  alice doesn't live here anymore is a 1974 american comedy-drama film directed by martin scorsese and written by robert getchell. it stars ellen burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the southwestern united states in search of a better life, along with alfred lutter as her son and kris kristofferson as a man they meet along the way. this is martin scorsese's fourth film. the film co-stars billy "green" bush, diane ladd, valerie curtin, lelia goldoni, lane bradbury, vic tayback, jodie foster (in one of her earliest film appearances), and harvey keitel. ellen burstyn won the academy award for best actress and the bafta award for best actress in a leading role for her performance, and the film won the bafta award for best film. ==plot== when socorro, new mexico, housewife alice hyatt's uncaring husband donald is killed in an accident, she decides to have a garage sale, pack what's left of her meager belongings and take her precocious son tommy to monterey, california, where she hopes to pursue the singing career she'd abandoned when she married. their financial situation forces them to take temporary lodgings in phoenix, arizona, where she finds work as a lounge singer in a seedy bar. there she meets the considerably younger and seemingly available ben, who uses his charm to lure her into a sexual relationship that comes to a sudden end when his wife confronts alice. ben mercilessly beats his wife for interfering with his extramarital affair. fearing for their safety, alice and tommy quickly leave town. having spent most of the little money she earned on a new wardrobe, alice is forced to delay their journey to the west coast and accept a job as a waitress in tucson so she can accumulate more cash. at the local diner owned by mel, she eventually bonds with her fellow serversâindependent, no-nonsense, outspoken flo and quiet, timid, incompetent vera and meets divorced local rancher david, who soon realizes the way to alice's heart is through tommy. still emotionally wounded from the difficult relationship
1970s_drama_films 1974_films American_films American_romantic_drama_films English-language_films Feminist_films Films_directed_by_Martin_Scorsese Films_featuring_a_Best_Actress_Academy_Award_winning_performance Films_set_in_Arizona Films_shot_in_Arizona Road_movies Warner_Bros._films