Death Becomes Her

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Death Becomes Her
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDean Cundey
Edited byArthur Schmidt
Music byAlan Silvestri
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures[1]
Release date
  • July 31, 1992 (1992-07-31)
Running time
104 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$55 million[2]
Box office$149 million[2]

Death Becomes Her is a 1992 American satirical black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis. Written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan, it stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as rivals who fight for the affections of the same man (Bruce Willis) and drink a magic potion that promises eternal youth.

Filming began in December 1991 and concluded in April 1992, and was shot entirely in Los Angeles. Released on July 31, 1992, to mixed reviews from critics, Death Becomes Her was a commercial success, grossing $149 million worldwide on a $55 million budget. The film was a pioneer in the use of computer-generated effects; it went on to win the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.[3]

Plot

In 1978, narcissistic and fading actress Madeline Ashton performs in a Broadway musical. She invites long-time frenemy, the meek aspiring writer Helen Sharp, backstage along with Helen's fiancé, famed plastic surgeon Ernest Menville. Smitten with Madeline, Ernest breaks off his engagement with Helen to marry Madeline. Seven years later, a lonely, obese, depressed, and destitute Helen is committed to a psychiatric hospital where she obsesses over taking revenge against Madeline.

Another seven years later, Madeline and Ernest live an opulent but miserable life in Beverly Hills: Madeline is depressed about her age and withering beauty and Ernest, now an alcoholic, has been reduced to working as a reconstructive mortician. After receiving an invitation to a party celebrating Helen's new book Madeline rushes for beauty treatments. Desperate to look younger, Madeline is given the business card of Lisle Von Rhuman, a mysterious, wealthy socialite who specializes in rejuvenation.

Madeline and Ernest attend Helen's party and discover that Helen is now slim, glamorous and youthful despite being fifty years old. Jealous of Helen's appearance, Madeline observes as Helen tells Ernest that she blames her for his career decline. Madeline later visits her young lover but discovers he is with a woman of his own age. Despondent, Madeline drives to Lisle's mansion. The youthful Lisle claims to be seventy-one years old and offers Madeline a potion that promises eternal life and youth. Madeline drinks the potion which reverses her age, restoring her beauty, but Lisle warns her that she must disappear from the public eye after ten years, to avoid suspicion of her immortality, and treat her body well.

Meanwhile, Helen seduces Ernest and convinces him to kill Madeline. When Madeline returns home, she belittles Ernest who snaps and pushes her down the stairs, breaking her neck. However, she inexplicably survives and Ernest takes Madeline to the hospital where the doctor's analysis shows she is clinically dead. Ernest considers her reanimation to be a miracle and uses his skills to repair her body at home. Helen arrives and, after overhearing her and Ernest discussing their murder plot, Madeline shoots Helen with a shotgun. The blast leaves a large hole in Helen's torso but she remains alive, revealing that she also has taken Lisle's potion. Helen and Madeline fight before apologizing and reconciling. Depressed at the situation, Ernest prepares to leave, but Helen and Madeline convince him to first repair their bodies. Realizing they will need regular maintenance, they scheme to have Ernest drink the potion to ensure his permanent availability.

The pair knock out Ernest and bring him to Lisle, who offers him the potion in exchange for his surgical skills. Although tempted, Ernest rejects immortality, concerned about outliving anyone he cares about—forcing him to spend eternity with Madeline and Helen—and the physical consequences Madeline and Helen have already suffered. He flees with the potion but becomes trapped on the roof. Helen and Madeline implore Ernest to drink the potion to survive an impending fall but, realizing they only want him for selfish reasons, he throws the potion away. Ernest survives the fall after landing in Lisle's pool and escapes. Lisle banishes Madeline and Helen from her group, leaving the pair in despair at the realization that they will have to depend on each other for companionship and maintenance, forever.

