A free-thinking bride and her conservative groom have trouble adjusting to married life.
Gene Saks
Paul Bratter
Corie Bratter
Victor Velasco
Mildred Natwick
Mrs. Ethel Banks
Herbert Edelman
Telephone man
Barefoot in the Park - (Original Trailer)
New York opening: 25 May 1967
Nancy Enterprises; Paramount Pictures
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon (New York, 23 Oct 1963).
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
After spending their entire 6-day honeymoon in a suite at New York's Plaza Hotel, Corie and Paul Bratter move into their Greenwich Village apartment. For the optimistic Corie, the whole adventure of making a home is pure enchantment; but Paul, a conservative lawyer, is dismayed by the inconvenience and general drabness. Their upstairs neighbor, Victor Velasco, is a self-admitted rake accustomed to using their bedroom window to reach his own quarters because he has been evicted by the landlord. Corie is fascinated by Victor's continental manner, and she decides that he would be the perfect companion for her widowed mother. When they all go to an Albanian restaurant on Staten Island, Corie's mother, Mrs. Banks, drinks and eats everything that is bad for her ulcer, falls down a flight of stairs, and ends up spending the night at Victor's. The evening also precipitates a quarrel between Corie and Paul, and Corie demands a divorce. Paul goes on a binge, gives his topcoat to a tramp in Washington Square, and starts running barefoot in the 30-degree weather. After a talk with her mother, who admits to a pleasant but harmless evening with Victor, Corie realizes that marriage should be more than a lark. Repentant, she goes to find Paul and bring him home; but, drunkenly determined to live up to Corie's idea of fun, he crawls out on the roof through their skylight and teeters on the ledge. Corie climbs after him and assures him that she does not want him to change. A crowd of sidewalk spectators, including Mrs. Banks and Victor, break into spontaneous applause as the newlyweds reconcile.
James Stone
Ted Hartley
Mabel Albertson
Aunt Harriet
Fritz Feld
Restaurant proprietor
John Indrisano
Paul E. Burns
Bum in park
Robert R. Benton
Charlsie Bryant
Frank Caffey
Farciot Edouart
Process Photography
Howard Grace
William W. Gray
Charles Grenzbach
Edith Head
Neal Hefti
Arthur Krams
Joseph La Shelle
Paul K. Lerpae
Special Photography Effects
Harold Lewis
William A. Lyon
Nellie Manley
Frank Mccoy
Johnny Mercer
Paul Nathan
Hal Pereira
Walter Tyler
Wally Westmore
Barefoot in the Park - (Original Trailer) Robert Redford and Jane Fonda star in Neil Simon's comedy Barefoot In The Park (1967) about newlyweds in New York.
Barefoot in the Park began as a Neil Simon Broadway play in 1963. A romantic comedy about a couple of newlyweds trying to make it in New York, it was Simon's first solo effort, and it was an astounding success. Robert Redford starred as Paul Bratter in the play, and Elizabeth Ashley played his free-spirited wife Corie. When the decision was made to adapt the play to the screen, Simon wrote the screenplay himself so it would be as true to the original version as possible. Redford, who was also cast as the lead in the film, was surprised by the offer. He believed it was standard for Broadway actors to be passed up by Hollywood for the role they originally created on the stage. Still, Redford wasn't completely sure he wanted the role - he didn't like to repeat himself.
Fortunately, Barefoot in the Park turned out to be Redford's first commercially successful movie and the start of a great film career. Paul Bratten was actually not a favorite character of Redford's. Gene Saks, the first-time director of the film, later said that Redford hated wearing a suit and tie all day. He wanted people on the set to know that he wasn't really like Paul, and would wear a black western hat and cowboy boots off-camera. He did enjoy making the film, however, partly due to the rapport he developed with his leading lady.
Jane Fonda was chosen to play Corie in the film version of Barefoot in the Park (1967). At the time she was fighting a losing battle against being typecast: She was promoted as a sexpot in Europe in films like Roger Vadim's remake of La Ronde (1964), and as the girl next door in U.S. movies such as Any Wednesday (1966). Luckily, the role in this film would allow her to play off both screen images, with some comedy thrown into the mix. Noted by many was the great onscreen chemistry Fonda shared with Redford. The two leads became close friends during the filming, sharing a mutual interest in liberal politics. "Bob and I", Fonda later said, "We share the same causes."
