Two for the Road 1967

     This story is told in flashbacks.  Joanna is touring Europe with a girl’s choir and some of the girls come down with chicken pox.  Joanna has already had chicken pox and she goes on a hiking trip with Mark Wallace.  He is a struggling architect when they first meet.  Later, they get married and they go through life together with courtship, infidelity and parenthood.

       This film seems dated??  The couple doesn't value their relationship enough to skip meaningless affairs??  They need to add spark to their own marriage and treat each other like they treat people they have just met and are attracted to.  There isn't any struggle together like in the beginning when they were poor.  Having everything doesn't always make a more rosy picture??  3* (This movie is OK)

111 min, Comedy directed by Stanley Donen with Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, Eleanor Bron, William Daniels, Gabrielle Middleton, Claude Dauphin, Nadia Gray, George Descrieres, Jacqueline Bisset, Judy Cornwell.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 81% critic 84% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 301 reviews, TCM 3.5* out of 5* user rating.

Special Note:  Filmed in Var, Oise, Alpes-Maritimes, Drome, Cap Valery, Paris, France.  Henry Mancini said the scoring of this film was the most difficult job in his career.  He always thought of this music as his favorite.  Originally, Director Stanley Donen wanted Paul Newman and Michael Caine for this film.  Hepburn was his first and only choice for Joanna.  She left the film for a time when she was pregnant.  She returned after she suffered a miscarriage.  Hepburn was afraid of water, in a scene with Mark throwing Joanna into water, divers were standing just outside camera range.  Stanley Donen owned the Mercedes 230 driven in the present day scenes.  Hepburn almost received an Oscar for this film.  She was up against her film Wait Until Dark of 1967.