Being There

1979 film by Hal Ashby

Film · TMDB

7.6

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: 1979-12-19130 minDir: Hal AshbyComedy, DramaBox office: $30.2M

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Cast

Peter Sellers as Chance
Shirley MacLaine as Eve Rand
Melvyn Douglas as Benjamin Rand
Jack Warden as President 'Bobby'
Richard Dysart as Dr. Robert Allenby
Richard Basehart as Vladimir Skrapinov

Themes

usa president
washington dc, usa
based on novel or book

~12 min read

Article

Being There is a 1979 American satirical comedy-drama film starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, and Melvyn Douglas. Directed by Hal Ashby, it is based on the 1970 novel Being There by Jerzy Kosiński, and adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. Jack Warden, Richard Dysart, and Richard Basehart are featured in support. The film concerns a simple-minded and heavily sheltered gardener who explores the outside world after his wealthy employer dies and is mistaken for a brilliant political pundit.

Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Sellers was nominated for Best Actor. The screenplay won the British Academy Film Award for Best Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. In 2015, the Library of Congress selected Being There for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It has since developed a strong cult following and is a favorite among many filmmakers.