Norman... Is That You?

Norman... Is That You? is a 1976 American comedy film directed by George Schlatter and starring Redd Foxx and Pearl Bailey. It is based on the play Norman, Is That You?[1] The film version changes the locale from New York City to Los Angeles and substitutes an African American family for a Jewish family in the original play.[1]

Norman... Is That You?
Film poster by John Solie
Directed byGeorge Schlatter
Screenplay byRon Clark
Sam Bobrick
George Schlatter
Based onNorman, Is That You?
by Ron Clark
Sam Bobrick
Produced byGeorge Schlatter
StarringRedd Foxx
Pearl Bailey
Dennis Dugan
Michael Warren
CinematographyGayne Rescher
Edited byGeorge Folsey, Jr.
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists (United States/Canada)
Cinema International Corporation (International)
Release date
September 29, 1976
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Overview

Ben Chambers arrives in Los Angeles to seek consolation from his son, Norman. Ben is upset and confused after his wife abandons the family dry-cleaning business in Tucson and runs away to Mexico with her brother-in-law. Ben Chambers discovers his son is gay after he finds Norman's lover, Garson, in the bedroom. While dealing with the abandonment of his wife, Ben tries to understand his son's orientation. After an altercation with Norman, due to Ben hiring a prostitute for Norman, Ben forms a bond with Garson.

Cast

Reception

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and wrote "The movie isn't much (and it's based on a Broadway play that was even less), but while Foxx is onscreen we're willing to forgive it a lot. He stands there in a clutter of cliches, bad jokes and totally baffling character motivation, and he makes us laugh."[2] Richard Eder of The New York Times stated "It is a series of bad jokes about homosexuality, strung upon trite situation comedy and collapsing into what is meant to be an uplifting message about people being allowed to do their own thing."[3] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4 and called it "a hopelessly dated comedy" with "predictable" jokes and a "dreadfully slow pace."[4] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "an uneven, sporadically amusing forced comedy effort."[5] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "began life as a play, but it now looks like television, feels like television, was cast from television (Redd Foxx), lit and shot like television (on tape, mostly, rather than film) and needs only a laugh track to come off like a slightly gamier television sitcom."[6] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post panned it as "a feeble attempt at bedroom farce."[7]

References
  1. Eder, Richard (September 30, 1976). "Movie Review Norman... Is That You? (1976)". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  2. Ebert, Roger (October 4, 1976). "Norman...Is That You?". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 21, 2018 – via RogerEbert.com.
  3. Eder, Richard (September 30, 1976). "Screen: 'Norman...Is That You?'" The New York Times. 36.
  4. Siskel, Gene (October 4, 1976). "Slow film lives up to track record". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 9.
  5. Murphy, Arthur D. (September 29, 1976). "Film Reviews: Norman...Is That You?" Variety. 30.
  6. Champlin, Charles (September 29, 1976). "'Norman' as a Gamy Sitcom". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 1.
  7. Arnold, Gary (October 6, 1976). "'Norman... Is That You?': The Funny Stuff Is Momentary at Best". The Washington Post. B15.
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