# Two for the Road (film)
**Two for the Road** is a 1967 American comedy-drama directed and produced by [Stanley Donen](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-donen) from a screenplay by Frederic Raphael, starring [Audrey Hepburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/audrey-hepburn) and [Albert Finney](https://www.edgepedia.org/albert-finney) as a married couple whose relationship is traced through a series of road trips in France[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD). The film tells its story non-chronologically, cutting between five stages of the marriage of architect Mark Wallace and his wife Joanna, from their first meeting to the brink of divorce[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD) • [2](https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/two-for-the-road-revisited/). It was Hepburn's third collaboration with Donen, after *Funny Face* (1957) and *Charade* (1963)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 27 April 1967, world premiere at Radio City Music Hall, New York; Los Angeles opening 24 May 1967[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD) |
| Runtime and format | 112 minutes, color (De Luxe), Panavision widescreen, English language[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD) |
| Key personnel | Directed and produced by Stanley Donen; written by Frederic Raphael; music Henry Mancini; cinematography Christopher Challis[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD) • [3](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1779two.html) |
| Lead cast | Audrey Hepburn (Joanna Wallace), Albert Finney (Mark Wallace), with Eleanor Bron, William Daniels, Claude Dauphin, Nadia Gray, Georges Descrières, and Jacqueline Bisset[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062407/fullcredits) |
| Structure | The couple is shown only on five holiday trips to France, presented in jumbled chronology with jump cuts[2](https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/two-for-the-road-revisited/) |
| Recognition | Academy Award nomination for Writing (Story and Screenplay, written directly for the screen); Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Score and Actress in a Leading Role; #57 on AFI's 2002 list 100 Years...100 Passions[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD) |
| Critical standing | 82% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (22 reviews) and 84% audience rating; Metascore 78 on Metacritic[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/two_for_the_road) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/two-for-the-road/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and structure
In their twelfth year of marriage, Joanna and [Mark Wallace](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-wallace) travel to the [French Riviera](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-riviera) for a business meeting with Mark's benefactor, the architect Maurice Dalbret. The film then revisits their history: Mark, then a fledgling architect hitchhiking through Europe, met Joanna, a music student touring with a group of American schoolgirls; their romance developed on the road to the Côte d'Azur. Later trips chart the marriage's decline, including a journey spoiled by the snobbish Manchester couple and their daughter, a holiday in an unreliable MG during which Joanna announces her pregnancy, and a trip with their toddler Caroline in which Mark is absorbed in work while Joanna drifts into an affair with a French playboy. Mark's own first infidelity occurred on a solo business trip while Joanna was pregnant. Driven to the brink of divorce, the couple concede that they have changed yet remain dependent on each other, and save the marriage[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD).
Screenwriter Frederic Raphael made two structural decisions that define the film: the couple is seen only on holiday trips to France, and the chronology is deliberately jumbled. The framing present-day journey is punctuated by jump cuts to the five key stages of the marriage, leaving some intervening events to the audience's imagination and dramatizing others later[2](https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/two-for-the-road-revisited/). The editing by Madeleine Gug and Richard Marden, with quick cuts that seemed radical at the time, reinforced the film's New Wave feeling[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1318219/two-for-the-road).
## Production
On 12 April 1965, the *Los Angeles Times* announced that Audrey Hepburn and [Rock Hudson](https://www.edgepedia.org/rock-hudson) had been signed to co-star; by late August 1965 Hudson had been replaced by Albert Finney. A July 1965 report suggested the project was originally slated for development at [Universal Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-pictures) before being picked up by Twentieth Century-Fox[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD). [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began in France on 3 May 1966, with locations at Beauvallon, Saint-Tropez, La Colle sur Loup, and Nice, and additional work at studio facilities in Paris[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD).
**Costume design.** According to a December 1967 *New York Times* article, Donen refused to hire [Hubert de Givenchy](https://www.edgepedia.org/hubert-de-givenchy), Hepburn's longtime costumer, claiming the label was "too chic" for her character. Wardrobe duties were instead split among five designers, including Ken Scott, who created twelve of the twenty-nine outfits in the film, with additional pieces supplied by London and Paris boutiques[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD).