Thirty-seven years later, Madeline and Helen attend Ernest's funeral, where he is eulogized as having achieved true immortality by living an adventurous and fulfilling life and having many children and grandchildren. Now appearing grotesque, with cracked, peeling paint and putty covering most of their grey and damaged flesh, Helen and Madeline mock the eulogy and leave. Outside, Helen trips on a can of spray paint and falls down a flight of steps, dragging Madeline with her. Their bodies break apart, and Helen sardonically asks Madeline if she remembers where they parked their car.

Cast

Production

Casting

Before Bruce Willis was cast, Kevin Kline was the first choice to play Dr. Ernest Menville; however, he fell out of the project due to a pay dispute with the studio. Jeff Bridges and Nick Nolte were both considered before Willis was eventually cast.[1]

Visual effects

Death Becomes Her was a technologically complex film to make, and represented a major advancement in the use of computer-generated effects, under the pioneering direction of Industrial Light and Magic.[4][5] It was the first film where computer-generated skin texture was used, in the shot where Madeline resets her neck after her head is smashed with a shovel by Helen.[4] Creating the sequences where Madeline's head is dislocated and facing the wrong way around involved a combination of blue screen technology, an animatronic model created by Amalgamated Dynamics, and prosthetic make-up effects on Meryl Streep to create the look of a twisted neck.[6][7]

The digital advancements pioneered on Death Becomes Her would be incorporated into Industrial Light and Magic's next project, Jurassic Park, released by Universal only a year later. The two films also shared cinematographer Dean Cundey and production designer Rick Carter.[8]

The production had a fair number of mishaps. In the scene where Helen and Madeline are battling with shovels, Streep accidentally cut Goldie Hawn's face, leaving a faint scar. Streep admitted that she disliked working on a project that focused so heavily on special effects and vowed never to work on another film with heavy special effects again, saying:

My first, my last, my only. I think it's tedious. Whatever concentration you can apply to that kind of comedy is just shredded. You stand there like a piece of machinery—they should get machinery to do it. I loved how it turned out. But it's not fun to act to a lampstand. "Pretend this is Goldie, right here! Uh, no, I'm sorry, Bob, she went off the mark by five centimeters, and now her head won't match her neck!" It was like being at the dentist.[9]

Filming

Principal photography for Death Becomes Her began on December 9, 1991, and wrapped up on April 7, 1992.[1] The film was shot entirely in Los Angeles and featured several locations frequently used in film and television, including the Greystone Mansion (Ernest's funeral home) and the Ebell of Los Angeles (Helen's book party).[10] The exterior of Madeline and Ernest's mansion is located at 1125 Oak Grove Avenue in San Marino, but the interior was a set built on a soundstage.[1] The ending scene where Helen and Madeline tumble down a set of stairs outside a chapel was filmed at Mount St. Mary's University in Brentwood.[11][12]

Post-production

Multiple scenes that were filmed were omitted from the film's final cut.[13][1] Director Robert Zemeckis decided on cutting the scenes to accelerate the film's pacing and to eliminate extraneous jokes. Most dramatically, the original ending was entirely redone after test audiences reacted negatively to it.[14] That ending featured Ernest, after he has fled Lisle's party, meeting a bartender (Tracey Ullman) who helps him fake his death to evade Madeline and Helen. The two women encounter Ernest and the bartender 27 years later, living happily as a retired couple while Madeline and Helen give no sign that they are enjoying their eternal existence.[13] Zemeckis thought the ending was too happy and opted for the darker ending featured in the final cut.[13] Ullman was one of five actors with speaking roles in the film to be eliminated.[13] Other scenes that were eliminated included one in which Madeline talks to her agent (Jonathan Silverman) and one in which Ernest removes a frozen Madeline from the kitchen freezer he has stored her in.[13] Some of the scenes can be viewed in the original theatrical trailer.[15]

Release

Box office

Death Becomes Her was a box office success and opened at number one at the box office with $12,110,355, the same weekend as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bebe's Kids.[16][17] It went on to earn over $58.4 million domestically and $90.6 million internationally.[2] In Taipei, Death Becomes Her set a box-office record by earning $269,310 in two days, marking it the "biggest opening ever" for overseas distributor United International Pictures.[1]

