Editing My Favorite Year

{{short description|1982 film by Richard Benjamin}}
{{About|the original film|the musical based on the film|My Favorite Year (musical)|Tony Scalzo's album|My Favorite Year (album)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = My Favorite Year
| image          = My_favorite_year.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster by [[John Alvin]]
| director       = [[Richard Benjamin]]
| producer       = [[Michael Gruskoff]]
| screenplay     = [[Norman Steinberg]]<br>Dennis Palumbo
| story          = Dennis Palumbo
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Peter O'Toole]]
* [[Jessica Harper]] 
* [[Joseph Bologna]]
* [[Mark Linn-Baker]]
}}
| music          = [[Ralph Burns]]
| cinematography = [[Gerald Hirschfeld]]
| editing        = [[Richard Chew]]
| studio         = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]<br>[[Brooksfilms|Brooksfilms Ltd.]]
| distributor    = [[MGM/UA Distribution Co.]]
| released       = {{Film date|1982|10|8}}
| runtime        = 92 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $7.9 million<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56850-MY-FAVORITEYEAR|title = AFI&#124;Catalog}}</ref>
| gross          = $20,123,620
}}

'''''My Favorite Year''''' is a 1982 American [[comedy film]] released by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]], directed by [[Richard Benjamin]] and written by [[Norman Steinberg]] and Dennis Palumbo from a story written by Palumbo. The film tells the story of a young comedy writer<ref>{{cite news| newspaper=[[Variety Film Reviews|Variety]]| title=My Favorite Year| date=December 31, 1981| url=https://variety.com/1981/film/reviews/my-favorite-year-1200425157/| access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref> and stars [[Peter O'Toole]], [[Mark Linn-Baker]], [[Jessica Harper]], and [[Joseph Bologna]]. O'Toole was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]]. The film was adapted into an unsuccessful 1992 [[My Favorite Year (musical)|Broadway musical of the same name]].

==Plot==
Through [[narration]], Benjy Stone recalls the week (in his "favorite year" of 1954) when he met his idol: [[film actor]] Alan Swann, known for appearing in [[swashbuckler films]] during the [[1930s in film|1930s]] and [[1940s in film|1940s]].

During television's early days, Benjy works as a junior comedy writer for a variety show called ''Comedy Cavalcade'' starring Stan "King" Kaiser that is broadcast live from the NBC studios at [[30 Rockefeller Plaza]]. Swann, well past his prime, is booked as a guest star and arrives at the studio drunk. Kaiser nearly removes Swann from the show until Benjy intervenes, promising to keep Swann sober during the week preceding his scheduled appearance.
 
With help from Swann's chauffeur Alfie, Benjy continuously monitors Swann. They learn much about each other, finding out that they each have family whom they want to remain out of the spotlight. Benjy's mother is married to Filipino former [[bantamweight]] boxer Rookie Carroca, and Benjy has many other relatives who embarrass him. Swann's young daughter Tess has been raised entirely by her mother, one of his many ex-wives. He rarely visits but secretly keeps tabs on her, unable to muster the courage to reconnect with her.
 
During the week of rehearsals, Kaiser is threatened by gangster Karl Rojeck, a corrupt union boss who objects to being parodied on the show. Disruptive events, ambiguous between real sabotage and random accidents, are noted after Kaiser belligerently insists on performing the "Boss Hijack" sketch.

Benjy clumsily and enthusiastically courts K.C. Downing, a pretty assistant to producer Leo Silver. Swann mentors Benjy, and Benjy is unable to prevent the drunken star from crashing a party at the home of K.C.'s affluent parents as they find themselves in the wrong apartment.
 
The night of the show, Swann suffers a [[panic attack]] after Benjy informs him that the program is broadcast live, not filmed as Swann had expected. Swann gets drunk and flees the studio. Benjy angrily confronts him, telling Swann that he always believed that he was the swashbuckling hero whom he had watched on the silver screen and that deep down, Swann possesses those qualities.
 
As the "Boss Hijack" sketch gets under way, Rojeck's men appear backstage and attack Kaiser. The fight spills onto the stage during the broadcast, and the audience believes it's part of the sketch. Swann and Benjy observe the melee from the balcony. Swann, dressed for a musketeer skit, grabs a rope and swings onto the stage and into action. He and Kaiser defeat the thugs together before the unwitting audience.
 
Benjy narrates the epilogue, relating that Swann, his confidence bolstered, visited his daughter the next day, enjoying a heartfelt reunion.

