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Being There (1979)
8.0
Chance, a simple gardener, has never left the estate until his employer dies. His simple TV-informed utterances are mistaken for profundity. Director:Hal Ashby |
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130 min - 
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Won Oscar.
Another
15 wins
&
10 nominations
See more awards »
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Peter Sellers | ... | ||
| Shirley MacLaine | ... | ||
| Melvyn Douglas | ... |
Benjamin Rand
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| Jack Warden | ... |
President 'Bobby'
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Richard Dysart | ... | |
| Richard Basehart | ... |
Vladimir Skrapinov
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Ruth Attaway | ... |
Louise
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| David Clennon | ... |
Thomas Franklin
(as Dave Clennon)
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Fran Brill | ... |
Sally Hayes
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| Denise DuBarry | ... |
Johanna Franklin
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Oteil Burbridge | ... |
Lolo
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Ravenell Keller III | ... |
Abbaz
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Brian Corrigan | ... |
Policeman by White House
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Alfredine P. Brown | ... |
Old Woman asked for lunch
(as Alfredine Brown)
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Don Jacob | ... |
David
(as Donald Jacob)
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Storyline
A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television. After a run in with a limousine, he ends up a guest of a woman (Eve) and her husband Ben, an influential but sickly businessman. Now called Chauncey Gardner, Chance becomes friend and confidante to Ben, and an unlikely political insider. Written by Scott Renshaw <as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Plot Summary | Plot SynopsisTaglines:
Getting there is half the fun; being there is all of it! See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
(USA) See more »Also Known As:
Chance See more »Box Office
Gross:
$30,177,511 (USA)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information on
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Chance the Gardener: Good morning, Louise.
Louise: He's dead, Chance. The old man's dead.
Chance the Gardener: I see.
[Chance goes back to watching TV]
See more »
Written by Richard Strauss (uncredited)
Arranged and Performed by Eumir Deodato
Courtesy of CTI Records See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Despite Peter Sellers' repeated requests, the producers would not remove the out-takes from the version they submitted to Cannes. See more »Goofs
Factual errors: When Chance is watching himself on the large screen in the store window display, he uses his home remote control to try and change the channels on that set, but it controls another TV instead. However the remote is of the earlier "ultrasonic" technology, and these sound waves DO NOT pass through glass at the required strength needed to work. Those of us born before the movie can recall that jiggling your keys would make a remote controlled TV unwittingly change channels, or turn off and on. At about this same time the now common "infrared" RCs were coming out, albeit at outrageous prices. These signals CAN in effect pass through glass, despite some losses due to reflection. For the scene to be technically correct they should have used an IR remote, which would not make those "ringing bell" metallic sounds. See more »Quotes
[first lines]Chance the Gardener: Good morning, Louise.
Louise: He's dead, Chance. The old man's dead.
Chance the Gardener: I see.
[Chance goes back to watching TV]
See more »
Crazy Credits
Under the end titles of the theatrical release are outtakes of Peter Sellers as Chance recounting the encounter with Abbaz. Sellers breaks character and laughs during each attempt. The lines do not appear in the movie. Certain versions of the film have credits with white text on a black background without the outtakes. See more »Soundtracks
"Also Sprach Zarathustra"Written by Richard Strauss (uncredited)
Arranged and Performed by Eumir Deodato
Courtesy of CTI Records See more »
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