Mister Buddwing (1966)

Mister Buddwing is the name James Garner's character gives himself when he wakes up on a New York City parkbench and starts asking people who he is and what he is doing there because he can't remember anything that has happened in his life, including his own name. The one name that seems stuck in his head is Grace, and as you watch the movie you start to realize that this is the woman in his life he is desperate to find. He runs across three women who remind him of the early, middle, and late stages of his relationship with her. Katherine Ross plays early Grace, Suzanne Pleshette plays middle Grace, and Jean Simmons plays late stage Grace. Each women play versions of their real selves as well when Buddwing first meets them. The movie goes back and forth between the real versions and the Grace versions in the middle of the scenes, which can be quite confusing. I had to press the rewind button more than a few times to get a handle on which is which, because the director, Delbert Mann, doesn't make it easy for you. By the end of the movie you figure out what happened to the real Grace and why Buddwing has his amnesia, but it doesn't really lead to a satisfying experience for this viewer. It's kind of an interesting psychological study of what a traumatic experience can do to a person, but not necessarily all that entertaining.

Saw this on TCM.The movie looks cool,sounds cool and is way ahead of it's time. The female roles are all outstanding.Not a lot of love for this one out there but I don't know what more people want.

For a movie with an interesting premise and a stable of talented actors, this movie really left a lot to be desired. A man who wakes up in Central Park with amnesia and sets out on an odyssey of discovery, should have been riveting. With a tighter script and a better director, this could have had Oscar buzz.James Garner plays the amnesiac who encounters several women through the day whom he imagines are a woman he once loved named Grace. Katherine Ross, Suzanne Pleshette (always a personal favorite) and Jean Simmons play the ladies. Along the way he also encounters a helpful Angela Landsbury and Jack Gilford. You could also count the City of New York itself as a character as Director Delbert Mann beats you over the head with the scenery.The story is compelling, but the characters are not believable. This takes place in the 60s so maybe attitudes were different, but all these women invite this stranger into their homes/lives with almost no thought. Even when he becomes agitated about not remembering things, they don't kick him out. Each scene seems to be its own entity and doesn't really tie to the next one. There is a sub-plot about an escaped convict who may or not be Mr. Buddwing, but this plot is dropped quickly and never developed. It would have been interesting to keep that going. Then, just when it appears the movie is about to pick up some steam, it just...stops. We never get a denouement of any kind. Perhaps that was the director's intent, but after having to slog through the slowly paced film, we should have gotten something. A saving "grace" if you will.Not to say the movie isn't good. The actors/actresses do a fine job. It was odd seeing Garner play against his hero type for once. Pleshette is lovely in her role which is the best written of the three main females as well as the most touching. Jean Simmons was fun as a spoiled rich girl out for a good time. Character actor Gilford had some nice chemistry with Garner but his scenes are brief and then he is gone.I wanted to like this film, but it felt like a college drama class project with all the artsy shots of New York rather than a taut drama about a man trying to find himself.

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.