Musings: A Touch of Class (1973)

A Touch of Class, UK, (1973)
Cast: Glenda Jackson, George Segal
Directed by Melvin Frank

Married insurance executive Steve Blackburn (George Segal) finds himself always in the same room with divorced fashion designer Vicki Allessio (Glenda Jackson). There was no love at first sight moment but eventually, the two got themselves tangled in an affair, when Blackburn suggests a romantic rendezvous in Spain, where nothing goes as planned. But that's only the beginning...

A Touch of Class certainly has a zesty and literate script and thankfully, the comic portrayals of Jackson and Segal wonderfully executes this. (Jackson got the Oscar Best Actress for this role). At first, it's hard to buy that their characters might actually fall in love since they're seemingly polar opposites. Eventually, though, we find out that there's a fun side in Allesio's 'cold and frosty' exterior and a bit of sympathetic/caring persona in Blackburn's cheating nature, which somehow balances their relationship. But what makes this film even more interesting to discuss is the  less pretentious and more realistic ending, about the cheating husband-slash-the other woman relationship, on the big screen, and at that time. (SPOILER ALERT: e.g. Vicki: I'm beginning to sound like a wife.)

Regardless of the time or place, there has got to be a point in 'the other woman's' life where she has to tell herself 'I better get myself my own man', and A Touch of Class clearly illustrates that.

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Notes:
Glenda Jackson's style and particularly, her hair, reminds me of Vogue's Anna Wintour.


Quotable quotes:

Vicki: My one chance to get raped, and you can't get your bloody trousers off.