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1993 film
Mrs. Doubtfire
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChris Columbus
Screenplay byRandi Mayem Singer
Leslie Dixon
Produced byMarsha Garces Williams
Robin Williams
Mark Radcliffe
StarringRobin Williams
Sally Field
Lisa Jakub
Matthew Lawrence
Mara Wilson
Pierce Brosnan
Harvey Fierstein
CinematographyDonald McAlpine
Edited byRaja Gosnell
Music byHoward Shore
Production
company		Blue Wolf Productions
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • November 24, 1993 (1993-11-24)
Running time125 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25,000,000
Box office$441,286,195

Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy film starring Robin Williams and Sally Field and based on the novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup. The film was placed 67th in the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies, a list of the 100 funniest movies of the 20th century, and was also rated No. 40 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies of All Time. The original music score was composed by Howard Shore.

Plot

Daniel Hillard is a voice actor who refuses to work on an inappropriate cartoon. He is a good father to his three children Lydia, Chris, and Natalie. However, Daniel is not that good a husband, and when he throws a rousing birthday party for Chris, his wife Miranda takes it a sign Daniel is too immature and seeks a divorce. At their first custody hearing, the judge grants Miranda custody of the children, since Daniel has neither residence nor job, but allows Daniel unsupervised visitation on Saturday evenings. Daniel is devastated, but the judge says that this is temporary; Daniel can gain more custody should he become both employed and gain a residence subject to inspection by a case worker.

During the children's first visit with Daniel, neither Miranda nor the children are impressed with Daniel's living situation. Daniel learns that Miranda intends to hire a housekeeper to care for the children. Seeing this as a chance to spend more time with his kids; surreptitiously alters her classifieds form. Daniel calls Miranda several times, using his voice acting to trick her into thinking that many lousy job applicants are calling. He then calls her as an elderly British nanny, who he dubs "Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire". Impressed with her alleged qualifications, Miranda invites "Mrs. Doubtfire" for an interview. Daniel enlists his brother Frank, a makeup artist, and Frank's partner Jack to transform him into the character.

After being further impressed by the interview, Miranda hires Mrs. Doubtfire on the spot. The children initially struggle to adjust to Mrs. Doubtfire's strict methods, while Miranda quickly befriends "her". The children eventually respond favorably to Mrs. Doubtfire's strict methods, and Daniel – who had to learn several skills, including gourmet cooking, in order to maintain the Mrs. Doubtfire character – improves himself and his apartment as well. One day Chris and Lydia learn that Mrs. Doubtfire is their dad in disguise, but Daniel tells them that he wears the costume so he can see his children every day. Glad that he is back with them, both agree to keep it secret from Miranda and Natalie.

Daniel also has a job at a TV station. CEO Jonathan Lundy sees Daniel clowning around with toy dinosaurs on the set of an outdated children's program that is on the cusp of cancellation. Impressed with Daniel's ingenuity, Lundy invites him to dinner in order for Daniel to pitch ideas as the new host. Miranda, meanwhile, invites Mrs. Doubtfire to a birthday dinner arranged by romantic interest Stuart 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 Lundy's table and dumps pepper (an ingredient Stuart is allergic to) on Stuart's order. When Lundy questions the costume, Daniel covers for his mistake by explaining that his alter ego is his idea for a new television persona. Impressed, Lundy agrees that is a good character. At Miranda's table, Stuart starts choking on the pepper. Out of regret, Daniel, still in the Mrs. Doubtfire costume, administers the Heimlich maneuver on Stuart. During the struggle, Daniel's mask peels off, revealing his identity. Miranda storms out of the restaurant with the children.

At their next custody hearing, despite Daniel demonstrating he has a job and a suitable home, the judge is disturbed by Daniel's unorthodox behavior, and grants Miranda full custody of the children, with Daniel limited to supervised visitation once a week. Without Mrs. Doubtfire, the children again are withdrawn and depressed, and Miranda admits that their lives were so much better with "her". However, they are delighted when they see Daniel dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire hosting his own television program, "Euphegenia's House", which becomes a hit and looks like it will be aired on networks throughout American cities. Miranda pays a visit to Daniel after he wraps up one episode. Congratulating him on his success, she admits the kids were happier with him involved and is making efforts to appeal the custody ruling. Later the kids are greeted by Daniel, now undisguised and without supervision, who takes them out for the day. Miranda watches a Euphegenia's House episode where Mrs. Doubtfire answers a letter from a little girl whose parents are divorcing, which is answered by saying no matter what living arrangements families have; love will prevail.

