After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, unemployed dancer Paula McFadden and her ten-year-old daughter Lucy are forced to live with struggling off-Broadway actor Elliot Garfield, who is... Read allAfter being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, unemployed dancer Paula McFadden and her ten-year-old daughter Lucy are forced to live with struggling off-Broadway actor Elliot Garfield, who is subletting their apartment.After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, unemployed dancer Paula McFadden and her ten-year-old daughter Lucy are forced to live with struggling off-Broadway actor Elliot Garfield, who is subletting their apartment.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 10 wins & 10 nominations total
- Dance Instructor
- (as Daniel Levans)
- Mugger
- (as José Machado)
- Director
- Writer
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRichard Dreyfuss won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role as Elliot Garfield. At 30, he was the youngest actor to win this Oscar. This record was broken by Adrien Brody when he won the Best Actor Oscar in 2003 for his lead role in The Pianist (2002) at age 29.
- GoofsPaula makes sandwiches with Best Foods mayonnaise, but in the eastern U.S., the Best Foods brand is called Hellman's.
- Quotes
Elliot Garfield: I just met Lucy.
Paula McFadden: What did you tell her?
Elliot Garfield: That I was moving into the other room. She seemed to take it in stride.
Paula McFadden: You grow up fast in this apartment. The john is right over there. I'll get the rest of her things out in the morning.
Elliot Garfield: Would you like to stop grinding your teeth for two seconds? The noise is driving me crazy.
Paula McFadden: A dripping stranger from Chicago with a wet beard and dirty shoes moves into my daughter's room and you expect smiles?
Elliot Garfield: I think you're dynamite, you know that? I love listening to you talk. I hate living with you but your conversation is first class.
Paula McFadden: This is your room. I do not clean or make beds. You may use the kitchen or the bathroom when I am not in it and wash it up when you are through. You pay for your own food, laundry, linens and phone bills. I would appreciate some quiet between six and nine as that is when Lucy does her homework and I don't care what you drink or smoke. As long as it is not grass in front of my 10 year old daughter. Now, we have everything straight?
Elliot Garfield: No.
Paula McFadden: No?
Elliot Garfield: No. I'm not crazy about the arrangements.
Paula McFadden: You're not.
Elliot Garfield: Definitely not. I am paying the rent, I will make-a-da rules. I like to take showers every morning and I don't like the panties drying on the rod. I like to cook so I will use the kitchen whenever I damn well please and I am very particular about my condiments so, keep your salt and pepper to yourself. I also play the guitar in the middle of the night whenever I cannot sleep and I meditate every morning complete with chanting and burning incense so if you've got to walk around I'd appreciate a little tip-toeing. Also, I sleep in the nude. Au buffo. Winter and summer, rain or snow with the windows open and because I may have to go to the potty or to the fridge in the middle of the night and because I don't want to put on jammies which I do not own in the first place... unless you're looking for a quick thrill or your daughter an advanced education I would keep my door closed. Thems my rules and regulations, how does that grab you?
Paula McFadden: And if I say no?
Elliot Garfield: I've got this lawyer acquaintance downtown.
Paula McFadden: Errr, I accept.
Elliot Garfield: We're movin' right along.
Paula McFadden: I don't like it and I don't think I like you.
Elliot Garfield: Because I'm an actor?
Paula McFadden: Coupled with your personality.
Elliot Garfield: Well, that's probably why we were thrown together. One of God's little jests. Now if you will move your shapely little fanny out of my room I will unpack and dry my beard. Miss McFadden, you forgt to say goodnight.
Paula McFadden: I was working on good-bye.
Elliot Garfield: [muttering under his breath] Unbelievable!
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Making of 'the Goodbye Girl' (1977)
- SoundtracksGoodbye Girl
Written and Performed by David Gates
The repartee between Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss sparkles as the two people who are forced to accept each other as roommates, only because of economic necessity. One is a granola-eating guy from Chicago who meditates and exercises as he tries to make it in the New York theatre scene. The young woman is a single mother who has been abandoned by her common-law husband and tries to return to dancing. The music of Bread evokes the soft rock of the decade. We see Marsha Mason working as a sales girl for a Japanese car company in an era before Japanese cars were commonplace. Before gay rights became part of the social agenda, Richard Dreyfuss takes on the role of Richard II in a way that a 1970's audience felt was more like their home decorator or hairdresser. It all seems a bit dated and predictable; however, with the acting of Mason and Dreyfus and the brilliant script from Neil Simon, it still entertains and resonates with audiences. Herbert Ross directed the movie.
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- Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl
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Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $102,000,000