{ "id": "eppdqrbcs3", "slug": "the-april-fools", "title": "The April Fools", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1960s", "label": "Comedies of the 1960s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1960s" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The April Fools is a 1969 American romantic comedy directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve in her American film debut, produced by Lemmon's Jalem Productions with Cinema Center Films, released 28 May 1969.", "snippet": "The April Fools is a 1969 American romantic comedy directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve in her American film debut, produced by Lemmon's Jalem Productions with Cinema Center Films, released 28 May 1969.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1960s", "markdown": "# The April Fools\n\n**The April Fools** is a 1969 American romantic comedy directed by Stuart Rosenberg, written by Hal Dresner, and starring [Jack Lemmon](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-lemmon) and [Catherine Deneuve](https://www.edgepedia.org/catherine-deneuve). It follows Howard Brubaker, a newly promoted [Wall Street](https://www.edgepedia.org/wall-street) broker trapped in a loveless marriage, who meets Catherine Gunther, the French-born wife of his boss, at a cocktail party; the two spend a night exploring New York, fall in love, and decide to run off to Paris.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1001139-april_fools) The film was produced by Jack Lemmon's company Jalem Productions with Cinema Center Films, the theatrical film unit of CBS, and distributed by National General Pictures.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 28 May 1969 (New York); Los Angeles opening 25 June 1969; 95 minutes, Technicolor, Panavision[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) |\n| Director / writer | Stuart Rosenberg; story and screenplay by Hal Dresner[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) |\n| Stars | Jack Lemmon (Howard Brubaker), Catherine Deneuve (Catherine Gunther), Peter Lawford (Ted Gunther)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) |\n| Deneuve's debut | The role marked Catherine Deneuve's American motion picture debut[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) |\n| Music | Score by Marvin Hamlisch; title song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, sung by Dionne Warwick[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1001139-april_fools) |\n| Box office | Twenty-first highest-grossing picture of 1969, with cumulative film rentals of $4.5 million to date (Variety, 7 January 1970)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) |\n| Critical standing | Metascore 47 from five critic reviews, described as mixed or average[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-april-fools/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nHoward Brubaker, a successful Wall Street broker, lives in [Darien, Connecticut](https://www.edgepedia.org/darien-connecticut), with his preoccupied housewife Phyllis and a son who ignores him. At a cocktail party given by his boss, Ted Gunther, Howard meets Gunther's French-born wife Catherine, unaware at first of who she is, and invites her out for a drink at a discotheque, where they meet the amateur astrologer Grace Greenlaw.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) The two spend the night exploring New York, growing closer, and when Catherine announces that she intends to leave her husband and return to Paris, Howard asks to go along; the obstacle is telling their spouses.[7](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-april-fools/details/) The Greenlaws, played by [Myrna Loy](https://www.edgepedia.org/myrna-loy) and [Charles Boyer](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-boyer), serve as the model of a lasting marriage that convinces the pair that happiness is possible.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1001139-april_fools)\n\n## Development and casting\n\nIn summer 1965, Jack Lemmon's production company, Jalem Productions, Inc., acquired Hal Dresner's screen story as a starring vehicle for Lemmon. The following year, [Universal Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-pictures) had a film in development under the same title, conceived by Steve Previn; because the Jalem project had registered the title first, Universal had to rename its film.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) A December 1967 Los Angeles Times report stated that The April Fools would be the first in a four-picture deal negotiated between Jalem and CBS Theatrical Films, and twelve weeks of principal photography were slated to begin on 1 April 1968 with Rosenberg directing.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography)\n\nThe female lead went through several candidates. [Jane Fonda](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-fonda) was approached to co-star with Lemmon but declined because of her pregnancy. [Shirley MacLaine](https://www.edgepedia.org/shirley-maclaine), who had appeared opposite Lemmon in [The Apartment](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-apartment) (1960) and Irma La Douce (1963), was then offered the role but was unavailable due to her shooting schedule on Sweet Charity (1969). Catherine Deneuve's casting as Catherine Gunther was confirmed in June 1968.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) The supporting cast included Peter Lawford as the philandering boss Ted Gunther, Jack Weston, Myrna Loy and Charles Boyer as the happily married Greenlaws, Harvey Korman, Sally Kellerman as Howard's wife Phyllis, Kenneth Mars, and Melinda Dillon.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) • [4](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-april-fools/cast/2030112799/)\n\n**Lemmon's donation.** Citing growing concern over civil rights issues, Lemmon pledged half his salary from the film to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Christian Leadership Conference; a August 1968 Los Angeles Times item put the promised donation at between $350,000 and $500,000.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/18820)\n\n## Production\n\nFilming began in New York City on 22 July 1968. Airport scenes were shot at the [TWA Flight Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/twa-flight-center) at [John F. Kennedy International Airport](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) in Queens, and the production also shot in [Connecticut](https://www.edgepedia.org/connecticut). Over the weekend of 10–11 August 1968 the company relocated to Los Angeles, where filming took place at the CBS Studio Center in Studio City and at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena; completion of filming was announced in October 1968.