An Unmarried Woman is a 1978 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky.

It tells the story of the wealthy New York wife Erica Benton (Jill Clayburgh) whose “perfect” life is shattered when her stockbroker husband Martin (Michael Murphy) leaves her for a younger woman. The film documents Erica's attempts at being single again, where she suffers with confusion, sadness, and rage. As her life progresses, she begins to bond with several friends and finds herself inspired and even feels happier by her renewed liberation. The story also touches on the overall sexual liberation of the 1970s. Erica eventually finds love with a rugged, yet sensitive British artist (Alan Bates).

The film was nominated for three Academy Awards. It co-stars Cliff Gorman, Kelly Bishop and Pat Quinn. It was released on DVD January 10, 2006.

Cast[link]

• Jill Clayburgh as Erica
• Alan Bates as Saul
• Michael Murphy as Martin
• Cliff Gorman as Charlie
• Pat Quinn as Sue (as Pat Quinn)
• Kelly Bishop as Elaine
• Lisa Lucas as Patti
• Linda Miller as Jeannette
• Andrew Duncan^{[disambiguation needed ]} as Bob
• Daniel Seltzer as Dr. Jacobs
• Matthew Arkin as Phil
• Penelope Russianoff as Tanya
• Novella Nelson as Jean
• Raymond J. Barry as Edward
• Ivan Karp as Herb Rowan

Awards[link]

It was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress (Jill Clayburgh) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Mazursky's screenplay won awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Jill Clayburgh won the award for Best Actress at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.^[2]

The film was also nominated for several 1978 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Actress (for Jill Clayburgh) and Best Supporting Actress (for Lisa Lucas).^[3]

Reception[link]

Vincent Canby wrote "Miss Clayburgh is nothing less than extraordinary in what is the performance of the year to date. In her we see intelligence battling feeling — reason backed against the wall by pushy needs."^[4]

Pauline Kael in The New Yorker  :" An Unmarried Woman may give Mazursky the popular success that his films Blume in Love, Harry and Tonto and Next Stop, Greenwich Village should have given him - Erica (Jill Clayburgh), the heroine, sleeps in a T-shirt and bikini panties. There are so few movies that deal with recognizable people that this detail alone is enough to pick up one's spirits...Jill Clayburgh has a cracked , warbly voice - a modern polluted-city huskiness...When Erica's life falls apart and her reactions go out of control, Clayburgh's floating, not-quite-sure, not-quite-here quality is just right."^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• An Unmarried Woman at the Internet Movie Database
• An Unmarried Woman Overview
• Vincent Canby Review

Bill Conti
Bill Conti, 2008
Background information
Born	(1942-04-13) April 13, 1942 (age 70) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Genres	Film score Disco
Occupations	Composer, Conductor
Years active	1969–present

William "Bill" Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards ceremony.

Early life and career[link]

Conti, an Italian American, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Lucetta and William Conti.^[1] He graduated from North Miami High School in 1959.^[2][3] He is a past winner of the Silver Knight Award presented by the Miami Herald.^[4] He is a graduate of Louisiana State University, and also studied at the Juilliard School of Music.

[edit] Rocky series

His big break into celebrity came in 1976, when he was hired to compose the music for a small United Artists film called Rocky. The film became a phenomenon, and Conti's training montage tune, "Gonna Fly Now" topped the Billboard singles chart in 1977. He also composed music for the sequels Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky V (1990) and Rocky Balboa (2006).

Other film and television credits[link]

Conti also worked for some other films and, eventually, for television series. In 1981, he wrote the music for the James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, when John Barry was unwilling to return to the United Kingdom for tax reasons, and provided the score for playwright Jason Miller's film version of his Pulitzer Prize winning play That Championship Season the following year.

In 1983, he composed the score for HBO's first film, The Terry Fox Story. Conti composed music for the films Bad Boys and Mass Appeal. Then in 1984, he received an Academy Award for composing the score to 1983's The Right Stuff followed by composing music for the TV series North and South in 1985. He also composed the score for The Karate Kid as well as the Masters of the Universe live action movie. Another Conti score was the 1987 film Happy New Year.

In 1991, he composed the score for Necessary Roughness, a college football movie starring Scott Bakula, Sinbad and Héctor Elizondo. In 1993, he composed and wrote the music for The Adventures of Huck Finn starring Elijah Wood and directed by Stephen Sommers. In 1999, he composed the score for The Thomas Crown Affair remake, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo; in the same year he composed the original music of Inferno, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and co-starring late actor Pat Morita from another Conti scored movie, The Karate Kid.

