MovieChat Forums > The Four Seasons (1981) Discussion > ALDA + BURNETT

ALDA + BURNETT

posted 14 years ago by 5thbeatle
7 replies | jump to latest

SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS, BUT MY ARM AND HAND ARE IN A CAST. ALAN ALDA SPECIFICALLY WANTED CAROL BURNETT IN THIS MOVIE. WHEN BURNETT HAD ALDA ON HER VARIETY SHOW, AS A GUEST STAR, BURNETT TOLD THE AUDIENCE THAT SHE ADMIRED ALDA VERY MUCH. AFTER THE SHOW WAS OVER, ALDA TOLD BURNETT THAT HE WAS MAKING A MOVIE CALLED "THE FOUR SEASON'S" AND EXPLAINED TO HER WHAT IT WAS ABOUT. AFTER TALKING ABOUT IT FOR A WHILE ALDA TOLD BURNETT THAT HE WROTE THE PART OF KATE WITH ONLY HER IN MIND. SUFFICE IT TO SAY, THE REST IS HISTORY. I READ ABOUT THIS IN AN INTERVIEW THAT BURNETT MADE SHORTLY AFTER THE FLM WAS MADE. PERSONALY, I CAN'T SEE ANY OTHER ACTRESS PLAYING THE PART OF KATE. ALDA AND BURNETT HAD GREAT CHEMISTRY, IMHO. ANYBODY DISAGREE?

If you were like everyone else, then who'd be like you?

[–] KSKdyer3 13 years ago

They also used to live across the street from each other growing up.

[–] jac91604 11 years ago

They had great chemistry together, but they did not grow up across the street from each other.

Carol Burnett grew up in poverty and was raised mainly by her grandmother.

Alda was the son of Robert Alda.

[–] mmitsos-1 8 years ago

Wow, I never knew that they grew up as neighbors.

And yes, Burnett was perfectly cast.

[–] horsenbuggy 7 years ago

Because they didn't.

[–] ncjacinto 13 years ago

I thought they had amazing chemistry on-screen and were totally believable as a couple. I remember my 14-year-old self thinking how awesome it would be to have them as parents.

The scene where they're cracking up as Len and Bess get it on in another berth is one of my all time favorite movie scenes.

[–] dlade-1 13 years ago

I think Alda and Burnett are the best thing about what, when I recently saw this movie again 30 years after I saw it in the theater, struck me as a pretty pedestrian film with some good lines thrown in. Alda/Burneet are totally believable as a couple, and their interactions are very subtle -- not like the other two couples, who in some ways seem very typecast.

Then again, this was Alda's first stab at directing. And he did pick an interesting topic; what happens to friendships over a lifespan. I wonder if he would change anything in this film at this point in his career.

[–] nancy-mitrione 8 years ago

Just catching it on cable after many years; I think Alda and Burnett had terrific chemistry in the movie.