10 (styled as "10") is a 1979 romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Robert Webber, Dee Wallace, and Bo Derek, in her first major film appearance. Considered a trend-setting film at the time, and one of the year's biggest box office hits, the film made superstars of Moore and Derek. It follows a man who in middle age finds a young woman who he thinks is the ideal woman for him, leading to both a comic chase and an encounter in Mexico. The film would be the first of several sex comedies Blake Edwards would make: he addressed in this film subjects like sexual promiscuity, machismo, feminism, and aging. These themes went into Edwards' later comedies.
Plot[]
During a surprise 42nd birthday party for George Webber, a well-known composer of popular music, he finds himself coping badly with incipient middle age. When he catches a glimpse of a mysterious woman en route to her wedding, he is instantly obsessed by her beauty, and―despite the presence of his lover Samantha Taylor―follows the woman to the church where he crashes into a police cruiser and is stung by a bee. George visits the priest, and learns that the woman is Jenny Miles, daughter of a prominent Beverly Hills dentist. Later that night, Sam and George have an argument about George's failure to give her the attention she needs, his use of the term "broad", and the fact that he and his neighbor (a wealthy porn producer) watch each other perform carnal acts using telescopes. The final straw for Sam occurs when George makes a remark subtly impugning her femininity at which point Sam leaves in a huff.
The following day, George and Sam suffer a series of mishaps that prevent them from reconciling, including George spying on his neighbor until hitting himself with his telescope and falling down an embankment, causing him to miss Sam's phone call. In addition, George schedules a dental appointment with Jenny's father, and while in the dentist's chair, subtly leads the dentist into disclosing that his daughter and her husband went to Mexico for their honeymoon. The examination also reveals a mouthful of cavities, requiring the dentist to spend the entire afternoon inserting fillings in George's teeth. The after effects of the novocaine, which are aggravated by his heavy drinking immediately after, leave him completely incoherent and when Sam finally reaches him on the phone she mistakes him for a madman and calls the police. The police storm his house, but recognizing him they leave amicably. He visits his neighbor's house to take part in an orgy just as Sam arrives at his house, and she spots him through his telescope, widening the rift between them.
Later, George impulsively follows the newlyweds to their exclusive hotel in Manzanillo, Mexico. In the bar, George encounters an old acquaintance, Mary Lewis, who suffers from a lack of self-confidence because she blames herself for a series of failed relationships. When they attempt a fling that night, she interprets George's inadequacy in bed as confirmation of her insecurities despite her better-than-average looks and easygoing disposition.
One hot day at the beach, George sees Jenny―suntanned and dressed in a one-piece swimsuit and her hair braided in cornrows―which furthers George's obsession. He notices that David, Jenny's husband, has fallen asleep on his surfboard. Pretending to inquire about renting a surfboard, George learns that beyond a certain point are powerful currents that can sweep a swimmer or surfer dangerously far from land. George rents a catamaran, clumsily but successfully rescues David, and becomes a hero. Both Sam and his songwriting partner see him on TV Network News and Sam tries to call him, but George (unaware that it is Sam) refuses the call. David, badly sunburned, stays in the hospital, allowing Jenny and George to spend time alone together, culminating in Jenny seducing him to the sounds of Ravel's Boléro.
Although George is initially elated to find all of his fantasies being fulfilled, he is horrified when Jenny takes a call from her husband while in bed with him and casually informs him of George's presence. He is even more confused when David responds with a complete lack of concern (he had called to thank George for saving his life). When Jenny explains their open relationship and mutual honesty, George is appalled; realizing that in contrast to the complete infatuation he has had with her, Jenny sees him as nothing more than a "casual lay", George loses interest in her and he heads back to Beverly Hills.
At the end of the film, he reconciles with Sam by demonstrating a new maturity and, taking an idea from Jenny, he starts Ravel's Boléro on the phonograph and they make love with the music playing in the background. This is in full view of the neighbor's telescope shortly after the neighbor has walked away in disgust, complaining that he has had enough of providing erotic entertainment to George and getting nothing in return.
