Being there

The old landlord dies. After his death, gardener Chance, who has lived all his life in the house and looked after the garden, is on the street. Chance is already a middle-aged man, but, since childhood, suffering from mental disorders, he did not learn to read or write, all his life he did not even go out of the fence at home and knew the world only on television programs, which he loved to watch. Put on the street, on the first day he gets under the wheels of a car of a wealthy lady Yves Rand ( Shirley MacLane ), who brings him home to show to the doctor. Her husband, Benjamin (Melvin Douglas), is a very influential and wealthy person, an adviser to the president ( Jack Warden ) on economic issues, but he is terminally ill, and the house is actually turned into a hospital, there are a lot of doctors, nurses, medical equipment, there is even an oxygen room . The house also has many servants.

Chance introduces himself as “Chance, the gardener,” but those around him decide that the gardener is his last name. Chance behaves calmly and naturally in any setting. Everyone likes him. He supports the most difficult conversations with general phrases from the practice of gardening, and this looks thoughtfully, no one guesses about Chance’s past. The owner of the house mistook him for a ruined businessman. Soon he becomes a friend of the master of the house, and the mistress of the house falls madly in love with him. At the invitation of Benjamin, Chance is included in the highest political circles. After a conversation with President Chance himself, they are invited to a TV show, his remarks are quoted by the media. US intelligence agencies are unsuccessfully trying to find out who he is and where it came from, but they can’t find compromising evidence on the mysterious Chance Gardener.

The last days of the elderly Benjamin are drawing near. He realizes that Eve fell in love with Chance, but does not interfere with their romance, hoping that Chance will be able to take care of Eve after his death. He also decides to create a fund to support businessmen and wants Chance to lead him. Before his death, he says goodbye to Chance, shakes his hand and dies. For the first time Chance's eyes are tears. Benjamin’s personal doctor guessed about Chance’s fate and found out where he lived before, but after Benjamin’s death, he decides not to say anything about it.

At the funeral, Ben's friends, carrying the coffin to the grave, whisper in discussion who will become the next president of the country. Chance is seriously considered as a candidate - he is the only person who has no enemies, and against whom no one has any objections. In the final shots of the picture, Chance detaches himself from the funeral process, wanders into the forest, and, going to a small lake, easily steps on the water, like Jesus .

• Peter Sellers - Gardener Chance
• Shirley MacLaine - Yves Rand
• Melvin Douglas - Benjamin Rand
• Jack Worden - President Bobby
• Richard Dysart - Dr. Robert Allenby
• Richard Beyshart - Vladimir Scrapinov
• Tan Vienne - Ambassador Gaufried
• Alice Hirson - Presidential Wife
• Ilya Baskin - Karpatov

• Director: Hal Ashby
• Screenwriters: Jerzy Kosinsky, Robert C. Jones

based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinsky

• Producer: Andrew Braunsberg
• Executive Producer: Jack Schwartzman
• Composer: Johnny Mandel

used music by Franz Schubert

• Operator: Caleb Deschanel ( Caleb Deschanel )
• Installation: Don Zimmerman
• Set Designer: Michael D. Haller
• Costume Designer: May Routh

Production : BSB , CIP , Lorimar Film Entertainment , NatWest Ventures , Northstar
Rent: United Artists ( 1979 , USA ), ITC Film Distributors ( 1980 , UK ), Warner Bros. Pictures ”(reused, USA)
Television: CBS Television ( 1984 , USA)
Video (VHS): CBS / Fox Video ( 1984 )
DVD: “ Warner Home Video ” ( 2001 , 2003 , 2006 )

• 1979 - New York Film Critics Circle Award: Best Actor (Peter Sellers; Nomination), Best Supporting Actor (Melvin Douglas), Best Screenplay (Jerzy Kosinsky; Nomination).
• 1979 - Award from the National Council of Film Critics of the USA : Best Actor (Peter Sellers), inclusion in the list of ten best films of the year.
• 1979 - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (Melvin Douglas).
• 1980 - US Scriptwriters Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Comedy (Jerzy Kosinsky).
• 1980 - National Film Critics Society of the USA Award: Best Actor (Peter Sellers; Nomination), Best Supporting Actor (Melvin Douglas; Nomination), Best Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel).
• 1980 - Golden Globe Award: Best Actor (in a comedy or musical) (Peter Sellers), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Melvin Douglas), Best Director (Hal Ashby; Nomination), Best Film (Comedy or Musical) ( nomination), best actress (in a comedy or musical) (Shirley MacLane; nomination), best script (Jerzy Kosinsky; nomination).
• 1980 - Nomination for the Golden Palm Branch of the Cannes Film Festival .
• 1980 - Oscar: Best Actor (Peter Sellers; Nomination), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Melvin Douglas).
• 1981 - London Film Critics Circle Award for Excellence in Motion Picture Arts (Peter Sellers).
• 1981 - BAFTA Award : Best Film (Nomination), Best Actor (Peter Sellers; Nomination), Best Actress (Shirley MacLane; Nomination), Best Screenplay (Jerzy Kosinsky).
• 1982 - Nomination for the Japanese Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

• Total U.S. box office: $ 30.18 million

• Information about the film on the film website. Ru . - September 1, 2008.
• Review of the movie Roger Ebert