Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Chris Columbus
Produced by Marsha Garces Williams
Robin Williams
Mark Radcliffe
Screenplay by Randi Mayem Singer
Leslie Dixon
Based on Madame Doubtfire 
by Anne Fine
Starring Robin Williams
Sally Field
Pierce Brosnan
Harvey Fierstein
Robert Prosky
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Donald McAlpine
Edited by Raja Gosnell
Production
company
Blue Wolf Productions
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • November 24, 1993 (1993-11-24)
Running time
 123 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $25 million[1]
Box office $441.3 million[1]

Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama family film, directed by Chris Columbus and based on Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It stars Robin Williams (who also served as co-producer), Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, and Robert Prosky. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup[2] and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. For his performance in the film, Robin Williams was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor.

Although the film received mixed reviews during its original theatrical run, subsequent reevaluation has been more positive: the film was placed 67th in the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies and was also rated No. 40 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies of All Time. The original music score was composed by Howard Shore.

In 2001, a sequel titled Mrs. Doubtfire 2 began production by Bonnie Hunt. Writing for the sequel began in 2003, but it was cancelled in December 2006 after Williams believed the script was "useless". However, in April 2014, production resumed, but after Williams' death in August 2014, plans for the sequel were permanently cancelled.

Plot

Daniel Hillard is a freelance voice actor living in San Francisco, California who quits his job due to a disagreement over a questionable script. Though a devoted and loving father to his three children Lydia, Chris, and Natalie, Daniel is an unreliable husband. Despite his wife Miranda's objections, Daniel throws a wild birthday party for his son Chris. Arriving home from work, Miranda becomes furious with him and, after an argument, seeks a divorce. At their first custody hearing, the judge grants Miranda custody of the children since Daniel has neither a residence nor a steady job.

Soon, Daniel learns that Miranda intends to hire a housekeeper and secretly alters her classifieds form when she declines his offer to take care of the children. He then calls Miranda several times, using his voice acting skills as several female job applicants. Finally, he calls as a Scottish-accented[3] nanny, whom he calls Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire. Impressed with her alleged qualifications, Miranda invites "Mrs. Doubtfire" for an interview. Daniel enlists his older brother Frank, a makeup artist, and his boyfriend Jack to transform him into the character.

After being further impressed by the interview, Miranda hires Mrs. Doubtfire. The children initially struggle to adjust to Mrs. Doubtfire's methods, but they soon begin to thrive, becoming happier and doing better in school while Miranda is able to heal her distant relationship with her children as she and Mrs. Doubtfire become good friends. Daniel has to learn several skills to play his role, such as cooking and cleaning, and also improves himself.

However, despite impressing Miranda greatly with his newfound maturity, Daniel realizes that he has indirectly created another barrier, as when he asks to look after the children, Miranda insists she could never dismiss Mrs. Doubtfire as the family's lives have been made so much better by "her." One night, Lydia and Chris learn that Mrs. Doubtfire is their father in disguise, but after the initial panic and learning why he did it, they agree to keep it a secret from everyone.

Daniel also takes a job at a television station. One day, CEO Jonathan Lundy sees Daniel playing around with toy dinosaurs on the set of a children's program. Impressed with Daniel's creativity, Mr. Lundy invites him to dinner at Bridge's Restaurant on the coming Friday night for Daniel to pitch ideas as a new host. Meanwhile, Miranda expects Mrs. Doubtfire to attend a birthday dinner arranged by her new boyfriend Stu Dunmire scheduled at the same time and place.

Unable to reschedule either appointment, Daniel goes to the restaurant and tries to rotate between both dinners, changing in and out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume in the restroom. He consumes several alcoholic beverages between the two tables and becomes tipsy. He forgets to change out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume before returning to Mr. Lundy's table and seasons cayenne pepper (which Stu is allergic to) on Stu's food. When Lundy questions the costume, Daniel covers for his mistake by explaining that his alter-ego is his idea for a television persona, impressing Lundy. At Miranda's table, Stu starts choking. Regretful of his actions, Daniel administers the Heimlich maneuver, which causes the mask to rip off in the process, revealing his identity to Miranda's horror.

At their next custody hearing, Daniel demonstrates he has a job and a suitable home and gives a heartfelt speech on why he masqueraded as Mrs. Doubtfire. The judge, while sympathetic, is disturbed by his actions and grants Miranda full custody, with Daniel limited to supervised visitation once a week. Without Mrs. Doubtfire, the children again become miserable and even Miranda admits their lives were so much better with "her". Soon, they are delighted when they see Daniel dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire hosting his own television program, "Euphegenia's House", which becomes a hit across several American cities.