==Cast==
<!--- Cast and order per tombstone opening credits, roles per closing credits scroll --->
{{Cast listing|
* [[Peter O'Toole]] as Alan Swann
* [[Mark Linn-Baker]] as Benjy Stone
* [[Jessica Harper]] as K.C. Downing
* [[Joseph Bologna]] as King Kaiser
* [[Bill Macy]] as Sy Benson
* [[Adolph Green]] as Leo Silver
* [[Lainie Kazan]] as Belle Carroca
* [[Anne De Salvo]] as Alice Miller
* [[Basil Hoffman]] as Herb Lee
* [[Lou Jacobi]] as Uncle Morty
* [[Cameron Mitchell (actor)|Cameron Mitchell]] as Karl "Boss" Rojek
* [[George Wyner]] as Myron Fein
* Tony DiBenedetto as Alfie Bumbacelli
* Ramon Sison as Rookie Carroca
* [[Selma Diamond]] as Lil
* [[Cady McClain]] as Tess (as Katie McClain)
}}
The girl in the [[Old Gold (cigarette)|Old Gold]] cigarette box was played (uncredited) by [[Lana Clarkson]], who was murdered years later by [[Phil Spector]]. [[Gloria Stuart]] appears in a non-speaking role as Mrs. Horn.

{{more footnotes needed|date=April 2020}}

==Relationship to real life==
Executive producer [[Mel Brooks]] was a writer for the [[Sid Caesar]] variety program ''[[Your Show of Shows]]'' early in his career. Swashbuckler [[Errol Flynn]] was a guest on one episode, and his appearance inspired Dennis Palumbo's mostly fictional screenplay. The character of Swann was based on Flynn, and Benjy Stone is based on both Brooks and [[Woody Allen]], who also wrote for Caesar.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

According to Brooks, the character Rookie Carroca was based on a Filipino sailor in the U.S. Navy who was his neighbor in Brooklyn. The name of the King Kaiser character is based on that of Sid Caesar ("Kaiser" is the German equivalent of the Roman title Caesar). [[Selma Diamond]], another former ''Your Show of Shows'' writer (who inspired [[Rose Marie]]'s character on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show''), appears in the film as a wardrobe mistress.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

The character of Herb, one of Kaiser's writers who whispers rather than speaks, is based on [[Neil Simon]], another of Caesar's staff writers, who, according to [[Carl Reiner]], whispered ideas to colleagues rather than trying to shout to be heard above the din of the noisy writers' room.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}
 
Brooks acknowledges that most of the film's plot is fictional. He said that Flynn's appearance on ''Your Show of Shows'' was uneventful and that none of the writers had much interaction with Flynn, socialized with him or took him home to dinner.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

==Production==
The film was based on an original script by Norman Steinberg.<ref>Klemesrud, Judy. [https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/14/theater/li-red-hot-and-blue.html?searchResultPosition=1 At the Movies: L.I. 'Red, Hot and Blue'] ''The New York Times'' 14 August 1981: C6.</ref>

''My Favorite Year'' was the first film directed by actor [[Richard Benjamin]], who worked as an [[NBC page]] at [[30 Rockefeller Plaza]] in 1956.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/21-nbc-pages-turned-hollywood-players-tell-all-johnny-carson-sightings-calls-president-tv-c |title=21 NBC Pages Turned Hollywood Players Tell All: Johnny Carson Sightings, Calls From the President, TV Cameos |first=Lacey |last=Rose |date=April 17, 2017 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>

[[Cameron Mitchell (actor)|Cameron Mitchell]] recalled that he met Mel Brooks when both were having lunch at the [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] commissary. Brooks told him that ''[[Gorilla at Large]]'' (which starred Mitchell and Brooks' wife [[Anne Bancroft]]) was his favorite film and asked him if he wanted to play a [[Jimmy Hoffa]]-type character in a film that he was producing at MGM. Mitchell accepted and was cast in ''My Favorite Year'' as Karl "Boss" Rojeck.<ref>{{cite book| page=223| last=Weaver| first=Tom| chapter=Cameron Mitchell Interview| title=Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esCnTSqGtUYC&q=cameron+mitchell| publisher=McFarland| date=February 19, 2003| isbn=978-0-7864-8215-3}}</ref>

