White Palace (1990)

Director:

Luis Mandoki

Writers (WGA):

Glenn Savan (novel)
Ted Tally (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 October 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The story of a younger man, and a bolder woman.

Plot:

Max Baron (James Spader) is a 27-year-old high flying advertising executive still recovering from the death of his wife...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Waitress | Lust | Vacuum Cleaner | Upper Middle Class

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win

Cast

Susan Sarandon	...	Nora Baker
James Spader	...	Max Baron
Jason Alexander	...	Neil
Kathy Bates	...	Rosemary
Eileen Brennan	...	Judy
Steven Hill	...	Sol Horowitz
Rachel Chagall	...	Rachel (as Rachel Levin)
Corey Parker	...	Larry Klugman
Renée Taylor	...	Edith Baron (as Renee Taylor)
Jonathan Penner	...	Marv Miller
Barbara Howard	...	Sherri Klugman
Kim Myers	...	Heidi Solomon (as Kim Meyers)
Hildy Brooks	...	Ella Horowitz
Mitzi McCall	...	Sophie Rosen
K.C. Carr	...	Stripper (as K. C. Carr)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:18A (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #30582)

Filming Locations:

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial - 11 N. 4th Street, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Martin Scorsese was offered the chance to direct, but declined.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Max arrives at Nora's empty house, the front left headlight of his car is broken. In the next scene, he is driving through a car wash and the headlight is intact.

Quotes:

Max: All I know is that when I'm not with you I'm a total wreck.
Nora: And when you are with me?
Max: I'm a different kind of total wreck.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Road to Rhode Island (#2.13)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Younger Men

Toe Curling Passion!

White palace has a great sexual dynamic, clearly Susan Sarandon's character (Nora Baker) is a sexually charged self confident woman who is at least 10 years or so older than James Spader's character (Max Baron). This movie shows how deep attraction and passion can change people's lives (perhaps for the better) and overcome class/personality and age differences.

The first and perhaps most noticeable aspect is one of the hottest and more believable seduction scenes in a movie, where Nora shows a raw animal passion for Max rarely shown in movies (and when it is is shown in an unfavorable light, e.g. Single White Female). Susan Sarandon pulls off this challenging scene with great passion AND dignity.

The May/December romance with the older lady is shown in a healthy light (not like say The Graduate).

But more important than the age dynamic, is the deep attraction between Nora and Max, which goes strongly across traditional cultural differences. Max is a compulsively organized widower, neat and decidedly upper-middle/upper class. Nora is more impulsive, living a less ordered existence and is lower/lower middle class. Max has conditional love for Nora, trying to change her (unintentionally acting judgemental?) by trying to help her out (e.g. buying her cleaning supplies as a "gift"). Nora teaches Max about life, and passion. This movie has a much more interesting love story than say "Pretty Woman".