Miranda pays a visit to Daniel after he wraps up one episode. Congratulating him on his success, she admits that things were better when he was involved, so she decides to appeal the custody ruling. Later the children are greeted by Daniel, revealed as their new babysitter, undisguised and without supervision.

They head out as Miranda watches a "Euphegenia's House" episode where Mrs. Doubtfire answers a letter from a young girl whose parents have separated, saying no matter what arrangements families have, love will prevail.

Cast

Production

Filming

The San Francisco house used for exterior shots of the film, photographed several days after Robin Williams' death. A fan-made tribute to Williams can be seen at its front steps.

Chicago was the studio's first choice for filming. However, as two new television series (ER and Chicago Hope) had a lease with the city during the subsequent time period, production was relocated to San Francisco. Various locations in the city were used during filming. Parts were filmed at the studios of television station KTVU in Oakland. Street signs for the intersection near the "Painted Lady" home, Steiner, and Broadway, were visible onscreen.

The exact address 2640 Steiner Street 37°47′38.07″N 122°26′10.78″W / 37.7939083°N 122.4363278°W / 37.7939083; -122.4363278 became a tourist attraction for some time after the film's release.[4] Following Williams' death on August 11, 2014, the house became an impromptu memorial.[5] All interior filming for the home took place in a Bay Area warehouse converted for sound stage usage. Williams' character Daniel Hillard lived upstairs from Danilo Bakery at 516 Green Street; his children attended a school at Filbert and Taylor.

The makeup for Mrs. Doubtfire's appearance took 4 hours to apply.[6] Williams later recounted how he used to walk through San Francisco dressed in full Mrs. Doubtfire makeup and costume and on one occasion, visiting a sex shop to buy a large dildo and other toys.[7]

The restaurant scene was filmed at Bridges Restaurant & Bar in Danville, California.

Music

Mrs. Doubtfire
Soundtrack album by Howard Shore
Released December 7, 1993
Genre Soundtrack
Length 41:07
Label Fox Music
Producer Howard Shore
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Track listing
  1. "Mrs. Doubtfire" – 2:58
  2. "Divorce" – 2:56
  3. "My Name Is Else Immelman" – 2:55
  4. "Meeting Mrs. Doubtfire" – 2:14
  5. "Tea Time with Mrs. Sellner" – 3:58
  6. "Dinner Is Served" – 2:18
  7. "Daniel and the Kids" – 2:29
  8. "Cable Cars" – 4:56
  9. "Bridges Restaurant" – 6:13
  10. "Show's Over" – 3:26
  11. "The Kids Need You" – 3:21
  12. "Figaro / Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" – 3:23

The score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore. The CD was mastered by Ted Jensen. The song Robin Williams sings at the cartoon voice-over in the beginning is "Largo al factotum." Other songs featured often were chosen referencing the identity of Mrs. Doubtfire. These songs include:

Additionally, these songs were featured:

Release

The film was released in the United States on November 24, 1993, and was rated PG-13.[9]

In January 1994, when released in the United Kingdom, the film received a 12 certificate, which, at the time, completely refused access to children under the age of 12 at cinemas. This resulted in cinemas requesting their local authorities to override the decision of the British Board of Film Classification, after having to turn down disappointed families. In February 1994, The Independent reported that the censors refused the film a U or PG certificate, and gave it a 12 instead. This was due to 20th Century Fox refusing to remove three controversial lines.[10]

After the film's distributors requested the BBFC to reconsider, a compromise was reached, in which the film was re rated PG with 13 seconds of sexual innuendos cut, and was re released in May 1994. The cut version was also used in subsequent VHS and DVD releases. In November 2012, the distributors resubmitted the uncut version to the BBFC, and the 12 certificate was reinstated.[11] On March 4, 2013, the uncut version was released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom.

Reception

Box office

The film earned $219,195,243 in the United States, along with $222,090,952 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $441,286,195,[1] making it the highest grossing cross-dressing film.[12] It became the second highest grossing film of 1993, behind only Jurassic Park.[13][14]

Critical reception

At the time of its release, several critics compared Mrs. Doubtfire unfavorably with Some Like It Hot (1959) and others who viewed the film favorably noted its similarity to Tootsie (1982).[15]

On Rotten Tomatoes, Mrs. Doubtfire has a rating of 71%, based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's critical reception reads, "On paper, Mrs. Doubtfire might seem excessively broad or sentimental, but Robin Williams shines so brightly in the title role that the end result is difficult to resist."[16][17] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 53 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[18]

Accolades

American Film Institute lists

Cancelled sequel

In 2001, Mrs. Doubtfire 2 began being developed by Bonnie Hunt, but not until 2003 did writing begin. Robin Williams was set to return in disguise as an old nanny. Due to problems with the script, re-writing began in 2006, as Williams was unhappy with the plot, and the sequel was again "scrapped" later that year. The film was expected to be released in late 2007, but following further script problems, the sequel was declared "scrapped" during 2006.[20] In 2006, in a Newsday interview, Williams said the sequel was indefinitely scrapped. Stating his reasons, he said, "The script they had just didn't work."

