| T.R. Baskin | |
| Director: | Herbert Ross |
| Producer: | Peter Hyams |
| Starring: | Candice Bergen Peter Boyle James Caan Marcia Rodd |
| Cinematography: | Gerald Hirschfeld |
| Editing: | Maury Winetrobe |
| Music: | Jack Elliott |
| Distributor: | Paramount Pictures |
| Runtime: | 90 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
T.R. Baskin (released as A Date with a Lonely Girl in the United Kingdom) is a 1971 American drama film directed by Herbert Ross from a screenplay by Peter Hyams and starring Candice Bergen, Peter Boyle, Marcia Rodd and James Caan.
One Sunday afternoon, Jack Mitchell (Peter Boyle), a married middle-aged salesman from Utica, New York, meets his old friend, children's book author Larry Moore (James Caan), while on business in Chicago. After asking if Larry knows any "girls" in town, Jack is given the phone number of T.R. Baskin (Candice Bergen), a socially isolated and sarcastic young woman who has moved to Chicago "to seek fame and fortune," in her own words. Jack calls T.R. and invites her to visit him at his hotel. T.R. arrives at the hotel, and after some awkward conversation, they finally get into bed, but Jack is unable to perform, causing her to laugh uncontrollably. She eventually begins to tell Jack about her life in Chicago up to that point, shown via flashbacks.
After flying to Chicago from Findlay, Ohio and informing her parents of her absence via telegram, T.R. first checks into a room at the local YWCA and then moves into a run-down studio apartment, as it is all she can afford. She finds employment as a typist in a large corporation, where she meets and befriends Dayle Wigoda (Marcia Rodd), who arranges a double-date for them. The man she is set up with proves to be a bigot and misogynist, and after ending the date by directly insulting him, T.R. begins to spend her evenings in her apartment alone.
One night, after leaving a crowded bar, T.R. notices a man, Larry, reading a book through the window of a café. Joining him at his table, the two quickly become friendly and go back to his apartment. The two discuss their lives and regrets, and she spends the night with him. The next morning, T.R. discovers Larry has put a $20 bill in her coat pocket, having mistaken her for a sex worker. Feeling betrayed and humiliated, she runs out of his apartment and wanders the desolated early morning streets. Returning to her apartment, she calls her parents, who are implied to be furious with her decision to move to Chicago; she apologizes to them profusely and breaks down in tears.
Back in Jack's hotel room, T.R. frankly discusses the ways city life has affected her, while Jack reveals his desire to retire to smalltown Florida. Jack offers to see her again, but she declines, seemingly having reached an understanding with him. The two share a friendly hug before she leaves, and T.R. walks off into the bustling Chicago streets.
The film was shot in various locations around Chicago, including the Carson Pirie Scott department store, the Sherman House Hotel, the First National Bank Building, and O'Connell's Coffee Shop on Rush Street.[1]
Herbert Ross later stated, "I made a terrible mistake on T.R. Baskin. I was fooled by the script. I discovered in working on the script that it was like quicksand: the harder we worked, the more we investigated, the more damage we did. So after a while we were just trying to mask the flaws. It was a very salutary experience, because it helped me to learn how to evaluate a script."[2]
The film was negatively received by critics on its original release. [3]
T.R. Baskin was unavailable on home video for many years until 2023, when a 4K remaster of the film prepared by Paramount was released on Blu-ray by Fun City Editions. This brought the film renewed praise from some critics, with a writer for Under the Radar calling it "a stirring portrayal of spiraling depression."[4]