My Favorite Year

In 1954 New York, Benjy Stone, a young writer for a hit television comedy show, is assigned to keep the week's guest star out of trouble until broadcast. The guest is Alan Swann, a swashbuckling matinee idol from an earlier era whose fame has faded and whose drinking and womanizing have not. As Benjy tries to steer his childhood hero through rehearsals and a live show, Swann's off-screen behaviour proves very different from the dashing figure audiences know.

The comedy drama, released in 1982, was directed by Richard Benjamin. It is the first film he directed, followed by City Heat, The Money Pit, My Stepmother Is an Alien and Little Nikita, among others. Peter O'Toole plays Alan Swann opposite Mark Linn-Baker as Benjy Stone; Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Bill Macy and Lainie Kazan are also in the cast. Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo wrote the screenplay, Joel Chernoff and Michael Gruskoff produced, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Brooksfilms were the production companies.

Made for about 8 million dollars, the film took roughly 20 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.3 from around 11,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.6 from far fewer votes, about 121, suggesting a modest and less settled audience sample there. A film critics' rating of 7.9 from 30 reviews points to a more favourable response from critics than from the wider public.