Butterflies Are Free is a 1972 American comedy-drama film directed by Milton Katselas from a screenplay by Leonard Gershe, based on Gershe's 1969 play. The film stars Goldie Hawn, Eileen Heckart, and Edward Albert. It follows Jill Tanner (Hawn), a free-spirited young woman who becomes romantically involved with her new next-door neighbor, a blind man named Don Baker (Albert), who has recently moved out to live on his own. However, Don's overly protective mother (Heckart) tries to end their romance, fearing that Jill will break her son's heart.
The film was released in the United States on July 6, 1972 by Columbia Pictures. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for the performances of Hawn, Heckart, and Albert as well as Leonard Gershe's screenplay. It was a box-office success, grossing roughly $6.7 million on a $1.2 million budget. While the original play was set in East Village, Manhattan, the screenplay written for the film was set in the 1355, 1355A, 1357, 1359 Grant Avenue building in North Beach, San Francisco.
At the 30th Golden Globe Awards, the film received five nominations including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Hawn, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Most Promising Newcomer – Male for Albert, and Best Original Song for "Carry Me". Although Heckart was not among the Golden Globe nominees for the film, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 45th Academy Awards. The film also was nominated for Best Cinematography (the eighteenth and final nomination for legendary cinematographer Charles Lang) and Best Sound for Charles T. Knight and Arthur Piantadosi. Leonard Gershe also received a nomination for Best Comedy – Adapted from Another Medium at the 25th Writers Guild of America Awards.
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Plot
In the bohemian San Francisco of the early 1970s, 19-year-old Jill Tanner rents an apartment to discover her next-door neighbor, 20-year-old aspiring singer-songwriter Don Baker, peering through a window. The next day, through their paper-thin walls, she overhears him arguing with his overprotective mother Florence on the phone. Intrigued, Jill introduces herself to Don.
Don explains that he has made a pact with Florence, allowing him to live independently for two months without her interference. Jill, who had a six-day marriage at the age of 16, reveals that she has sworn off commitments to avoid hurting people. When she learns that Don is blind, he tells her that he possesses "shadow vision", which gives him the ability to sense obstacles in front of him and thus avoid potential accidents.
Jill, who has a strong desire for freedom, shares her favorite quote with Don, which she misattributes to Mark Twain. Don informs her that the quote is from Charles Dickens' Bleak House: "I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies." Don incorporates the quote into a song he is writing, naming it "Butterflies Are Free".
Jill encourages Don to wear stylish clothes instead of the clothes his mother bought him. As they walk together to a bohemian clothing store on Union Street, Jill tells Don about her upcoming audition with theater director Ralph Santore, who wishes to marry her. At Jill's suggestion, Don purchases a bold outfit that makes him look like a musician.
Back at his apartment, Don discusses Florence's children's books featuring the character Donnie Dark, a young blind superhero. Despite his mother's intentions to inspire him, Don felt inadequate under her high expectations. Jill proposes that they unlock the door connecting their apartments so they can become closer. She offers for Don to touch her face, allowing him to "see" her, and they eventually sleep together.
The next morning, Jill expresses her joy over their intimacy and shares her keepsake box's secrets with Don. They are interrupted when Florence arrives unexpectedly, appalled by Don's living conditions and Jill's presence in her underwear. Don and Jill arrange to have dinner together that evening, and she returns to her apartment to prepare for her audition. Florence questions Jill's suitability and persistently tries to convince Don to come home with her, but he refuses and leaves to go shopping for dinner.
Cast
Goldie Hawn as Jill Tanner
Edward Albert as Don Baker
Eileen Heckart as Mrs. Baker
Michael Glaser as Ralph Santori
Michael Warren as Roy
Reception
Critical response
Variety wrote: "Although the setting has been changed from New York to San Francisco for no apparent reason, Leonard Gershe's screen adaptation of his successful Broadway play ... is an excellent example of how to switch from one medium to another without sacrificing any of the qualities which makes the original version such a success." The review further praises the acting of Goldie Hawn, saying: "Miss Hawn, funny and touching, is a delight throughout and Miss Heckart finally gets another film role that enables her to display the versatility that has been evident for a long time in her stage roles."
Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote: "The film is not completely without intelligence, but its intelligence is in the service of the kind of sentimentality that shrivels the mind, like something left in water too long."
Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "a very well-made commercial play—funny, sentimental, positive, tight—has become a well-made commercial movie—light, bright, extremely well and personably acted, and preserving the intimacy and the unity which were the virtues of the play."
Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that "one of the attractive aspects of Butterflies Are Free is that each of the three characters is incomplete and flawed. To that degree the Leonard Gershe screenplay approaches believability, and this is a rare quality for a tear-jerker to have."
Gary Arnold of The Washington Post stated "While the material is essentially shallow and often insufferable in its sentimental opportunism, Gershe and Katselas demonstrate some theatrical talent and mechanical aptitude ... The play itself is nothing to brag about, but I doubt if one could transpose it much more adroitly and presentably. Instead of inflating or vulgarising this frail property, Katselas tries to keep it intimate and engaging."
John Gillett of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote "Occasionally it is all rather twee, plumping for the easy emotional response and the easy tear; yet much of the writing has sharpness and bite, notably in the initial meetings between Jill and Don, when they talk out their pasts together and improvise meals on the floor."