Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York
| Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York | |
|---|---|
 Movie Poster | |
| Directed by | Sidney J. Furie |
| Produced by | Harry Korshak |
| Screenplay by | Kenny Solms |
| Based on |
Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York by Gail Parent |
| Starring |
Roy Scheider Jeannie Berlin Rebecca Dianna Smith |
| Music by | Michel Legrand |
| Cinematography | Donald M. Morgan |
| Edited by | Argyle Nelson Jr. |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
(USA) |
Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York is a 1975 film directed by Sidney J. Furie, about a shy young woman who moves to New York City and falls in love with the boyfriend of her extroverted roommate. The film was co-written by Kenny Solms and Gail Parent, and based on her novel. The film was shot on location in New York City.[1]
Plot
Painfully shy Sheila Levine moves from Pennsylvania to New York City against the wishes of her parents who want her to get married. Sheila moves in with Kate, a sexy, extroverted aspiring actress with a busy social life. At Kate's suggestion, Sheila goes to a nightclub, where she meets Sam, a bachelor doctor who persuades the naive Sheila to spend the night with him. Sheila has the first good sex of her life with Sam, but when she expresses romantic feelings for him, he lets her know he considers their encounter just a one-night stand "satisfying an urge". Sheila leaves his apartment upset, saying she never wants to see him again.
Some time later Sheila and Sam meet again when he arrives at her apartment to take Kate on a blind date. Sheila and Sam find they are still attracted to each other, but when Kate appears, she easily lures Sam's attention away from Sheila. To Sheila's chagrin, Kate and Sam begin a steady relationship. When Sheila's younger sister gets married, Sheila moves back to her parents' home in Pennsylvania planning to stay, but soon realizes she no longer fits in there and misses Sam, who by now is living with Kate. She returns to New York City and tries to get Sam back, only to find that Sam and Kate are engaged and Kate is pregnant. Kate later tells Sheila that Sam is only marrying her because he thinks the baby is his, but it is actually another man's child, and Kate plans to have a secret abortion after she and Sam are married. Sheila remains in New York and concentrates on her new career as a producer of children's records. Sam eventually faces the fact that he loves Sheila, not Kate, and he and Kate break up. Sam proposes to Sheila; the film ends before she gives him her answer.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jeannie Berlin | Sheila Levine |
| Roy Scheider | Sam Stoneman |
| Rebecca Dianna Smith | Kate |
| Janet Brandt | Bernice |
| Sid Melton | Mannie |
| Charles Woolf | Wally |
| Leda Rogers | Agatha |
| Jack Bernardi | Uncle Herm |
Critical reception
Vincent Canby of The New York Times did not care for the film although he liked the novel on which the film was based:
| “ | Something disastrous happened to the heroine of Gail Parent's funny novel, Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York, on her way to the silver screen... This Sheila is so aggressively naive and dumb, when it suits the purposes of the comedy, that it's quite impossible to believe that even her family could stand her, to say nothing of the Mr. Right with whom the film provides her.[2] | ” |
Despite an advertising campaign featuring a poster with the quote "Jeannie Berlin triumphs!" from critic, the film was given a BOMB rating in Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, panned with the sentence, "Dead is right."
Soundtrack
- "Love Me or Love People" - Composed by Michel Legrand
See also
References
External links
- Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York at the Internet Movie Database
- Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York at AllMovie