Six Weeks

Six Weeks
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tony Bill
Screenplay by	David Seltzer
Based on	Six Weeks by Fred Mustard Stewart
Produced by	Peter Guber Jon Peters
Starring	Dudley Moore Mary Tyler Moore Katherine Healy
Music by	Dudley Moore
Production company	PolyGram Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	December 17, 1982 (1982-12-17)
Running time	107 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$6.7 million

Six Weeks is a 1982 American drama film directed by Tony Bill and based on the novel of the same name by Fred Mustard Stewart. It stars Dudley Moore and Mary Tyler Moore.

Co-star Katherine Healy was a professional figure skater and a ballerina, both talents demonstrated by her character in the film. Golden Globe-nominated actress and ballet dancer Anne Ditchburn choreographed Healy's dance scenes, as well as appearing on camera as an assistant choreographer.

Plot

Charlotte Dreyfus, a wealthy cosmetic tycoon, and her 12-year-old daughter Nicole, who's dying from leukemia, strike up a sentimental friendship with a California politician, Patrick Dalton. Nicole has decided to abandon all further treatments for the disease because of the treatments' side effects.

Since the girl has only six weeks or less to live, the trio fly to New York City, where the daughter skates the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, assumes the lead role of Marie in The Nutcracker with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, and sightsees most of the city. During her subway ride returning from her triumphant performance in the Tchaikovsky ballet, she suddenly collapses and dies in her mother's arms, having achieved her lifelong dream.

Charlotte gets on a plane to Paris alone. Patrick writes to her, imploring her to keep in touch. There is no reply.

Cast

• Dudley Moore as Patrick Dalton
• Mary Tyler Moore as Charlotte Dreyfus
• Katherine Healy as Nicole Dreyfus
• Shannon Wilcox as Peg Dalton
• Bill Calvert as Jeff Dalton
• Joe Regalbuto as Bob Crowther
• John Harkins as Arnold Stillman

Release

Six Weeks was released on December 17, 1982, in the United States, where it opened in tenth place and grossed $6.7 million.

Reception

The film was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, one for Dudley Moore for Best Score and one for Katherine Healy as Best New Female Star of the Year. However, Mary Tyler Moore's performance earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress. Roger Ebert later named it one of the worst films of 1982. Gene Siskel however, liked the film, praising the performances from the leads and its go-for-broke sentiment. Ebert later related a story in which Siskel admitted that his review was influenced by his wife's pregnancy.

Further reading

• Maslin, Janet (December 17, 1982), "Six Weeks", New York Times
• Tucker, Ken (December 18, 1982), "A Film That Suffocates In Its Own Lack Of Emotion", Philadelphia Inquirer
• Porter, Bob (January 8, 1983), "Mary Tyler Moore Was After Comedy But Got 'Six Weeks'", Hartford Courant

External links

• Six Weeks at IMDb
• Six Weeks at Rotten Tomatoes