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/18820)\n\nSet decoration drew on contemporary art supplied by dealer Felix Landau, including a sculpture by Frank Gallo and a nude painting by James Gill. Lemmon's wardrobe consisted of ten identical suits, reflecting that his character does not change clothes during the thirty-six hours depicted on screen.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/18820) Title footage was supplied by Pablo Ferro Films.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/18820)\n\n[Burt Bacharach](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-bacharach), who co-wrote the title song \"The April Fools\" with lyricist [Hal David](https://www.edgepedia.org/hal-david), was originally set to score the film; the completed score was composed by Marvin Hamlisch, and Dionne Warwick recorded the title song's vocals.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) Warwick also had a hit with \"I Say a Little Prayer,\" which is sung at a party in the film by Susan Barrett.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1001139-april_fools) A Columbia soundtrack album paired dialogue snippets from Lemmon, Deneuve, and Kellerman with music by the Chambers Brothers, Mongo Santamaria, Taj Mahal, and Percy Faith and His Orchestra.[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/69/RW-1969-07-26.pdf)\n\n## Reception\n\nContemporary reviews were mixed. Metacritic aggregates five critic reviews into a Metascore of 47, with one positive, four mixed, and no negative reviews.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-april-fools/) The New York Times scored highest at 70, calling the film \"not a comic masterpiece\" but crediting it with \"a nice, understated sense of the absurd.\" Variety at 60 highlighted the contrasting comic styles of Lemmon, Jack Weston, and Harvey Korman as the source of most of the film's action. The Village Voice, at 40, complained that there did not seem to be enough plot for the film's length of madcap farce.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-april-fools/) TIME's 1969 review criticized the film's volume and timing, writing that the satire of sex and suburbia \"arrives several years too late.\"[8](https://time.com/archive/6874797/cinema-pique-in-darien/)\n\nDespite the reviews, the film performed respectably commercially: a Variety box-office chart in January 1970 placed it as the twenty-first highest-grossing picture of 1969, with cumulative film rentals of $4.5 million to that date.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography) At the Laurel Awards the film received one win and two nominations.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-april-fools/)\n\n## Later assessment\n\nRetrospective commentary treats the film as a period piece of late-1960s style. A 2014 San Francisco Chronicle review by film critic Mick LaSalle, the paper's film critic emeritus, described the movie as \"equal parts interesting, awful and lovely,\" praising the period details, the pointed use of the zoom lens, and the trumpet on the soundtrack, while faulting the labored farce and dated humor; he singled out Lemmon's sincerity opposite Deneuve's pristine screen presence.[9](https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/DVD-review-The-April-Fools-5212233.php) A DVD Talk review placed the film among late-Hollywood attempts to adjust to the 1960s, noting its safari-themed nightclub, Myrna Loy stunt-cast as an astrology expert, and a Bacharach-David melody, and judged Lemmon and Deneuve charming despite the dated material.[10](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/62985) Letterboxd reviewers have emphasized the film's display of 1960s design, music, fashion, and dancing, and the strength of the supporting cast.[11](https://letterboxd.com/gamegeek/film/the-april-fools/)\n\nThe film is available on digital rental and purchase platforms and on DVD from Paramount; it is not currently included with any subscription streaming service.[12](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-april-fools)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The April Fools (1969), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/18820-THE-APRIL-FOOLS?cxt=filmography)\n2. [The April Fools, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1001139-april_fools)\n3. [The April Fools Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-april-fools/)\n4. [The April Fools – Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-april-fools/cast/2030112799/)\n5. [The April Fools (1969), AFI Catalog, full page view](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/18820)\n6. [Record World, 26 July 1969, soundtrack album review](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/69/RW-1969-07-26.pdf)\n7. [The April Fools (1969), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-april-fools/details/)\n8. [Cinema: Pique in Darien, TIME, 6 June 1969](https://time.com/archive/6874797/cinema-pique-in-darien/)\n9. [DVD review: 'The April Fools,' San Francisco Chronicle, 6 February 2014](https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/DVD-review-The-April-Fools-5212233.php)\n10. [April Fools, The – DVD Talk review, 28 January 2014](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/62985)\n11. [The April Fools review by Daniel, Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/gamegeek/film/the-april-fools/)\n12. [The April Fools streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-april-fools)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1960s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-april-fools", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-april-fools.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The April Fools\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-april-fools. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The April Fools](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-april-fools)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-april-fools](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-april-fools). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The April Fools\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-april-fools. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The April Fools is a 1969 American romantic comedy directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve in her American film debut, produced by Lemmon's Jalem Productions with Cinema Center Films, released 28 May 1969." }