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Storyline

A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.

Released

1979-12-19
Revenue

$30,177,511
Budget

n/a
Runtime

2hr 10m
Genre

Comedy, Drama
Status

Released
Language

English
7.9
Production

United Artists, Lorimar Film Entertainment, BSB, CIP, NatWest Ventures, New Gold Entertainment, Northstar Media

Crew

Hal Ashby

Director

Robert C. Jones

Screenplay

Charles Mulvehill

Producer

Keywords:

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Cast

Peter Sellers

Chance

Shirley MacLaine

Eve Rand

Melvyn Douglas

Benjamin Rand

Jack Warden

President 'Bobby'

Richard Dysart

Dr. Robert Allenby

Richard Basehart

Vladimir Skrapinov

Ruth Attaway

Louise

David Clennon

Thomas Franklin

Fran Brill

Sally Hayes

Denise DuBarry

Johanna Franklin

Alice Hirson

First Lady

Jerome Hellman

Gary Burns

John Harkins

Sidney Courtney

James Noble

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Mitch Kreindel

Dennis Watson

Oteil Burbridge

Lolo

Richard Venture

Wilson

Sam Weisman

Colson

Elya Baskin

Karpatov

Hal Ashby

Man at File Cabinet at the Washington Post (uncredited)

Kenneth Patterson

Perkins

Stanley Grover

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Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for Being There

A Review by FilipeManuelNeto 9

Written by FilipeManuelNeto on 2023-11-22

**Peter Sellers' big farewell in a film that highlights his more chivalrous side.** There are films that, even though they're good, canno... read more

**Peter Sellers' big farewell in a film that highlights his more chivalrous side.** There are films that, even though they're good, cannot be consensual, and this is one of them. It's a film that conquers admirers as easily as it accumulates people who didn't understand it or didn't like it for whatever reason. I confess that I liked it, but I can understand both sides. The film has qualities, but it also presents a story that is not pleasant, and that is so far-fetched that it could never actually take place in real life. The film presents a friendly character who is not easy to be indifferent to: Chance is a gardener who loves what he does and is very good at taking care of plants, but who was educated in a very informal way, confined inside a man's house. boss he served his entire life, without ever leaving, without ever going to school, without having any idea of the world around that house. The only glimpse of the world he had was through television, which he watches daily and with pleasure. When the boss dies, he is evicted from that house by lawyers who were not even aware of his existence. Without education, home or even documents, he wanders around the city and, by luck, ends up in the house of a very rich banker, ingratiating himself with his family with his adages which, however vague and inconsistent they may be, are taken as authentic pearls. of wisdom. I have no doubt that there are very wise people in the world who have never set foot in school nor know how to sign their name. These are people who, having not had the opportunity to attend education in their lives, replaced it with a rich life experience and have very valuable empirical knowledge. I know people like that. However, it is inconceivable that someone has lived their entire existence within a house where they serve without ever leaving for anything, and without having documents of any kind. The script makes a mistake here, it exaggerates its proposition, and people's reactions afterwards are equally exaggerated and unreasonable. I recognize this. However, the beauty of the tale created around the figure of this gardener, who never loses his purity, his kindness, is undeniable. And we really have to surrender to Peter Sellers' magnificent performance. The actor provides us with a discreet and elegant work in which he highlighted his best features, a restrained, almost aristocratic posture and slow, absolutely clear and well-pronounced diction. Unfortunately, he is almost the only actor to deserve a positive rating: Shirley Maclaine, Melvyn Douglas and Jack Warden are good, but they appear absolutely bland and disinterested here.