# 5: California Suite (1978)

Maggie Smith

as (Oscar nominated!) Diana Barrie

in

California Suite (1978)

 

Screentime: 24 minutes and 15 seconds (24.0% of the film)

Labelled for 1978 movie audiences as the “best two hour vacation in town”, Neil Simon’s California Suite is a film about four separate visitors (from New York, London, Philadelphia and Chicago) and their ‘misadventures’ while staying at the same Beverly Hills hotel. I have to admit that the overall film is pretty awful. The style of comedy is incredibly disjointed and mostly unfunny. Jane Fonda and Alan Alda’s segment is just poorly written, it is essentially the two just continuously arguing and insulting each other as they try and deal with their daughter’s issues (I know this reads hilarious comedy all over!), and then Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby’s segment is even worse; utterly stupid and slapstick. There was a slight improvement when it came to Walter Matthau and the “unconscious prostitute found in his bed while the wife is in the other room” storyline but then came Michael Caine and Maggie Smith's segment "Visitors from London", and all I can say is wow, wow, wow! 

For about 40 minutes, this film gets a 10/10 for the wonderful, heartfelt and humorous chemistry between the two British thespians and their story of a British actress Diana Barrie (Smith) preparing for the Academy Awards with her sexually ambiguous husband Sidney (Caine) and their antics, bickering and worries before the event as well as the drunk and forward confrontations they encounter in the aftermath of the evening. 

So when determining a score for the film:

Fonda/Alda: 1/5

Smith/Caine: 5/5

Matthau: 2.5/5

Cosby/Pryor: 1/5

Gives an overall average of:

FILM:

As for Maggie Smith, she is luminous and stunning as Diana Barrie. The part just seems to be written for Maggie 100% and she just pulls it off perfectly, balancing out both her comedic and light moments with rather hard hitting poignant and dramatic moments in her final minutes on screen. You kind of wish the whole film was just Michael and Maggie, and it really is a shame that such a wonderful performance was stuck in such a dead average film. The whole segment is memorable but highlights include Diana’s growing nerves and paranoia of a supposed hump on her back and her attempts of trying to get answers out of her husband’s closed off life (okay basically the entire final 10 minute scene). Their British presence I feel was just such a nice fresh breath of air, for an otherwise very American film.

MAGGIE-METER: (No hesitations)

"Screw the Oscars. Screw the Academy Awards. Screw me, Sidney. Please. Please"

EXTRA ADDITION:

Smith and Caine filmed their Oscar ceremony scenes during the red-carpet show at the 1978 Academy Awards, they also attended the event and presented Jason Robards with the Oscar for Julia. As for the following ceremony, Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and her competition was:

Dyan Cannon in Heaven Can Wait

Penelope Milford in Coming Home

Maureen Stapleton in Interiors

Meryl Streep in The Deer Hunter

... and who won?

Maggie Smith of course!

(standing with presenter Brooke Shields)