# California Suite (film)

California Suite is a 1978 American anthology comedy film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay by Neil Simon is based on his 1976 play. Similar to his earlier Plaza Suite, the film focuses on the dilemmas of guests staying in a suite in a luxury hotel. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Simon, with Maggie Smith winning Best Supporting Actress. She also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

## Plot

In "Visitors from New York", Hannah Warren is a Manhattan workaholic who flies to Los Angeles to retrieve her teenage daughter Jenny after she leaves home to live with her successful screenwriter father Bill. The bickering, divorced couple are forced to decide on what living arrangements are best for the girl.
In "Visitors from London", Diana Barrie is a British actress and a first-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actress in an independent British film, an honor that could revive her faltering career, but she knows that she has no chance of winning. She is in deep denial about the true nature of her marriage of convenience to Sidney Cochran, a once-closeted gay antique dealer who has become increasingly indiscreet about his sexuality. As she prepares for her moment in the spotlight, her mood fluctuates from hope to panic to despair.
In "Visitors from Philadelphia", conservative, middle-aged businessman Marvin Michaels awakens to discover a prostitute named Bunny—an unexpected gift from his brother Harry—unconscious in his bed. With his wife Millie on her way up to the suite, he must find a way to conceal all traces of his brother's indiscretion.
In "Visitors from Chicago", Dr. Chauncey Gump and his wife Lola and Dr. Willis Panama and his wife Bettina are taking a much-needed vacation together. Things begin to unravel quickly when things begin to go wrong and the two men decide to settle their differences by engaging in a very competitive tennis match.

## Cast

* Alan Alda as Bill Warren
* Michael Caine as Sidney Cochran
* Bill Cosby as Dr. Willis Panama
* Jane Fonda as Hannah Warren
* Walter Matthau as Marvin Michaels
* Elaine May as Millie Michaels
* Richard Pryor as Dr. Chauncey Gump
* Maggie Smith as Diana Barrie
* Herb Edelman as Harry Michaels
* Sheila Frazier as Bettina Panama
* Christopher Pennock as Policeman
* Denise Galik as Bunny
* Gloria Gifford as Lola Gump
* Kelly Harmon as Stewardess
* Dana Plato as Jenny Warren
* James Coburn as Pilot in Diana Barrie's Film on Airplane (Uncredited)
* Richard Burton as himself (Uncredited)

## Production

The film was shot on location at The Beverly Hills Hotel, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Music Center, and along Rodeo Drive.
Diana and Sidney's arrival at the Academy Awards was shot during the actual arrivals for the 50th Academy Awards in April 1978. This may explain the muted response from a real-life crowd unfamiliar with the film's character names Diana Barrie and Sidney Cochran.
The California-themed paintings seen in the opening credits are by pop artist David Hockney. While the play features two actors and two actresses each playing several roles, the film features a different actor for each role.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 27 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Maggie Smith's acidic turn is the standout in this stacked ensemble, but broad characterizations and an unsure tone make for a disappointingly uneven adaptation of Neil Simon's episodic play."
The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list.
Vincent Canby of The New York Times called California Suite "the most agreeably realised Simon film in years", and added, "Here is Mr. Simon in top form, under the direction of Herbert Ross, one of the few directors...who can cope with the particular demands of material that simultaneously means to be touching and so nonstop clever one sometimes wants to gag him. It all works in California Suite, not only because the material is superior Simon, but also because the writer and the director have assembled a dream cast."
Variety observed, "Neil Simon and Herbert Ross have gambled in radically altering the successful format of California Suite as it appeared on stage. Instead of four separate playlets, there is now one semi-cohesive narrative revolving around visitors to the Beverly Hills Hotel...The technique is less than successful, veering from poignant emotionalism to broad slapstick in sudden shifts."
Time Out New York described the film as a "quick and varied comedy, highly suited to Neil Simon's machine-gun gag-writing", and added, "Fonda provides the film with its centre, giving another performance of unnerving sureness. Also on the credit side is a bedroom farce of epic proportions from Matthau and May. The other vignettes are a bit glum."
Channel 4 stated, "It's an expertly crafted slick movie that sets up each of its coconuts and knocks them over with a sure eye, but ultimately it's emotional sushi rather than satisfying catharsis."
In his annual movie guide, Leonard Maltin gave the film three stars out of four, and described it as a "pleasant time-filler, with a nice jazz score by Claude Bolling". He also felt that "gently bickering" Smith and Caine came off best, while "unfunnily combative" Pryor and Cosby came off worst.

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Maggie Smith | Won |
| Academy Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Neil Simon | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | Best Production Design | Albert Brenner and Marvin March | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Maggie Smith | Nominated |
| Evening Standard British Film Awards | Best Actress | Maggie Smith | Won |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Maggie Smith | Won |
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Maggie Smith | Won |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | Jane Fonda | Won |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actor | Michael Caine | 4th Place |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | Jane Fonda | 2nd Place |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | Maggie Smith | 4th Place |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Maggie Smith | 3rd Place |
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Maggie Smith | Runner-up |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Comedy – Adapted from Another Medium | Neil Simon | Nominated |

## Home media

California Suite was released in the United States on VHS by Columbia Pictures in 1983, and on DVD in both fullscreen and widescreen formats on January 2, 2002.