A fantastic film that won five Oscars–including Elizabeth Taylor as Best Actress and Sandy Dennis as Best Supporting Actress–any synopsis of mine will be wanting, so I’ll just give it the most cursory of efforts. There is some good Massachusetts stuff, though, as the movie was filmed at Smith College in Northampton and surrounding towns. Anyhow…
A married professor (Richard Burton) and his wife (Taylor) have issues. After a faculty party, a new colleague (George Segal) and his wife (Dennis) swing by for a nightcap and, well, things get weird. Everyone gets quite drunk, they traipse around Northampton for a bit, dance, drink some more, and generally have an awful time.
On to the visuals…
Richard Burton and George Segal chatting on the lawn. These scenes were filmed near Smith College in Northampton.The four head out for a drive around Northampton. I’m not sure exactly where this was filmed. I think they are driving west out of Northampton on route 9.A closeup of the last shot also shows the old “Mass Pike” sign low on the post. These signs were often posted many miles away from the turnpike.Continuing on the drive, you can see that they are on route 9 approaching a left-hand curve. The inspection sticker is also authentic to the time period.The couple go dancing in a scene filmed at the Red Basket in Southampton. The bar is sprinkled with authentic Massachusetts items, including the Narragansett poster shown here.The exterior of the Red Basket. Apparently the producers couldn’t get permission to show “Budweiser” on the lighted sign attached to the restaurant.The license plate on the car appears to be a replica. The “Mass 65” at the top and the colors are correct, but the block font is not.
Mass Flicks 
Leave a comment