Something for Everyone

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Something for Everyone
original theatrical poster
Directed by	Harold Prince
Screenplay by	Hugh Wheeler
Based on	The Cook by Harry Kressing
Produced by	John Flaxman
Starring	Angela Lansbury Michael York Anthony Higgins Jane Carr Heidelinde Weis
Cinematography	Walter Lassally
Music by	John Kander
Production company	Cinema Center Films
Distributed by	National General Pictures
Release dates	July 22, 1970 (1970-07-22) (U.S.) May 27, 1971 (1971-05-27) (UK)
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Something for Everyone is a 1970 American black comedy film starring Angela Lansbury, Michael York, Anthony Higgins, and Jane Carr.

The film was based on the novel The Cook by Harry Kressing, with a screenplay by Hugh Wheeler. The plot to the film is quite different from the novel. Directed by Harold Prince (in his feature directorial debut) for Cinema Center Films, the film began shooting on 30 June 1969^[1] and was originally released by National General Pictures in July 1970. Lansbury was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

In the UK, the film was retitled Black Flowers for the Bride (subtitle: A Comedy of Evil) and released in May 1971.^[2] In 1986 and 1990, a VHS^[3] of the film was issued followed by DVD and Blu-ray^[4] on 6 December 2016.

Plot[]

A handsome young stranger, Konrad Ludwig, is fascinated by a castle near the Bavarian village of Ornstein. He dreams of owning and living in the castle, which is the property of widowed countess Herthe von Ornstein, who lives in the dower house, unable financially to open and live in her castle.

As Konrad schemes to become one of the countess's servants, he romances a beautiful and wealthy young lady, Anneliese Pleschke, daughter of a nouveau riche couple. The idea is to use their wealth to reopen castle Ornstein. After an afternoon of chauffeuring the Pleschkes around the countryside, he gets Rudolph, the countess's footman, drunk at the local Biergarten and then run over by a train. Konrad then takes Rudolph's place in the countess's household.

Helmuth von Ornstein, a shy and attractive young man, and Lotte von Ornstein, a plain and annoying girl, are the countess's children. Helmuth is gay and begins to be romanced by Konrad when the stern majordomo, Klaus, tries to put a stop to it by firing Konrad. When the mayor of Ornstein is militantly disposed to root out all Nazis remaining in Germany, Konrad reports Klaus to the mayor after discovering he is harboring a scandalous secret: his father was a Nazi colonel, whose memory is fondly enshrined in Klaus's bedroom. Klaus is summarily and quietly put out of the countess's employ, leaving Konrad free to be Helmuth's lover while taking Klaus's place as majordomo.

Konrad now plays up to the countess, encouraging her to throw a daring, expensive party at the dower house in order to initiate a pseudo romance between Helmuth and Anneliese Pleschke. Konrad, the lover of both Helmuth and Anneliese, induces them to become engaged to each other, while secretly assuring both of them that he would always be there at the castle. When the marriage contract is signed, the Pleschke money flows in to reopen and refurbish the castle Ornstein.

The marriage takes place, but the honeymoon is a disaster with both the bride and groom wanting an annulment. The demise of the grand design is hastened along by Anneliese, who walks in on Konrad and Helmuth kissing. Anneliese, shocked and speechless, is ushered to the limousine in which she and her parents are to be driven to the castle by Konrad. When Anneliese hysterically opens up to her parents, Konrad turns the limousine down a steep embankment, managing to jump out before it crashes, killing Anneliese and her parents. Konrad escapes with a broken leg.

Konrad goes through a pleasant convalescence with the countess herself becoming his new romantic interest. After an amorous night in the countess's boudoir, they plan to be married. Helmuth is devastated. He reluctantly allows the marriage to go on rather than have Konrad be forced to leave by a scorned countess.

Helmuth's sister Lotte has other plans. On the eve of the wedding she informs Konrad that she knows all about his murderous and scandalous exploits. Ingeniously she avoids being Konrad's next victim and has him marry her instead of her mother.

Cast[]

• Angela Lansbury as countess Herthe von Ornstein
• Michael York as Konrad Ludwig
• Anthony Higgins as Helmuth von Ornstein (billed as Anthony Corlan)
• Jane Carr as Lotte von Ornstein
• Heidelinde Weis as Anneliese Pleschke
• Wolfried Lier as Klaus
• Despo Diamantidou as Bobby (billed as Despo)
• John Gill as Herr Pleschke
• Eva Maria Meineke as Frau Pleschke
• Klaus Havenstein as Rudolph
• Walter Janssen as Father Georg

Reception[]

John Simon wrote of Something for Everyone- 'The movie is not alone slapped together ineptly, not only pretentious, unfunny, and obvious, it is also a prime example of disguised homosexuality at its distorting worst'.^[5]

See also[]

• List of American films of 1970

References[]

External links[]

• Something for Everyone at IMDb
• Vincent Canby review, The New York Times (July 23, 1970)