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Mrs. Doubtfire

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1993 American 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
Pierce Brosnan
Harvey Fierstein
Robert Prosky
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 time123 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million
Box office$441.3 million

Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel, Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It stars Robin Williams (who also served as co-producer) and Sally Field. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup.

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, 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.

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." In April 2014, however, production resumed, but after Williams' death in August 2014, plans for a 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 irresponsible husband. Despite his wife Miranda's objections, Daniel throws a wild birthday party for his son Chris. Miranda becomes furious with him and seeks a divorce. At their first custody hearing, a judge grants Miranda custody of the children, since Daniel has neither a residence nor a job.

Daniel soon learns that Miranda intends to hire a housekeeper and 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 job applicants. He then calls as a Scottish-accented nanny, whom 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 his partner 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 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, Chris and Lydia learn that Mrs. Doubtfire is their father in disguise, but after the initial panic and learning why he did it, agree to keep it a secret from everyone.

Daniel also takes a job at a TV station. CEO Jonathan Lundy sees Daniel clowning around with toy dinosaurs on the set of an unsuccessful children's program. Impressed with Daniel's creativity, 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 romantic interest 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 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. In regret, Daniel administers the Heimlich maneuver. During the struggle, Daniel's mask accidentally rips off, revealing his identity to Miranda's dismay.

At their next custody hearing, Daniel demonstrates he has a job and a suitable home. However, the judge is disgusted by his actions and grants Miranda full custody, with Daniel limited to supervised visitation once a week. Without Mrs. Doubtfire, the children again become devastated, 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 little girl whose parents are divorcing, 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 shows (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 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. Following Williams' death on August 11, 2014, the house became an impromptu memorial. All interior filming for the home took place in a Bay Area warehouse converted for soundstage 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 four hours to apply. Williams later recounted how he used to walk through San Francisco dressed in full Mrs. Doubtfire make-up and costume and on one occasion, visiting a sex shop to buy a large dildo and other toys.

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

Music

Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
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 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:

Release

The film was released in the United States on November 24 1993 rated PG-13.

In the United Kingdom the film received a 12 certificate which at the time completely refused access to children under 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. 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 re submitted the uncut version to the BBFC and the 12 certificate was reinstated. The uncut version was released on Blu-Ray in the UK on March 4 2013.

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. making it the highest grossing cross-dressing film. It became the second highest grossing film of 1993, behind only Jurassic Park.

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).

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." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 53 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

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, but 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. In 2006, in an 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.

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 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. However, after Williams' death in August 2014, plans for a sequel were permanently cancelled. 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. ^ "Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  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. 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. "Case study into the film's rating history in the UK". bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  11. "Arts & Media". Guinness World Records 2007 (UK ed.). Guiness World Records Limited. 2006. p. 182. ISBN 1-904994-11-3. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  12. Fox, David J. (1994-02-01). "Mrs. Doubtfire' Still the Champ". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  13. Fox, David J. (1994-01-04). "Mrs. Doubtfire Takes the Holiday". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  14. "Papa's Got A Brand New Drag". Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  15. "Review at Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  16. "Go behind the scenes with 'Mrs. Doubtfire'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  17. "Mrs. Doubtfire—Metacritic". Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  18. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  19. "Williams Rejects Mrs. Doubtfire Sequel". WorstPreviews.com. 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  20. Brunton, Richard (December 5, 2006). "Williams says no Mrs Doubtfire 2". Filmstalker. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
  21. Kit, Borys (April 16, 2014). "'Mrs. Doubtfire' Sequel in the Works at Fox 2000 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  22. Sperling, Nicole (August 11, 2014). "Robin Williams leaves behind four upcoming films". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 12, 2014.

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: