A Little Romance

A Little Romance is a 1979 American romantic-comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by Allan Burns & George Roy Hill. The film is based on Patrick Cauvin's novel "E=MC2 Mon Amour."

The film starred Laurence Olivier, Sally Kellerman, Thelonious Bernard (in his film debut) and Diane Lane (in her movie debut).

Plot
The film is about a 13-year-old American girl named Lauren (Diane Lane) who lives in Paris with her mother & stepfather and meets a French boy named Daniel (Thelonious Bernard).

Together, they start a romance with each other, but after an altercation at Lauren's birthday party between Lauren's stepfather, she and Daniel decide to run away to Venice, hoping to seal their romance with a kiss.

Cast

 * Laurence Olivier as Julius Edmund Santorin
 * Diane Lane as Lauren King
 * Thelonious Bernard as Daniel Michon
 * Arthur Hill as Richard King
 * Sally Kellerman as Kay King
 * Broderick Crawford as Himself
 * David Dukes as George de Marco
 * Andrew Duncan as Bob Duryea
 * Claudette Sutherland as Janet Duryea
 * Graham Fletcher-Cook as Londet
 * Ashby Semple as Natalie Woodstein
 * Claude Brosset as Michel Michon
 * Jacques Maury as Inspector Leclerc
 * Anna Massey as Ms Siegel
 * Peter Maloney as Martin
 * Dominique Lavanant as Mme. Cormier
 * Mike Marshall as 1st Assistant Director
 * Michel Bardinet as French Ambassador
 * David Gabison as French Representative
 * Isabel Duby as Monique
 * Geoffrey Carey as Make-up Man
 * John Pepper as 2nd Assistant Director
 * Denise Glaser as Woman Critic
 * Jeanne Herviale as Woman in Metro Station
 * Carlo Lastricati as Tour Guide
 * Judith Mullen as Richard's Secretary
 * Philippe Brigaud as Theater Manager
 * Lucienne Legrand as Theater Cashier

Production
The filming for "A Little Romance" took place in Paris, France as well as Verona, Venice and Veneto, Italy. Because the crew was unable to shoot scenes in the Louvre, a replica set was built for it.

Prior to the making of the movie, Thelonious Bernard was not fluent in acting and had no previous acting experience, so he stayed at director George Roy Hill's home for a month where he had a crash course in acting and how to speak English.

At the time, Laurence Olivier was 71 years old when he filmed "A Little Romance" and made the film while he was recovering from thrombosis and pneumonia. Despite his health & age, Olivier wanted to do his own stunts in the movie. George Roy Hill had a specifically designed bike made for him which had a motor that drove it to make it look like the cyclist was still pedaling it, but Olivier would not stand for it, so while Hill was away, he got on the real bike & rode down a hill on his own.

Reception
Following its initial release in 1979, "A Little Romance" received mixed reviews, with some of them being quite negative.

Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 72% rating based on 25 reviews and it received an 86% positive audience rating based on 5,156 reviews.

In his review in The New York Times, Vincent Canby described the film as "so ponderous it seems almost mean spirited. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie about boorish American tourists and felt sorry for the tourists—which is one of Mr. Hill's achievements here. I'm sure nothing mean-spirited was intended, but such is the film's effect. This may be the main hazard when one sets out to make a film so relentlessly sweet-tempered that it winds up—like Pollyana—alienating everyone not similarly affected."

In his review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film only two stars, writing that the film "gives us two movie kids in a story so unlikely I assume it was intended as a fantasy. And it gives us dialog and situations so relentlessly cute we want to squirm."

Following the release of "A Little Romance" on video and DVD, the movie gained stronger critical support.

In his review for DVD Movie Guide, David Williams called the film "one of those gems that doesn't seem too great on the surface, but manages to lift your spirits in such a way that when it's over, it makes you glad you ignored your initial feelings and checked it out anyway."

Williams applauded the performances as "engaging from top-to-bottom", singling out Laurence Olivier's portrayal of Julius, the mischievous escort and matchmaker.

In his review in DVD Movie Guide, John J. Puccio wrote, "It's a lovely tale of pure and innocent love and the lengths that people involved in such a love will go to in their desire to ensure it. The movie can hardly fail to please even the most jaded audiences."

In his review in DVD Talk, David Langdon concluded, "A Little Romance fits into that category we might call the children's film for adults. It's smart, well written, acted and directed. If anything it will be remembered as Diane Lane's first movie and one of Laurence Olivier's last. The DVD is above average in all categories except audio but it is worth a look."

Accolades
52nd Academy Awards
 * Best Adapted Screenplay: Allan Burns (nominated)
 * Best Original Song Score: Georges Delerue (won)
 * Best Supporting Actor- Motion Picture: Laurence Olivier (nominated)

32nd Writers Guild of America Awards
 * Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium: Allan Burns (nominated)

Young Artists Awards
 * Diane Lane: Best Juvenile Actress in a Motion Picture (won)
 * Thelonious Bernard: Best Juvenile Actor in a Motion Picture (nominated)
 * Best Motion Picture Featuring Youth (won)