The Goodbye Girl

Synopsis: A divorced woman and her daughter come home to find that her boyfriend has left for an out of town job with no warning. This has happened before. The second surprise comes in the form of another actor who has sublet the apartment from her boyfriend (who did not mention the pair of females who would be in residence). After some negotiation the two decide to share the apartment even though she has vowed to stay away from actors.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director(s): Herbert Ross
Production: MGM Home Entertainment
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 9 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Rotten Tomatoes:
88%
PG
Year:
1977
111 min
2,151 Views


1

Here's our stop, come on.

This time next week... California!

You excited?

Me, too. I can't wait.

Were you ever there?

Once, for six weeks,

touring with some musical.

In the middle of December we went swimming.

- Which musical?

- What's the difference?

I'm tryin' to tell you

how beautiful it's gonna be.

We're gonna look for a little house

way up in the hills.

Near the movie studios?

Yes, your window will face Warner Bros.

You can watch them blow up

the world from your bed. All right?

Oh, God. Can you imagine

your very own orange tree? And lemons!

I think the musical was Fiddler on the Rool.

I stayed with Grandma. I was 4.

You were never 4. You were born 26!

Do you think I'll be in the same grade?

Of course you will! Everything's the same

out there, only it's three hours earlier.

You'll graduate younger.

A girl from California's in our class.

She went to school

with Helen Reddy's daughter.

What about you?

After this picture they'll be saying:

"There goes Tony DeForrest's little girl."

Yeah, but he's not a star,

he's just an actor.

Stars have to be actors first.

- And he's not really my father!

- You're such a stickler for details!

Can I show Tony all my things first?

Later. You have homework to do.

We're moving in four days.

Do I have to do homework?

Suppose between now and Friday

they teach brain surgery?

I wouldn't want you to miss it.

We had it last week in science.

- Are you serious?

- Dumb! You know you're dumb!

I thought maybe in frog dissection.

What do I know?

Can I just show him my new sweater and jeans?

All right!

But wash your face and brush your hair.

And no makeup!

Tony?

Sweetheart?

You in the bathroom?

We cleaned out Alexander's!

We bought everything on sale...

...so you'd better like it

'cause we can't exchange it.

I bought you a present. Babe?

Come out and see!

Babe?

Oh, my God!

What happened?

He's gone!

He left without us!

For California?

For Italy.

- Can I read it?

- Yeah.

"Dear Paula,

this isn't an easy letter to write."

Doesn't start off too good, does it?

"Where in the hell do I begin?

"You know, you and the kid mean a lot to me."

The kid?

"I turned down the job in L.A.

It was just a lousy TV picture anyway.

"On Monday, Stan Fields called.

"I got the Bertolu..."

Bertolucci.

"Bertolucci picture."

- Who's Bartolucci?

- An Italian director.

What'd he direct?

What are you asking questions

like that now for?

"It's six months shooting in Spain and Italy.

"It's a hell of a part, and I want it.

I broke my ass..."

- Give me that!

- "Ass!" I've heard the word before.

"I broke my ass for 12 years and things

are finally beginning to break for me.

"I told you when you first moved in here

that it was never going to be permanent.

"I'm not even divorced from Patti yet."

Who's Patti?

- I told you about her.

- No, you didn't.

I thought you would be upset if you knew

you were living with a married man.

I wasn't living with him, you were.

I was in the next room.

They were practically divorced.

"I left early today because I didn't think

a goodbye scene would do us any good."

This is one of the worst letters

I've ever read in my whole life.

Isn't it terrible?

"I wish I had something

to leave you and the kid."

He didn't leave us anything?

"I had to sell my watch and camera

to pay off the loan sharks."

He owed money to sharks?

I'll explain it some other time.

"But I know you'll be all right.

You can always go back to dancing."

Dancing? I'm 33. I can hardly walk anymore.

"You deserve more than I can give.

"I wish the both of us

all the luck in the world.

- "Love to the kid."

- Don't read anymore.

There's just one more word: "Tony."

Throw it away!

Does this mean we're not going to California?

Yes.

That means I have to do my homework, right?

I see you, Paula. You can't hide from me!

Down, up and over.

Once again!

What have you done to your body?

It died! Have a little respect.

Once again.

Come on, Paula, push.

Paula?

Donna. Donna Douglas.

I was the swing girl

when you were in Company.

Oh, yes! Hello, Donna.

Tough getting back into shape?

It's been two years. It's amazing

how flabby you get when you're happy.

Hi, Mrs. Crosby.

You leavin' tonight or in the mornin'?

I'm sorry, what was that?

Just checkin' on what time

you'll be vacatin'.

We're not going to California.

I forgot to tell you.

I'm not the only one you forgot to tell!

That apartment's been sublet.

Wait a minute!

What? What are you talking about?

We're paid up through June.

We have three more months.

You can't sublet that apartment!

I'm not! Your young man did, honey.

He sublet our apartment?

He notified me last night.

It's his name on the lease.

He can do what he wants.

Make sure you leave it like you found it.

I'm not leaving it!

I cleaned it and painted it and decorated it!

It's mine!

I don't care what he's done!

I'm not getting out! Do you understand?

That's none of my business, honey!

You can take that up with the sublettee.

I just don't want no trouble in my building.

That bastard! That no good bastard!

Who's that?

I don't know.

Maybe it's Tony! Maybe he changed

his mind and came back.

You're so young.

Stay there.

Who is it?

Elliot Garfield.

Who?

Elliot Garfield, from Chicago! Is Tony in?

There's nobody by that name here.

Wait a second.

3A, this is the right apartment.

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Neil Simon

Marvin Neil Simon (born July 4, 1927) credited as Neil Simon, is an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly adaptations of his plays. He has received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer.Simon grew up in New York City during the Great Depression, with his parents' financial hardships affecting their marriage, giving him a mostly unhappy and unstable childhood. He often took refuge in movie theaters where he enjoyed watching the early comedians like Charlie Chaplin. After a few years in the Army Air Force Reserve, and after graduating from high school, he began writing comedy scripts for radio and some popular early television shows. Among them were Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows from 1950 (where he worked alongside other young writers including Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks and Selma Diamond), and The Phil Silvers Show, which ran from 1955 to 1959. He began writing his own plays beginning with Come Blow Your Horn (1961), which took him three years to complete and ran for 678 performances on Broadway. It was followed by two more successful plays, Barefoot in the Park (1963) and The Odd Couple (1965), for which he won a Tony Award. It made him a national celebrity and "the hottest new playwright on Broadway." During the 1960s to 1980s, he wrote both original screenplays and stage plays, with some films actually based on his plays. His style ranged from romantic comedy to farce to more serious dramatic comedy. Overall, he has garnered 17 Tony nominations and won three. During one season, he had four successful plays running on Broadway at the same time, and in 1983 became the only living playwright to have a New York theatre, the Neil Simon Theatre, named in his honor. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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