That Cold Day in the Park
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Robert Altman
Sandy Dennis
Michael Burns
Susanne Benton
Luana Anders
John Garfield Jr.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Frances Austen, a wealthy spinster in her early 30's, spots a bedraggled young man huddled in the rain on a park bench across from her elegant Vancouver apartment. Strangely attracted to him, she waits until her dinner guests leave, dismisses the maid, and goes to the park to invite the young man in. Accepting wordlessly, he follows Frances into her home and allows her to pamper him as he listens to her incessant chatter. Assuming that the boy is a mute, Frances offers him the guest room for the night and serves him breakfast in the morning. Late that night, the boy sneaks away, visits his family, and then goes to see his sister Nina, who lives on a houseboat with Nick, an American draft dodger. While the three are smoking marijuana, the boy talks about his good fortune but denies Nick's contention that Frances is paying for his sexual services. Frances welcomes him when he returns and unknowingly accepts drugged cookies from him. The next day, Nina arrives while Frances is out, uses the bath, and taunts her brother with incestuous invitations. Frances, meanwhile, has become obsessed with the boy, and that night she enters his darkened room and imploringly offers herself to him only to discover that he has gone out again. Furious, she waits until the boy returns the next morning and makes him a prisoner in her apartment. The boy finally speaks to Frances, screaming that he does not want or need her. Now determined not to lose him, Frances persuades Sylvie, a prostitute, to come to the house. After locking the boy and girl in a room, Frances bursts in while they are having sex and plunges a knife into the prostitute. Terrified, the boy tries to hide, but the demented Frances finds him and passionately clutches her prisoner.
Director
Robert Altman
Cast
Sandy Dennis
Michael Burns
Susanne Benton
Luana Anders
John Garfield Jr.
Edward Greenhalgh
Frank Wade
Lloyd Berry
Alicia Ammon
Rae Brown
Michael Murphy
Crew
Robert Eggenweiler
Leon Ericksen
Donald Factor
Gillian Freeman
Danford B. Greene
John Gusselle
Laszlo Kovacs
Johnny Mandel
James Margellos
Leon Mirell
Harold Schneider
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Location scenes filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. Released in Canada in 1969; running time: 115 min.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Summer June 1969
Set in Vancouver, the story revolves around a pretty spinster, who finds a teenage boy in the park, invites him over to her place, and coaxes him into a relationship that soon grows bizarre and tragic.
Released in United States Summer June 1969