==Reception==
''My Favorite Year'' opened in theaters on October 1, 1982, to $2,400,696 (#3, behind ''[[An Officer and a Gentlemen]]''{{'}}s 11th weekend and ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]''{{'}}s 18th).<ref>{{cite web |title=Weekend Box Office October 8–10, 1982 |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=1982&wknd=41&p=.htm |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref>

In a contemporary review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', critic [[Janet Maslin]] called ''My Favorite Year'' "a funny and good-natured comedy" and wrote that director [[Richard Benjamin]] "works in a steady, affable style that is occasionally inspired, always snappy and never less than amusing."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=1982-10-01 |title=Screen: 'Favorite Year' With Peter O'Toole |page=C10 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> On their movie review television program movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave praise to ''My Favorite Year.'' Siskel called it "A wonderful little film full of big laughs and great nostalgia for TV's golden age" while Ebert, in agreement added, " It was directed by Richard Benjamin, and it was directed well. It was a very, very funny movie. The physical comedy in this movie is just as good as the verbal comedy. It's good from beginning to end."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Buried Treasures, 1986 – Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews |url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=1264 |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=siskelebert.org}}</ref> Michael Sragow of ''Rolling Stone'' had praise for the movie's director Richard Benjamin, and its cast, saying, "Director Richard Benjamin gets the most out of the script and the actors in almost every instance; it’s refreshing to see a small-scale movie that’s full to the brim with funny people."<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/rolling-stone-magazine-382-november-11-1982 |title=Rolling Stone Magazine 382 November 11 1982 |date=1982-11-11 |language=English}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has a 97% rating based on 30 reviews. The site's consensus states: "''My Favorite Year'' is a joyful ode to the early days of television, carried with a deft touch and Peter O'Toole's uproariously funny performance."<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|my_favorite_year|My Favorite Year}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]] it has a score of 62% based on reviews from 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web |title=My Favorite Year Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-favorite-year/ |website=[[Metacritic]] }}</ref>

==Accolades==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! {{Ref heading}}
|-
| [[55th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Peter O'Toole]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1983 |title=The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=October 9, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/55th-winners.html |archive-date=September 5, 2012}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[40th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="3"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldenglobes.com/film/my-favorite-year/ |title=My Favorite Year |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=July 9, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]
| Peter O'Toole
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
| [[Lainie Kazan]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Motion Picture Sound Editors#Golden Reel Awards|Golden Reel Awards]]
| [[Golden Reel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR for Feature Film|Best Sound Editing – Dialogue]]
| David B. Cohn
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000452/1983/1/?ref_=ev_eh |title=Nominees/Winners |publisher=[[IMDb]] |access-date=June 17, 2019}}</ref>
|-
| [[1982 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]]
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| rowspan="3"| Peter O'Toole
| {{runner-up}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lafca.net/Years/1982.php |title=The 8th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards |publisher=[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]] |access-date=July 9, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[1982 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| {{draw|3rd Place}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |date=19 December 2009 |publisher=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |access-date=July 9, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Sant Jordi Awards]]
| Best Foreign Actor
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[35th Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Comedy – Written Directly for the Screen]]
| [[Norman Steinberg]] and Dennis Palumbo
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |title=Awards Winners |publisher=[[Writers Guild of America Awards]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205095022/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |archive-date=December 5, 2012 |access-date=June 6, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

==Musical adaptation==
[[Lainie Kazan]] was the only member of the cast to reprise her film role for the 1992 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical version of ''[[My Favorite Year (musical)|My Favorite Year]]'', in which Alan Swann was portrayed by [[Tim Curry]] and Alice Miller by [[Andrea Martin]]. All three were nominated for [[Tony Award]]s for their performances, with Martin winning her category.<ref>David Gordon, [https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/lynn-ahrens-stephen-flaherty-my-favorite-year-memories_70839.html "Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty Recall Memories of My Favorite Year"], December 5, 2014.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0084370}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=333}}
* {{AFI film|56850}}
* {{mojo title|myfavoriteyear|My Favorite Year}}

{{Richard Benjamin}}

[[Category:1982 films]]
[[Category:1982 comedy films]]
[[Category:American comedy films]]
[[Category:Films set in 1954]]
[[Category:Films about screenwriters]]
[[Category:Films about actors]]
[[Category:Films about alcoholism]]
[[Category:Films about television]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Films directed by Richard Benjamin]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ralph Burns]]
[[Category:Brooksfilms films]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:Films à clef]]
[[Category:1982 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Norman Steinberg]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]