April 26th: TWO FOR THE ROAD (Stanley Donen, 1967)

The ups and downs of a rocky marriage are charted in a series of road trips to the South of France taken by the couple over a 12-year period.

Two For The Road is an original screenplay by Frederic Raphael (Eyes Wide Shut), who had recently won an Academy Award for writing the film Darling (1965). Director Stanley Donen made his name with many now-classic musicals (Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers), and had since tried his hand at various sophisticated comedy/drama and comedy/thriller hybrids.

Audrey Hepburn was Donen's first choice for the female lead (having previously worked together on Charade and Funny Face), and after unsuccessfully attempting to get Paul Newman and Michael Caine to star alongside her, he wound up with actor Albert Finney, who had already displayed his range in the recent British run of social-realism "kitchen sink" dramas, as well as the comedic farce Tom Jones (winner of the Best Picture Oscar) .

Raphael's narrative conceit, unique for its time, fractured the story, jumping back and forth between different periods in the lives of the characters. To signify these distinct stages, Hepburn was given a dizzying number of hairstyles and outfits, and a roster of different car models are featured as well.

Behind the camera was veteran cinematographer Christoper Challis (Tales of Hoffmann), shooting on location all over France. To preserve the realism of the characters driving cars in real locations, cameras were attached to the outside of the vehicles and operated by the actors themselves.

During the post-production process, Donen and his editors elected to use a quicker cutting style with shorter shot lengths, anticipating a trend that would become more common at the end of the decade. Legendary composer Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther) later claimed his score for this film was both the most challenging and personal favorite of his career.

While the film was well-reviewed and a moderate success, it was overshadowed by Hepburn's other film from the same year, the thriller Wait Until Dark. Raphael's screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, and many consider this to be the most complex work of both Donen and Hepburn.

Running time is approx. 1 hr, 45 min.