Cast (in credits order)[]
- Dudley Moore as George Webber
- Julie Andrews as Samantha Taylor
- Bo Derek as Jenny Hanley
- Robert Webber as Hugh
- Dee Wallace as Mary Lewis
- Sam J. Jones as David Hanley
- Brian Dennehy as Don, the bartender
- Max Showalter as Reverend
- Burke Byrnes as Himself
Production[]
Casting[]
During pre-production, George Segal and Shirley MacLaine were originally attached to play the roles of George and Samantha respectively. However, after Segal declined, the producers offered Dudley Moore the role of George and Julie Andrews was given the role of Samantha. The role of Jenny Hanley was initially offered to Melanie Griffith, who declined. After Griffith passed on the project, the producers wanted an unknown: Bo Derek, and she was cast. Griffith landed small film roles while MacLaine and Segal each did 'broken marriages' movies: she did A Change of Seasons with Bo Derek co-starring, and he did The Last Married Couple in America along with Natalie Wood and Richard Benjamin.
Locations[]
The church where the wedding scene was shot is Trinity Church of Santa Monica.
Alternate scenes[]
The film was one of the first major films to shoot alternate versions of scenes in order to facilitate network television broadcast with a minimum of censorship. In the case of 10, this included filming two versions of scenes where Moore's character uses a telescope to spy on his male neighbor, another wealthy Beverly Hills resident who lives down the hill and regularly hosts parties with many nude women. In the theatrical version, porn actress Annette Haven plays the neighbor and appears nude; the TV version substitutes a blonde actress, (Denise Crosby in her first film role, later of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame), who wears a swimsuit. Similarly, in the version shown in theaters, when Bo Derek's character puts on Ravel's Boléro, she says that it's the perfect music to "fuck" to, whereas the version shown on television replaces "fuck" with "make love", while retaining Moore's character's startled reaction to hearing his idealized woman casually swearing.
Music[]
The original music score was composed by Henry Mancini. The film also features classical music by Sergei Prokofiev and Maurice Ravel, most notably Ravel's Boléro, which is identified as an ideal piece of background music for making love.
Release[]
10 was released by Warner Bros. October 5, 1979, opening in 706 theaters.[1]
Home media[]
10 was released on DVD through Warner Home Video May 21, 1997. A Blu-ray version was later released February 1, 2011. The supplemental material, comprising the original theatrical trailer and a four-minute promotional documentary, are present on both media.
Reception[]
Box office[]
10 opened #1 in the United States, earning $3,526,692 its opening weekend. The film went on to make a total of $74,865,517 in United States, making it one of the top grossing films of 1979.[1]
Critical response[]
10 received mostly positive reviews from critics and holds a 71% positive rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[2]
In a positive review, Vincent Canby of The New York Times described the film as "frequently hilarious", praising the performances of Moore and Andrews, and concluding that 10 "is loaded with odd surprises."[3] Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film a glowing four-out-of-four star review, calling it "one of the best films Blake Edwards has ever made" and stating "What we're struck with, in 10, is the uncanny way its humor gets laughs by touching on emotions and yearnings that are very real for us. We identify with the characters in this movie: Their predicaments are funny, yes -- but then ours would be, too, if they weren't our own."[4] Ebert later named 10 one of the best films of 1979, ranking it 10th place on his yearly top ten list.[5]
Accolades[]
| Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Original Score | Henry Mancini | Nominated |
| Best Original Song | "It's Easy To Say," Music by Henry Mancini; Lyric by Robert Wells | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Tony Adams | Nominated |
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Dudley Moore | Nominated | |
| Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Julie Andrews | Nominated | |
| Best Original Score | Henry Mancini | Nominated | |
| New Star of the Year – Actress | Bo Derek | Nominated |
Cultural impact[]
Bo Derek's appearance shot her to instant stardom and status as a sex symbol. Her beaded and plaited cornrow hairstyle in the film was widely copied and became eponymous.[6][7] Additionally, the scene where George sees Derek's character, Jenny, running on the beach in Mexico has become iconic and often parodied.[8]
The film also brought renewed fame to the one-movement orchestral piece Boléro by Maurice Ravel. Use of the piece during the love scene between Derek and Moore's characters, with Jenny describing it as "the most descriptive sex music ever written", resulted in massive sales of the work. Because Ravel's music was still under copyright at the time, sales of Boléro generated his estate an estimated $1 million in royalties and briefly made him the best selling classical composer—over 40 years after his death.[9] Derek later appeared in a 1984 film named Bolero, titled to capitalize upon the piece's regenerated popularity.