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David and Lisa
AMG AllMovie Guide:
David and Lisa
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Movies
Plot This stark and spare look at the world of the mentally disturbed was one of the beacons of the new American independent film movement. Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin star as two adolescents who make contact with each other in a home for disturbed youngsters. Dullea is David Clemens, who is placed in the home by his mother because of his constant fear of being touched. Margolin is Lisa, a 15-year-old schizophrenic who speaks only in rhyme, when she speaks at all. David rejects the help of psychiatrist Alan Swinford (Howard Da Silva) but makes an emotional connection with Lisa. Because of his contact with Lisa, David eventually opens up to Swinford and his mother. But his mother is dissatisfied with his progress and takes him back home. Home life, however, consists of his mother's domineering ways and parental quarrels, so David runs away and returns to the home for disturbed youngsters. But then an argument with Lisa leads to a climactic confrontation. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
Review Based on a case history by Dr. Theodore Isaac Rubin, David and Lisa was a low-budget winner, scoring big with audiences in a genre (psychodrama) that rarely produces successful results. It quickly took in over five times its $200,000 budget, breaking financial ground that would later be traveled by many other independent films. The frank, documentary-like approach of director Frank Perry, a student of acting and directing teacher Lee Strasberg, won him an Oscar nomination as Best Director, and another Academy Award nomination went to the script by Eleanor Perry, the director's wife. Her accomplished adaptation of Rubin's book reduced technical jargon and psychobabble to a minimum, keeping a non-manipulative focus on the two main characters. David and Lisa became dated in later years only in its depiction of the main characters' psychological problems. The notion that a mental illness like David's could be caused by overbearing mothering was widely discredited after (if not before) the movie's release. Similarly, schizophrenia came to be defined as a more general mental disease than Lisa's rare multiple personality disorder. The film's spare, stripped-down look, combined with its unflinching examination of people normally relegated to life's margins, made it a leading example of the influence of European New Wave filmmaking on mainstream American cinema of the 1960s. Perhaps demonstrating this European sensibility, the film won the British Academy Award for Best Film, and Perry won Best New Director at the Venice Film Festival. Rubin penned a 1986 sequel, Lisa and David Today, which followed up on his patients' progress; and Oprah Winfrey produced a modernized TV remake in 1998. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
Cast
Keir Dullea - David Clemens
Janet Margolin - Lisa
Howard Da Silva - Dr. Swinford
Neva Patterson - Mrs. Clemens
Clifton James - John Mathew Anden - Simon; Karen Gorney - Josette; Coni Hudak - Kate; Richard McMurray - Mr. Clemens; Nancy Nutter - Maureen; Janet Lee Parker - Sandra; Jaime Sanchez - Carlos
CreditPaul Heller - Art Director, Anna Hill Johnstone - Costume Designer, Frank Perry - Director, Irving Oshman - Editor, Marc Lawrence - Composer (Music Score), Leonard Hirschfield - Cinematographer, Paul Heller - Producer, Gene Callahan - Set Designer, Eleanor Perry - Screenwriter, Dr. Theodore Isaac Rubin - Book Author
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
David and Lisa
Directed by
Frank Perry
Written by
Eleanor Perry
Theodore Isaac Rubin (novel)
Starring
Keir Dullea
Janet Margolin
Howard Da Silva
Music by
Mark Lawrence
Distributed by
Continental Film Distribution
Release date(s)
December 26, 1962
Running time
93 min
Language
English
David and Lisa (1962) is a small independent film directed by Frank Perry, often cited as one of his best works. Based on the novel by Theodore Isaac Rubin, the screenplay, written by Frank Perry's wife Eleanor, tells the story of a bright young man suffering from a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This lands him in a residential treatment center, in which he meets a girl with dissociative identity disorder called Lisa, whom he learns to understand.
The film is shot in black-and-white, and it runs for 93 minutes. It cost $183,000 and returned over $1,000,000 in rentals on its first week.