Home media

The film's release on DVD was called "appallingly bad" due to the quality of its transfer, which has been said to suffer from excessive grain, blur, and muted colors.[18] A BBC review described it as "horrible" and "sloppy".[19] Many online DVD forum users speculated that the DVD transfer was taken from the Laserdisc edition of the film and called for a restorative release. Death Becomes Her was initially distributed in an open matte fullscreen (1.33:1) edition in the U.S. while a Widescreen version with its theatrical aspect ratio (1.85:1) was released worldwide. The latter version has also been mistakenly labelled anamorphic.[20] It was later released in North America on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory in 2016.[21][22]

Reception

Death Becomes Her received mixed reviews from critics.[23][24] Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 55% based on reviews from 55 critics with the consensus: "Hawn and Streep are as fabulous as Death Becomes Her's innovative special effects; Zemeckis' satire, on the other hand, is as hollow as the world it mocks."[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[26] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[27]

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave Death Becomes Her a 'thumbs down', commenting that while the film had great special effects, it lacked any real substance or character depth.[28]

Accolades

Award Category Recipient Result
Academy Awards[29] Best Visual Effects Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Douglas Smythe, and Tom Woodruff Jr. Won
BAFTA Award[29] Best Visual Effects Michael Lantieri, Ken Ralston, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Doug Chiang, and Douglas Smythe Won
Golden Globe Award[30] Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Meryl Streep Nominated

Legacy

Death Becomes Her has acquired a significant cult following, especially in the LGBT community.[31][32] In RogerEbert.com, Jessica Ritchey wrote, "Time has been kind to 'Death Becomes Her', and the mordantly funny eye it turns to Hollywood pretense and our cultural inability to forgive women for aging. With the virtual extinction of Hollywood's interest in women over thirty, it's a real pleasure to see a film centered on and held down by two actresses as strong as Streep and Hawn."[33] An article in Vanity Fair titled "The Gloriously Queer Afterlife of 'Death Becomes Her'" called the film a "gay cult classic" and "a touchstone of the queer community".[34] The movie is screened in bars during Pride Month, while the characters of Madeline and Helen are favorites of drag performers. In this vein, the movie inspired a Death Becomes Her-themed runway show on season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race.[31] The winner of season 5, Jinkx Monsoon, has cited the movie as an inspiration to become a drag queen. Jinkx has participated in Death Becomes Her-themed photoshoots,[35] and in 2018 they played Madeline in a drag stage show parody called "Drag Becomes Her" alongside season 6 contestant BenDeLaCreme.[36]

Tom Campbell, an executive producer of RuPaul's Drag Race, reflected on the appeal of the movie to gay audiences:

They're fighting for beauty. They're against the system. They're also villains, but we understand their complexity. We root for the undead divas because they're trying to win a game that's rigged against them, and—to borrow an apocryphal quote from Ginger Rogers—they sort of have to do it 'backwards and in high heels.'[34]

Musical

In December 2017, a Broadway musical adaptation of Death Becomes Her was reported to be in development, with Kristin Chenoweth tapped to star.[37] The book is written by Marco Pennette and has an original score by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey.[38] In April 2023, an industry reading of the musical was held, featuring Megan Hilty as Madeline, Jennifer Simard as Helen, and Christopher Sieber as Ernest.[38]

