists largely of learning to walk
around in another person's shoes. In
Tootsie (1982), however, Dustin
Hoffman did that quite literally, learning to walk in heels and gaining a
new appreciation for what it meant to be a woman. As an unemployable actor
who achieves stardom when he becomes leading lady on a daytime soap, he
scored one of his biggest hits. The 1982 film was an almost instant
classic and remains one of the top-grossing comedies of all time.
Hoffman got the idea for
Tootsie while working on
Kramer Vs.
Kramer (1979), in which he won an Oscar® for playing a man who had
to be both father and mother to his son. When he discussed the idea with
playwright Murray Schisgal (
Luv), the project was born. Schisgal
was hardly the only writer to work on the story, though. By the time the
film was ready for release, the Writers Guild had to sort through three
boxes of scripts to assign the writing credits. They finally went to
Schisgal and Larry Gelbart (creator of the
M*A*S*H television
series), with Gelbart and Don McGuire credited with the story. Elaine May
probably could have earned a credit, too, but she didn't want one, happy
with a $450,000 check for three weeks of work adding a woman's perspective
to the story.
Tootsie also went through several directors,
including Hal Ashby (
Being There, 1979) and Dick Richards (
The
Culpepper Cattle Company, 1972), before going to Sydney Pollack (
They
Shoot Horses, Don't They?, 1969), who co-produced with Richards.
But more than any personnel, the make or break deal for Hoffman was his
female characterization. If he couldn't turn in an acceptable screen test
as the woman eventually named Dorothy Michaels, he was going to step aside
in favor of another actor (Dudley Moore was mentioned most often). Through
weeks of work with makeup men, costumers and two coaches (drag performer
Holly Woodlawn and television star Polly Holliday of
Alice and
Flo) he finally came up with an acceptable performance. During one
test, when Dorothy admitted she was too old to have children, he even broke
down in tears. He modeled the characterization largely on his mother and
even took the film's title from a childhood game in which she would throw
him in the air and say, "How's my tootsie wootsie." Originally, he could
only do the female voice with a French accent. Anything else made him drop
into his male register. Then in the shower, he discovered he could get an
equally feminine effect with a Southern accent.
During location shooting in and around New York, Hoffman could only shoot in character
as Dorothy for three to four hours a day before his beard became too
strong. He had to have his legs, arms and even the backs of his fingers
shaved (the high necklines that hid his Adam's apple spared him from
shaving his chest). He also used lifts to tighten his face and false teeth
to hide his own, more masculine choppers. When a summer heat wave broke
out, however, he developed a new problem - his first case of acne since he
was a teen.
Filling out the rest of the cast were newcomers like Jessica Lange, finally
scoring a comeback after her disastrous film debut in
King Kong (1976), and
Geena Davis, making her film debut as an actress on Dorothy's soap.
Pollack also cast comic experts like Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles
Durning and Bill Murray, who improvised most of his lines as Hoffman's
roommate. Murray eschewed an acting credit so fans wouldn't come to the
film expecting a comedy like his hits
Caddyshack (1980) and
Stripes (1981).
After much fighting, Hoffman got his first choice to play his character's
agent. Pollack wanted to give the role to Coleman, but knowing that the
director had started as an actor, Hoffman lobbied fiercely to get him to
direct himself. He even sent him flowers with a card reading, "Be my
agent. Love, Dorothy." The crew took a perverse pleasure in watching
their boss stricken with stage fright before every scene.
With delays caused by Hoffman's makeup and his frequent quarrels with
Pollack, the film's budget rose to $21 million -- high for a comedy at that
time. But it was well worth the effort when the picture was hailed by
critics and earned almost $100 million domestically, the highest take
Columbia Pictures had ever had for a comedy. It was second only to
E.T. in the end-of-year box-office standing. It also cleaned up at award ceremonies, with Golden Globes for Hoffman, Lange and the picture
itself (as Best Picture -- Musical/Comedy); National Society of Film
Critics Awards for the film, the script, Hoffman and Lange; New York Film
Critics Awards for Pollack, Lange and the script; and a Writer's Guild
Award. It also picked up ten Oscar® nominations, though it only won
for Lange's supporting performance, confirming her arrival as a major
dramatic star (she was also nominated for Best Actress that year for
Frances). Sixteen years later
Tootsie picked up another
major honor when it was voted a place on the National Film Registry,
granting it official recognition as an American treasure.
Producer: Sydney Pollack, Dick Richards
Director: Sydney Pollack
Screenplay: Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal and (uncredited) Elaine May,
Robert Kaufman, Valerie Curtin, Barry Levinson and Robert
Garner
Based on a Story by Gelbart and Don McGuire
Cinematography: Owen Roizman
Art Direction: Peter Larkin, Thomas C. Tonery
Music: Dave Grusin
Principal Cast: Dustin Hoffman (Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels), Jessica
Lange (Julie), Teri Garr (Sandy), Dabney Coleman (Ron), Charles Durning
(Les), Bill Murray (uncredited, Jeff), Sydney Pollack (George Fields),
George Gaynes (John Van Horn), Geena Davis (April), Doris Belack (Rita),
Ellen Foley (Jacqui), Lynne Thigpen (Jo), Debra Mooney (Mrs. Mallory),
Estelle Getty (Middle-Aged Woman), Christine Ebersole (Linda), Murray
Schisgal (Party Guest).
C-117m. Letterboxed.
by Frank Miller