David and Lisa earned Frank Perry a nomination for the 1962 Academy Award for Directing and Eleanor Perry for her Screenplay.
It was adapted as a stage play in 1967, and was remade as a television movie in 1998 starring Lukas Haas, Sidney Poitier and Brittany Murphy.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Characters
3 Plot of the stage play
4 See also
5 External links
Plot
The film starts as David Clemens (Keir Dullea) is brought to a residential treatment center by his apparently caring mother. He becomes very upset when one of the inmates brushes his hand, as he believes touches can kill him. Cold and distant, he mainly concentrates on his studies, especially that of clocks, which he appears to be obsessed with. We later learn that he has a recurring dream in which he murders people by means of a giant clock.
He meets Lisa Brandt (Janet Margolin), a girl who has two personalities: one of them, Lisa, can only speak in rhymes, while the other, Muriel, cannot speak, but only write. David befriends her by talking to her in rhymes. Following an argument with his mother when she comes to visit him, his parents decide he should leave the place. After staying at their house for a short time, David runs away and goes back to the residential treatment center, where he is allowed to stay. He has a small argument with Lisa, and she takes the train to the city, unnoticed by anyone.
In the final scene, David, who realizes she would go back to a museum in which she had embraced a statue before, finds her. Lisa appears to be cured and doesn't need to rhyme anymore, and David allows her to hold his hand on the way back.
Characters
David Clemens C David is a young man played by Keir Dullea who suffers from Aphenphosmphobia. He cannot stand to be touched by others. He is cold and chooses to be isolated from his peers. He has an obsession with time.
Lisa Brandt C Lisa is a young woman played by Janet Margolin. She suffers from a split personality. When she is Lisa, she is a 4 yr. old girl who can only speak in rhymes. When she is Muriel, she cannot speak, but only write.
Dr. Swinford C The doctor at the treatment center played by Howard Da Silva. He is an older, pensive man who manages to break through David's tough exterior.
Plot of the stage play
The play begins with David Clemens and his mother preparing to leave to bring David to "school". We later learn this is a school for children with mental and psychological issues. David's mother is overprotective and overbearing, and it shows. At the station, a porter touches David's arm, and we learn that David is afraid to be touched.
We meet a variety of teachers and other students, particularly Dr. Alan Swinford, the head psychologist, and are introduced to the school. We learn that David has an obsession with clocks, and also with death. We are also introduced to the other title character, Lisa, who has a split personality: one who will only speak in rhymes and the other who will not speak, but will only write or draw her thoughts. Over time, David and Lisa befriend each other, until midway through the play, after an embittering visit, David's parents take him away from the school.
David eventually runs away from his home and comes back to the school, where he is allowed to stay. One day, however, Lisa is annoying David as he listens to another child playing the piano. David becomes cross and shouts at her, and Lisa runs away from the school. David and the head psychologist, Dr. Alan, go out in search of her, and arrive just in time to save Lisa from the ravages of two boys in a city park. David and Lisa are both relieved that the other is there for them, and somehow Lisa is cured of her two personalities and becomes truly herself, speaking "plain straight" to David for the first time. David extends his hand and asks her to take it, conquering his fear of being touched, and they walk off together, hand in hand.
See also
Mental illness in films
External links
David and Lisa (1962) at the Internet Movie Database
David and Lisa (1998) (TV) at the Internet Movie Database
v  d  eThe films of Frank Perry
1960s
David and Lisa (1962) ? Ladybug Ladybug (1963) ? The Swimmer (1968) ? Last Summer (1969) ? Trilogy (1969)
1970s
Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) ? Doc (1971) ? Play It As It Lays (1972) ? Man on a Swing (1974) ? Rancho Deluxe (1975)
1980s
Mommie Dearest (1981) ? Monsignor (1982) ? Compromising Positions (1985) ? Hello Again (1987)
1990s
On the Bridge (1992)
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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On the Bridge (1992 Film)
Point of Departure (1963 Album by Gary McFarland)
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