It is produced by Broadway In Chicago and Universal Theatrical Group, and will be directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli. The musical is scheduled to run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from April 30 to June 2, 2024. Hilty, Simard, and Sieber are set to reprise their roles.[39]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Death Becomes Her (1992)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Death Becomes Her (1992)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  3. ^ Weinraub, Bernard (March 30, 1993). "Oscar's night started at noon in Hollywood". The New York Times. p. 9. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b "Death Becomes Her (Universal Pictures)". ilm.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  5. ^ Blaise, Judd (August 21, 1992). "Special Effects, Acting Bring 'Death' to Life". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  6. ^ Death Becomes Her (1992) Vintage Bonus Clip: Meryl's Mom & Special Effects (HD). June 23, 2016. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2017 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (July 25, 2015). DEATH BECOMES HER Recreating Meryl BTS Special Edition. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2017 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ Taylor, Drew (June 11, 2013). "5 Versions of 'Jurassic Park' You Never Saw". indiewire.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  9. ^ "Depth Becomes Her". Entertainment Weekly. March 24, 2000. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2007.
  10. ^ "The Ebell of Los Angeles - Filming". ebellla.org. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  11. ^ "Movies Filmed at Mount Saint Mary's University - Chalon Campus". moviemaps.org. Archived from the original on August 4, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  12. ^ "Death Becomes Her". movie-locations.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  13. ^ a b c d e Fox, David J. (August 9, 1992). "A look inside Hollywood and the movies.: THE VANISHING: 'Death Becomes Her' and the Lost Ullman Ending". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  14. ^ O'Brien, Jon (July 31, 2017). "Death Become Her 25th Anniversary: 12 things you may not know about the classic comedy". Metro. UK. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
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  16. ^ Welkos, Robert W. (May 10, 1994). "Weekend Box Office 'Honors' Tops in a Lackluster Bunch". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
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  18. ^ "Death Becomes Her DVD review". michaeldvd.com.au. Archived from the original on May 18, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
  19. ^ Haflidason, Almar (October 12, 2000). "Films - review - Death Becomes Her DVD". BBC. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
  20. ^ "A stroll down the DVD memory lane". GuidoHenkel.com. July 8, 2012. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
  21. ^ "Undead Comedy 'Death Becomes Her' Getting Blu-ray Release!". Bloody Disgusting. January 7, 2016. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  22. ^ Salmons, Tim (April 20, 2016). "Death Becomes Her: Collector's Edition". The Digital Bits. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  23. ^ McCarthy, Todd (July 27, 1992). "Death Becomes Her". Variety. Archived from the original on January 2, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  24. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (August 14, 1992). "Skin-Deep Satire". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  25. ^ "Death Becomes Her (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  26. ^ "Death Becomes Her Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  27. ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  28. ^ "Death Becomes Her review". Siskel & Ebert. Season 6. Episode 44. August 8, 1992. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  29. ^ a b "Death Becomes Her Awards". Industrial Light & Magic. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  30. ^ "Death Becomes Her". goldenglobes.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  31. ^ a b Pugachevsky, Julia (June 21, 2013). ""Death Becomes Her" Is Ruling Our Lives: NewNowNext Style". newnownext.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  32. ^ Jackson, Matthew (March 21, 2023). "Remembering the unabashed zaniness of 'Death Becomes Her,' now streaming on Peacock". SYFY Official Site. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  33. ^ Ritchey, Jessica (May 3, 2016). "Chuck Jones Meets "Sunset Boulevard": On Robert Zemeckis' "Death Becomes Her"". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  34. ^ a b Puchko, Kristy (August 3, 2017). "The Glorious Queer Afterlife of 'Death Becomes Her'". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  35. ^ Rudolph, Christopher (May 17, 2013). "Jinkx Monsoon and Ivy Winters Star in Ricky Middlesworth's 'Death Becomes Her' (PHOTOS)". HuffPost. Archived from the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  36. ^ Rotter, Joshua (March 10, 2020). "Can drag queens beat death? Find out in 'Drag Becomes Her'". 48 hills. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  37. ^ Wong, Curtis M. (December 13, 2017). "'Death Becomes Her' is About to Become a Broadway Musical". HuffPost. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  38. ^ a b "Death Becomes Her Musical in Development". Broadway.com. April 12, 2023. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  39. ^ Evans, Greg (September 5, 2023). "Death Becomes Her Stage Musical Sets Pre-Broadway Chicago Run For Spring 2024". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

External links