The Balcony (1963) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

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Shelley Winters is the madame of a house where customers play out their erotic fantasies, oblivious to a revolution which is sweeping the country. When her old friend, the chief of police (Peter Falk), asks her to impersonate the missing queen in order to reassure the people and halt the revolution, she offers instead three of her customers to play the general, bishop and chief justice, all of whom have died in the revolution.

Cast & Crew

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Joseph Strick

Shelley Winters

Peter Falk

Lee Grant

Ruby Dee

Peter Brocco

Film Details

Genre

Adaptation

Drama

Release Date

Jan 1963

Premiere Information

New York opening: 21 Mar 1963

Production Company

Allen-Hodgdon Productions; City Film Corp.; Walter Reade--Sterling, Inc.

Distribution Company

Continental Distributing, Inc.

Country

United States

Screenplay Information

Based on the play Le balcon by Jean Genêt (trans. by Bernard Frechtman as The Balcony ; London, 22 Apr 1957).

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 27m

Sound

Mono

Color

Black and White

Synopsis

Madam Irma's brothel, The Balcony, is located in a vast, converted movie studio. Although a revolution is raging in the city streets, Irma ignores the turmoil and continues catering to the desires of her clientele. A gas station attendant pretends to be a bishop erotically stimulated by the lewd confessions of a penitent; a milkman posing as a general delights in whipping his female "horse"; and an accountant pretends he is a chief justice trying the case of a petty thief. One day Irma's lover, the chief of police, commandeers the three phony dignitaries and parades them through the streets in the hope that it will quiet the populace. When the men begin to believe their roles, the chief brutally strips them of their illusions. While Irma is pretending to be the queen, the rebel leader arrives at The Balcony and announces that he wants to impersonate the police chief. As he is being seduced by Carmen, Irma's lesbian confidante, he is suddenly confronted by the chief. The two men begin to fight, and Irma orders her women to strip them of their uniforms. Clad only in bath towels, they leave The Balcony as Irma turns to the audience and tells them to go home, where the illusions they practice are even more false than those she sells at her brothel.

Director

Joseph Strick

Cast

Shelley Winters

Peter Falk

Lee Grant

Ruby Dee

Peter Brocco

Kent Smith

Jeff Corey

Joyce Jameson

Arnette Jens

Leonard Nimoy

Crew

Robert Craft

Music Conductor

Frank Dugas

Camera Operator

Verna Fields

George Folsey

Director of Photography

Joel Glickman

Production Manager

Rosemary Kaye

Associate Producer

Helen Levitt

Assistant Director

Ben Maddow

Ben Maddow

John Nicholson

Jean Owens

Chester W. Schaeffer

Gabriel Scognamillo

Igor Stravinsky

Music Composition

Joseph Strick

Jeanne Turner

Film Details

Genre

Adaptation

Drama

Release Date

Jan 1963

Premiere Information

New York opening: 21 Mar 1963

Production Company

Allen-Hodgdon Productions; City Film Corp.; Walter Reade--Sterling, Inc.

Distribution Company

Continental Distributing, Inc.

Country

United States

Screenplay Information

Based on the play Le balcon by Jean Genêt (trans. by Bernard Frechtman as The Balcony ; London, 22 Apr 1957).

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 27m

Sound

Mono

Color

Black and White

Award Nominations

Best Cinematography

1963

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States 1963

Released in United States on Video July 1989

Released in United States 1963

Released in United States on Video July 1989

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