Laurence Luckinbill
A witty, perceptive and devastating look at the personal agendas and suppressed revelations swirling among a group of gay men in Manhattan. Harold is celebrating a birthday, and his friend Michael has drafted some other friends to help commemorate the event. As the evening progresses, the alcohol flows, the knives come out, and Michael’s demand that the group participate in a devious telephone game, unleashing dormant and unspoken emotions.
After being discharged from the Army, Brian Flanagan moves back to Queens and takes a job in a bar run by Doug Coughlin, who teaches Brian the fine art of bar-tending. Brian quickly becomes a patron favorite with his flashy drink-mixing style. Brian adopts his mentor’s cynical philosophy on life and goes for the money. He leaves his artist girlfriend Jordan Mooney for Bonnie, a wealthy, high-powered executive. Brian soon must chose between the two, as he evaluates his options.
Otto Preminger directs this comedy-drama based upon the novel by Lois Gould and adapted by Elaine May (under the pseudonym Esther Dale). Julie Messinger (Dyan Cannon) is an intense woman who hides her wild emotions and desires under her conventional facade. Her husband Richard (Laurence Luckinbill) checks into the hospital for a simple mole removal that goes seriously wrong. The stellar cast includes James Coco, Jennifer O’Neill, Ken Howard, Louise Lasser, Nina Foch, Sam Levine, Doris Roberts and Burgess Meredith.