He also composed the classic themes to television's Dynasty (as well as doing the score for the three hour pilot, and episode after that), The Colbys, Falcon Crest and its pilot score, Cagney & Lacey, and The Lifestyles of The Rich And Famous. Conti also composed the theme song to the original version of American Gladiators, worked with CBS on the movie jingle, composed one of the early themes to Inside Edition, and wrote the theme to Primetime Live for ABC News. In addition he composed the score to the studio altered American version of Luc Besson's The Big Blue.

Awards and nominations[link]

Bill Conti has received many award nominations for his work. He received a Best Song nomination for "Gonna Fly Now." He won an Oscar for the largely symphonic score for The Right Stuff. On April 22, 2008 before a packed house at the LSU Union Theatre at Louisiana State University, Bill Conti was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Discography[link]

• Rocky (1976)
• Rocky Balboa: The Best of Rocky (2006) Includes other artists
• Gloria (1980)
• For Your Eyes Only (soundtrack) (1981)
• The Karate Kid (1984)
• The Karate Kid I, II, III, IV Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Scores (Released 2006)
• The Karate Kid, Part II Film Score (1986) Released 2011
• North and South / The Right Stuff (1985)
• Lock Up (1989)
• Falcon Crest (TeeVee Tunes Soundtrack) (1992)
• Dynasty (TeeVee Tunes Soundtrack) (1992)
• 8 Seconds (soundtrack) (1994)
• Inferno (soundtrack) (1999)
• North and South (2008)
• North and South, Book II (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bill Conti at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview

Paul Mazursky
Mazursky at 43rd KVIFF, 2008
Born	(1930-04-25) April 25, 1930 (age 82) Brooklyn, New York
Occupation	film director, screenplay writer, actor
Years active	1953–present
Spouse	Betsy Mazursky (?–present)

Paul Mazursky (born April 25, 1930) is an American film director, screenwriter and actor.

Personal life[link]

He was born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jean (née Gerson), a piano player for dance classes, and David Mazursky, a laborer.^[1] Mazursky was born to a Jewish family; his grandfather was an immigrant from Ukraine.^[2] He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1951. Mazursky is an atheist.^[3]

Career[link]

Mazursky made his film debut as an actor in Stanley Kubrick's first feature, Fear and Desire, in which he changed his first name to Paul, and later appeared as a juvenile delinquent in the 1955 film The Blackboard Jungle. He soon became a writer and worked on The Danny Kaye Show in 1963. In 1965, he collaborated with Larry Tucker in crafting the script of the original pilot of The Monkees television series, in which they both also appeared in cameos.

His acting career has continued for several decades, starting with television work in episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Rifleman. He has played supporting roles in A Star Is Born (1976), History of the World Part I (1981), Into the Night (1985), Punchline (1988), Man Trouble (1992), Carlito's Way (1993), Love Affair (1994), 2 Days in the Valley (1996), Miami Rhapsody (1995), and Crazy in Alabama (1999). He also performed the voice of the Psychologist in Antz (1998).

Mazursky's debut as a film screenplay writer was the Peter Sellers comedy I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968). The following year he directed his first film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (produced by Larry Tucker). His career behind the camera would continue for the next two decades as he would direct an impressive string of quirky, dramatic and critically popular films including Alex in Wonderland (1970), Blume in Love (1973), Harry and Tonto (1974), the autobiographical Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), An Unmarried Woman (1978), Willie & Phil (1980), Tempest (1982), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Moon Over Parador (1988), Enemies, a Love Story (1989) and Scenes from a Mall (1991).

Following his filmmaking satire The Pickle (1993), Mazursky has worked only sporadically as a director on such films as Faithful (1996), Winchell (1998), Coast to Coast (2003) and most recently the documentary Yippee (2006).

In his autobiography "Show Me the Magic" (1999), he recounts his experiences in filmmaking and with several well-known screen personalities including Peter Sellers.

Mazursky has appeared as himself in a number of documentaries on film, including A Decade Under the Influence, New York at the Movies and Screenwriters: Words Into Image. In Moon Over Parador, with the Rio Opera House available for only three days of shooting, Mazursky cast himself as a dictator's mother when Judith Malina was unavailable, playing the character in drag.

In recent years, Mazursky had a small part as "Sunshine" the poker dealer in The Sopranos. He also appeared in five episodes of season 4 of Curb Your Enthusiasm as Mel Brooks' associate Norm; he later reprised the role in a season 7 episode.

Mazursky has received five Academy Award nominations, four for his screenplay writing on Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Harry and Tonto (1974), An Unmarried Woman (1978) and Enemies, a Love Story (1989), and once as producer of An Unmarried Woman (nominated for Best Picture). In 2000, was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Paul Mazursky at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Mazursky at the Internet Off-Broadway Database