Cast

Production

Filming

Chicago was the studio's first choice for filming. However, two new television shows (ER and Chicago Hope) had a lease with the city around the same time period, and the production team eventually went with San Francisco. Various locations in San Francisco were used for filming. Parts were shot at the studios of television station KTVU in Oakland. The street signs for the intersection near the "Painted Lady" home, Steiner and Broadway, were visible on-screen. 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. Though the film's home exteriors were impressive, its interiors were all shot in a warehouse in the Bay area that was turned into a soundstage. Robin Williams' divorced father character 'Daniel' lived upstairs from Danilo Bakery at 516 Green St., and his children attended a school at Filbert and Taylor.

The restaurant scene was filmed in an actual upscale restaurant, Bridges Restaurant & Bar, in downtown Danville, California, which is still in operation, as of April, 2013.

Music

The score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore. The song Robin Williams sings at the cartoon voiceover 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:

Reaction

Box office

The film was a huge box office success. It earned $219,195,243 in the United States, along with $222,090,952 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $441,286,195. It became the second highest grossing film of 1993, behind only Jurassic Park.

Critical reception

The movie received mixed to positive reviews. At the time of its release, several critics compared Mrs. Doubtfire unfavorably with Some Like It Hot (1959), and others who viewed the movie favorably noted its similarity to Tootsie (1982).

Mrs. Doubtfire has a "Fresh" rating of 70% with an average score of 5.8 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 53/100, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Accolades

BAFTA Awards

American Film Institute Lists

Sequel

Writing of a sequel, Mrs. Doubtfire 2, began in 2003 by Bonnie Hunt. Robin Williams was set to return in disguise as an old nanny, similar to the first movie. Due to problems with the script, re-writing began in early 2006 as Robin Williams was allegedly unhappy with the plot. The movie was expected to be released in late 2007, but following further script problems the sequel was declared "scrapped" in mid-2006.

The sequel's story involved Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire moving close to his daughter's college so he could keep an eye on her. Recently in an interview for Newsday, Williams said the movie's sequel was indefinitely scrapped. Stating his reasons, he said, "The script they had just didn't work."

On December 5, 2006, during an interview with BBC Radio 1 by DJ Edith Bowman, Williams said that if it's not going to be done right, then it's not worth doing and that there will not be a sequel with him in it. However, the character might return in some form some day in the future. The interview doesn't seem to have been recorded, but it was posted online almost immediately.

In August 2010, Williams was featured on Alan Carr's Chatty Man, and again brought up the topic of another Mrs. Doubtfire movie. He blamed the script not being right as the reason another movie wasn't shot. He claimed that the script had been written 3 times and failed, and there was no mention of any ongoing work on the project.

In late 2011, a conversation regarding a sequel was discussed yet again during an interview with Williams. He stated yet again that the chances of a sequel are "highly unlikely".

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  2. ^ Awards for Mrs. Doubtfire. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  3. Shot on This Site, William A. Gordon, Citadel, 1995, p.39.
  4. Fox, David J. (1994-02-01). "Mrs. Doubtfire' Still the Champ". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  5. Fox, David J. (1994-01-04). "Mrs. Doubtfire Takes the Holiday". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  6. "Papa's Got A Brand New Drag". Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  7. "Review at Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  8. "Go behind the scenes with 'Mrs. Doubtfire'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  9. "Mrs. Doubtfire—Metacritic". Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  10. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  11. "Williams Rejects Mrs. Doubtfire Sequel". WorstPreviews.com. 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  12. ^ Brunton, Richard (2006-12-05). "Williams says no Mrs Doubtfire 2". Filmstalker. Retrieved 2007-06-02.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded byThe Player Golden Globe: Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
1993 		Succeeded byThe Lion King
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
1951–1975
1976–2000
2001–present
Chris Columbus
Directed
Produced
Written only
Television
See also
Categories: