| Pete 'n' Tillie | |
| Director: | Martin Ritt |
| Producer: | Julius J. Epstein |
| Music: | John Williams |
| Cinematography: | John A. Alonzo |
| Editing: | Frank Bracht |
| Distributor: | Universal Pictures |
| Runtime: | 100 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $14,999,969[1] |
Pete 'n' Tillie is a 1972 American comedy-drama film directed by Martin Ritt and starring Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett.[2] Its advertising tagline was: "Honeymoon's over. It's time to get married."
Screenwriter Julius J. Epstein[2] was nominated for an Oscar for adapting the story from the 1968 novella Witch's Milk by Peter De Vries. Epstein later adapted another De Vries novel for the film Reuben, Reuben.
Tillie Schlaine is introduced to Pete Seltzer at a party. Her friends Gertrude and Burt are the hosts and attempting to fix her up.
Pete is a confirmed bachelor with eccentric habits. When he isn't doing odd motivational research for a San Francisco firm, he plays ragtime piano, and makes bad puns. He periodically pops in and out of Tillie's life, going days without calling, but showing up spontaneously at her door. When they finally make love, he learns Tillie is a virgin.
It appears Pete might still be seeing other women, but when he gets a promotion at work, Tillie announces it's time to get married. They do, then buy a house, and have a baby boy. Pete's affairs, however, apparently continue, Tillie even needing to discourage one of his young lovers at lunch.
Years go by until one day, 9-year-old son Robbie is stricken with a fatal illness. Pete tries to shield the boy by keeping him in what Tillie calls "a world of nonsense", but the inevitable death destroys Tillie's religious faith, and ruptures their marriage.
Tillie abstains from sex, while Pete turns to drink and takes an apartment. Tillie's depression is alleviated a bit by a friendship with Jimmy, who is gay, but willing to marry her if that would make Tillie happy. When she and Jimmy conspire to make Gertrude reveal her true age at long last, the result is a public brawl between the two women.
Tillie ends up in a sanitarium. Her life has come to a standstill until Pete turns up one day. When she sees the way their son's death affects him, after his years of hiding it, Tillie and Pete leave side by side.
Writer Julius Epstein said the film was a combination of a novella by Peter De Vries with "a flop play of mine called But, Seriously. I took material from the flop play and melded it into the novella because the novella, from the story point of view, was not enough. What I took from my original play made a picture out of it." Epstein said But, Seriously "had a political angle that was dull as hell—that’s what killed the play. There were a lot of laughs in it, which I took and put into Pete ‘n’ Tillie."[3]
The film grossed $14,999,969[1] at the box office, earning an estimated $8.7 million in North American rentals in 1973.[4]
It was nominated for two Academy Awards: Julius J. Epstein for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Geraldine Page for Supporting Actress.
Walter Matthau received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and won the 1973 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in this movie and for his performance in Charley Varrick.
Carol Burnett received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.