The sequel's story involved Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire moving close to Lydia's college, so he could keep an eye on her.[21]

In December 2006, during an interview on BBC Radio 1 by DJ Edith Bowman, Williams said that if it is not going to be done right, then it is not worth doing, and that there would not be a sequel with him in it. In August 2010, Robin Williams was featured on Alan Carr: Chatty Man, and again brought up the topic of a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire. He blamed the script not being right as the reason a sequel wasn't made. He claimed the script had been written three times and failed, and there was no mention of any ongoing work on the project. Furthermore, in December 2011, during an interview by Moviehole, Williams stated again that the chances of a sequel are "highly unlikely".

In May 2013, Chris Columbus stated that:

“ We're talking about a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire. We've [he and Williams] talked about it, and the studio is interested in it. The thing that fascinates me about a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire is with most actors who create an iconic character like Mrs. Doubtfire, when you come back and do that character, well, you're twenty years older so, you're not going to look the same.

The cool thing with Mrs. Doubtfire is there's a character, there's a woman, who is actually going to look exactly as she did in 1993. So I look forward to seeing that trailer. I love that concept and there's no CGI. So we just need to make absolutely certain that the story is a good emotionally strong story, that there's a reason for telling it, it's not like Big Momma's House or something. It has to be as emotional and as funny.

 ”

In April 2014, it was announced that a sequel was in development at 20th Century Fox. Williams and Columbus were expected to return, and Elf screenwriter David Berenbaum was hired to write the script.[22] However, after Williams' death in August 2014, plans for a sequel were permanently cancelled.[23] For a brief period of time, the film was classed as "stalled", but it then seemed that the project wouldn't occur at all, and was even removed from the IMDb website.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Awards for Mrs. Doubtfire. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  3. ↑ "Film crimes against the Scottish accent" BBC 23 December 2013
  4. ↑ Shot on This Site, William A. Gordon, Citadel, 1995, p.39.
  5. ↑ "Robin Williams memorial grows outside 'Mrs. Doubtfire' house"
  6. ↑ Jessica Probus. "The Actual Makeup From "Mrs. Doubtfire" Was Even More Intense Than You Realized". Buzzfeed.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  7. ↑ Christopher Hooton (2014-08-12). "Robin Williams, dressed as Mrs Doubtfire, walks into a sex shop… - News - Films". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  8. ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Mrs. Doubtfire (Original Soundtrack Album) - Howard Shore". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  9. ↑ "Mrs Doubtfire TV spot". You Tube. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Film stars lost for words: But why does Mrs Doubtfire have to swear? asks David Lister". 13 February 1994. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Case study into the film's rating history in the UK". bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "Arts & Media". Guinness World Records 2007 (UK ed.). Guiness World Records Limited. 2006. p. 182. ISBN 1-904994-11-3.
  13. ↑ Fox, David J. (1994-02-01). "Mrs. Doubtfire' Still the Champ". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  14. ↑ Fox, David J. (1994-01-04). "Mrs. Doubtfire Takes the Holiday". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  15. ↑ "Papa's Got A Brand New Drag". Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  16. ↑ "Review at Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  17. ↑ "Go behind the scenes with 'Mrs. Doubtfire'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  18. ↑ "Mrs. Doubtfire—Metacritic". Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  19. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  20. ↑ "Williams Rejects Mrs. Doubtfire Sequel". WorstPreviews.com. 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  21. ↑ Brunton, Richard (December 5, 2006). "Williams says no Mrs Doubtfire 2". Filmstalker. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
  22. ↑ Kit, Borys (April 16, 2014). "'Mrs. Doubtfire' Sequel in the Works at Fox 2000 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  23. ↑ Sperling, Nicole (August 11, 2014). "Robin Williams leaves behind four upcoming films". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 12, 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mrs. Doubtfire.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by
The Player		 Golden Globe: Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
1993 		Succeeded by
The Lion King
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