The film focuses on conventionality versus unconventionality. Corie, the unconventional woman, is constantly trying to get Paul to loosen up a little, to go "barefoot in the park." Charles Boyer stars as Victor Velasco, the kooky neighbor of the Brattens who must go through their apartment in order to enter his own. Mildred Natwick, who appeared in the stage version with Redford, stars as Mrs. Banks, Corie's mother, who gets a second chance at romance, thanks to her daughter's matchmaking efforts. Natwick's delightful performance was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar®¨for her performance in this film. The film's popularity later inspired a TV series with an all-black cast.
Director: Gene Saks
Producer: Joseph H. Hazen
Screenplay: Neil Simon
Cinematographer: Joseph LaShelle
Editing: William A. Lyon
Music: Neal Hefti
Cast: Robert Redford (Paul Bratter), Jane Fonda (Corie Bratter), Charles Boyer (Victor Velasco), Mildred Natwick (Mrs. Banks), Herb Edelman (Harry Pepper).
C-106m. Letterboxed.
by Sarah Heiman
Barefoot in the Park began as a Neil Simon Broadway play in 1963. A romantic comedy about a couple of newlyweds trying to make it in New York, it was Simon's first solo effort, and it was an astounding success. Robert Redford starred as Paul Bratter in the play, and Elizabeth Ashley played his free-spirited wife Corie. When the decision was made to adapt the play to the screen, Simon wrote the screenplay himself so it would be as true to the original version as possible. Redford, who was also cast as the lead in the film, was surprised by the offer. He believed it was standard for Broadway actors to be passed up by Hollywood for the role they originally created on the stage. Still, Redford wasn't completely sure he wanted the role - he didn't like to repeat himself. Fortunately, Barefoot in the Park turned out to be Redford's first commercially successful movie and the start of a great film career. Paul Bratten was actually not a favorite character of Redford's. Gene Saks, the first-time director of the film, later said that Redford hated wearing a suit and tie all day. He wanted people on the set to know that he wasn't really like Paul, and would wear a black western hat and cowboy boots off-camera. He did enjoy making the film, however, partly due to the rapport he developed with his leading lady. Jane Fonda was chosen to play Corie in the film version of Barefoot in the Park (1967). At the time she was fighting a losing battle against being typecast: She was promoted as a sexpot in Europe in films like Roger Vadim's remake of La Ronde (1964), and as the girl next door in U.S. movies such as Any Wednesday (1966). Luckily, the role in this film would allow her to play off both screen images, with some comedy thrown into the mix. Noted by many was the great onscreen chemistry Fonda shared with Redford. The two leads became close friends during the filming, sharing a mutual interest in liberal politics. "Bob and I", Fonda later said, "We share the same causes." The film focuses on conventionality versus unconventionality. Corie, the unconventional woman, is constantly trying to get Paul to loosen up a little, to go "barefoot in the park." Charles Boyer stars as Victor Velasco, the kooky neighbor of the Brattens who must go through their apartment in order to enter his own. Mildred Natwick, who appeared in the stage version with Redford, stars as Mrs. Banks, Corie's mother, who gets a second chance at romance, thanks to her daughter's matchmaking efforts. Natwick's delightful performance was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar®¨for her performance in this film. The film's popularity later inspired a TV series with an all-black cast. Director: Gene Saks Producer: Joseph H. Hazen Screenplay: Neil Simon Cinematographer: Joseph LaShelle Editing: William A. Lyon Music: Neal Hefti Cast: Robert Redford (Paul Bratter), Jane Fonda (Corie Bratter), Charles Boyer (Victor Velasco), Mildred Natwick (Mrs. Banks), Herb Edelman (Harry Pepper). C-106m. Letterboxed. by Sarah Heiman
Paul, I think I'm gonna be a lousy wife. But don't be angry with me. I love you very much -- and I'm very sexy!
- Corie Bratter
I feel like we've died and gone to heaven - only we had to climb up.
- Ethel
Make him feel important. If you do that, you'll have a happy and wonderful marriage - like two out of every ten couples.
Thank you, Mr. Dooley. Next time you're in New York, just call me up.
Six days does not a week make.
A running gag is the absence of an elevator to get to the newlyweds' 6th-floor apartment; new arrivals are out of breath throughout the film. For its release in France, however, the dubbed dialogue placed the apartment on the 9th floor (equivalent to the 10th floor in the US), since in France, older buildings with six stories and no elevator are not uncommon and audiences wouldn't have understood why climbing the stairs was so arduous.
Location scenes filmed in New York City.
Released in United States October 1996 (Shown in New York City (American Museum of the Moving Image) as part of program: "Hollywood Independents: Wallis-Hazin Productions" October 12-27, 1996.)
Released in United States Summer May 25, 1967
Released in United States on Video February 1, 1989
Re-released in United States on Video July 18, 1995
Released in United States October 1996