The opening scenes of the framing journey were shot in a white Mercedes that belonged to Donen himself[8](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/94193).
## Reception and legacy
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Writing (Story and [Screenplay](https://www.edgepedia.org/screenplay), written directly for the screen) and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Score, Motion Picture and Actress in a Leading Role, Comedy or Musical[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD). In 2002 the [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute) ranked it #57 on its list 100 Years...100 Passions[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD).
Contemporary and later critics have emphasized its formal ambition. Roger Ebert, the film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times* from 1967 until his death in 2013 and winner of the 1975 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) for criticism, gave it four stars and called it "a Hollywood-style romance between beautiful people, and an honest story about recognizable human beings," adding that he would call it *A Man and a Woman* for grown-ups[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/two-for-the-road-1967). Dave Kehr of the *Chicago Reader* called it arguably Donen's masterpiece and one of the most stylistically influential films of the 1960s[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/two-for-the-road/critic-reviews/). Wendy Ide of *The Times* described how Donen deconstructed the romantic comedy using the nonlinear structure and jump cuts then being popularized by the [French New Wave](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-new-wave)[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/two_for_the_road). The film was screened in the Official Section of the 1967 San Sebastian Film Festival[10](https://sansebastianfestival.com/1967/sections_and_films/official_section/7/150007/in).
On review aggregators the film holds 82% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 22 critics with an 84% audience score, and a Metascore of 78 on Metacritic, classified as generally favorable[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/two_for_the_road) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/two-for-the-road/critic-reviews/).
The film has been released on home video several times, including a 2005 Fox Studio Classics DVD in the United States, a 2015 Masters of Cinema dual-format edition in the United Kingdom, and a 2017 Twilight Time limited Blu-ray in the United States[3](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1779two.html) • [11](https://criterionforum.org/video/two-for-the-road-the-masters-of-cinema-series-dual-format-edition).
## Other works of the same name
The title has been reused elsewhere. Larry Coryell and Steve Khan released a 1976 jazz fusion album of that name, recorded from live shows by their acoustic duo[12](https://www.allmusic.com/album/two-for-the-road-mw0000880661). In 2026 the Kent-based TwentyThree Studios began production on *Two For The Road*, a six-part British walking history series presented by Gary JJ Spate, filmed along the Kent coast[13](https://twentythreestudios.com/2026/07/02/two-for-the-road-twentythree-studios-begins-production-on-new-british-walking-history-series/).
## References
1. [Two for the Road (1967), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/21591-TWO-FOR-THE-ROAD)
2. [Marcy Kahan, "Two For the Road Revisited," Royal Literary Fund, 8 January 2018](https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/two-for-the-road-revisited/)
3. [Glenn Erickson, "Two for the Road," DVD Savant, DVD Talk, 2005](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1779two.html)
4. [Two for the Road (1967), full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062407/fullcredits)
5. [Two for the Road, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/two_for_the_road)
6. [Two for the Road critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/two-for-the-road/critic-reviews/)
7. [Roger Fristoe, "Two for the Road," Turner Classic Movies, 17 May 2017](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1318219/two-for-the-road)
8. [Two for the Road (1967), Watch TCM](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/94193)
9. [Roger Ebert, review of Two for the Road, Chicago Sun-Times, 1967](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/two-for-the-road-1967)
10. [Two for the Road, 1967 Official Section, San Sebastian Film Festival](https://sansebastianfestival.com/1967/sections_and_films/official_section/7/150007/in)
11. [Two For The Road, Masters of Cinema Series dual-format edition details, Criterion Forum](https://criterionforum.org/video/two-for-the-road-the-masters-of-cinema-series-dual-format-edition)
12. [Two for the Road, Larry Coryell / Steve Khan, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/two-for-the-road-mw0000880661)
13. ["Two For The Road: TwentyThree Studios Begins Production on New British Walking History Series," 2 July 2026](https://twentythreestudios.com/2026/07/02/two-for-the-road-twentythree-studios-begins-production-on-new-british-walking-history-series/)
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*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*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license