a_chinn Interesting James Garner vehicle has him playing an amnesiac who wakes up in Central Park and doesn't remember who he is and spends the rest of the film trying to figure that out. He has a series of dreamlike encounters with various women who he thinks he recognizes, but who mostly don't recognize him, including Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, Katharine Ross, and Angela Lansbury. Directed by Delbert Mann ("Marty"), it's stylishly shot and features crisp black and white photogrpahy by Ellsworth Fredericks ("Seven Days in May"), but the film is so utterly pretentious and lacking in a coherent narrative. Garner and the strong cast, which also includes Jack Gilford, Raymond St. Jacques, Wesley Addy, and a pre-Star Trek Nichelle Nichols, are the only thing that keeps this pretentious mess watchable. On the positive side, there is also a nice jazzy score by Kenyon Hopkins ("The Hustler" and "The Fugitive Kind"). In his memoir "The Garner Files," Garner rated this as his worst movie, writing "I'd summarize the plot, but to this day, I have no clue what it is. Worst picture I ever made. What where they thinking? What was I thinking?" Garner may be a bit too hard on this film, because it's well produced from a technical standpoint and the cast is great, even if the script is an utter mess.

rjcini This is probably a spoiler. I watched the film wondering what reality was being depicted. The movie runs nearly two hours covering a span of maybe a dozen years. The man's (James Garner's) real time might have been anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Understanding that the entire film is the man's nightmare is the key to figuring it out. It seems that the movie was not really released in the US, I think it had little popular appeal because the viewer needs to think in order to understand it. I disagree with James Garner's assessment that it was the worst movie he ever made, rather I believe it might be the darkest and artsiest film he ever made. The man's name is Edward Volner, it took two viewings to figure that out. It is important to understand that the film is a recurring nightmare, pay attention to the opening shot and the final few seconds. The unhappy lower class house wife, Angela Landsbury, thrusting a handful of cash on him, Jack Gilford happily feeding him free of charge, the crowd that comes to his aid thwarting an over zealous policeman form a flash protest mob complete with signs; make little sense until the viewer realizes the entire film is a dream.

mgtbltp Oscar-winning film director Delbert Mann ( The Outsider (1961), Marty (1955) - TV, Playhouse 90, Goodyear Playhouse, Omnibus, Producers Showcase, Playwrights '56, Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Schlitz Playhouse, Masterpiece Playhouse) adapts Evan Hunter's novel "Buddwing" and with the cinematography of Ellsworth Fredericks (Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Seven Days in May (1964)) and a great original jazzy score by Kenyon Hopkins (composer for Baby Doll (1956), 12 Angry Men (1957), The Fugitive Kind (1959), The Hustler (1961), to create a stylized "Jazz Noir". Filming in 1965, Mister Buddwing is one of those lost films that are on the cusp between Film Noir and Neo Noir. Sort of a psychological noir rather than a "crime" noir. A melancholy film that plays with time, space and your mind as the various vignettes overlap it's eerie and noirishly suspenseful, but at times darkly comic. It requires multiple viewings to fully comprehend.The film stars James Garner in a role that really displays his acting chops in a performance far removed from his wisecracking Bret Maverick (disregard his contention that this is his worst film, he sells himself way too short). Garner plays one of Film Noir's touchstone tropes the amnesiac. The film opens with an unfocused shot of the sky sliced diced and fragmented by bare branches . As the frame focuses and our view pans we see the branches are trees, we see buildings, and Central Park at the corner of 59th and 5th. In an homage to Robert Montgomery's "The Lady In The Lake" and the beginning of "Dark Passage", the film displays an intriguing POV sequence that begins when hands "rub" the eye of the camera, it also begins a faint jazz heartbeat increasing in tempo and volume as "we" the character sitting on a park bench search frantically through out suit pockets (for identification) combing out a train timetable, a scrap of paper with a name Gloria and phone number and some pills. A ring on his finger has an inscription "from G.V.". The POV sequence continues until we stumble into a mirror at the Plaza Hotel when Garner is revealed. He has neither money or ID but he does remember the name of a woman, a woman named Grace.Using a lobby phone and giving a fictitious room number he calls Gloria (Angela Lansbury) to try and discover his identity. Gloria a divorced floozy with a heart of gold, takes pity on him and gives him money so that he can find himself. So begins his jazz odyssey through the streets of New York. In his quest for Grace, Garner meets three women, Janet (Katherine Ross), Fiddle (Susanne Pleshette), and The Blonde (Jean Simmons), each of the women he at first mistakens for Grace. So at first we see Garner interact with each woman in their true identities and at some point they become a vivid flashback to his relationship with Grace at different stages of his life with Grace, the starry eyed young love stage, the struggle with real life, and the consequences of wrong decisions made. All this makes the viewer a little disoriented, a little lost, exactly how James Garner's character feels throughout the movie.The film features the neighborhoods of midtown Manhattan, Times Square, and the Queensboro Bridge as its backdrop creating a cinematic memory link to classic Noirs, The Sweet Smell Of Success, Kiss Of Death, Killers Kiss, The Unsuspected. Wonderful melancholy jazz compositions accompany Garner as he wanders the streets.All the three actresses are outstanding in their dual rolls.Watch for Joe Mantell's cab driver character's hilarious monologue then pay attention for its echo with the 2nd cab driver Billy Halop, the original leader of the Dead End Kids. Watch for Nichelle Nichols appearance as a dice player, and Jack Gilford's interaction with Garner in a lunch counter.Available on DVD from the Warner Brothers Archive Collection. 9/10

marlun101 i read a novel in my late teens which i am pretty sure is this moviedoes anyone know the exact title and authors name?and more importantly where i might get a copy?the book left such an impression that i stored away the name buddwing fast in my memory (the expression 'hard wired' hadn't been invented then)at that time i was fairly well read belying my age but it some how touched my imagination deeply and left a lasting impression anyone help?marlunps i found this sight courtesy of google