David and Lisa is a 1962 American drama film directed by Frank Perry. It is based on the second story in the two-in-one novellas Jordi/Lisa and David by Theodore Isaac Rubin; the screenplay, written by Frank Perry's wife Eleanor Perry (née Rosenfeld), tells the story of a bright young man suffering from a mental illness which, among other symptoms, has instilled in him a fear of being touched. This lands him in a residential treatment center, where he meets Lisa, a similarly ill young woman who displays a split personality.
The film earned Perry a nomination for the 1963 Academy Award for Best Director and one for Eleanor Perry for her screenplay.
The film was later adapted into a stage play in 1967 and a made-for-television film in 1998.
Plot
David Clemens is brought to a residential psychiatric treatment center by his apparently caring mother. He becomes very upset when one of the residents brushes his hand, as he believes that being touched can kill him. Cold and distant, he mainly concentrates on his studies, especially that of clocks, with which he appears to be obsessed. It is later revealed that he has a recurring dream in which he murders people by means of a giant clock.
He meets Lisa Brandt, a girl who has two personalities: one of them, Lisa, can only speak in rhymes, while the other, Muriel, cannot speak, but can only write. David befriends her by talking to her in rhymes. Over time, he begins to open up to his psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Swinford, and also becomes friendly with another resident, Simon, which provokes Lisa's jealousy. Following an argument when his mother visits, David's parents decide that he should leave the place. He returns to his parents' house, but after a short time, runs away to the treatment center, where he is allowed to stay.
One day Lisa realizes that she is both Lisa and Muriel and that they are the same person. After this breakthrough, she seeks out David, but he is busy listening to Simon play a Bach piece on the piano. Lisa turns on the metronome, interrupting Simon's playing and provoking David's anger. Then, Lisa runs away from the center and takes the train into Center City, Philadelphia, unnoticed. David and the staff fruitlessly search for her until the next morning, when David realizes that she might have returned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she had once embraced a statue of a mother and child.
David and Dr. Swinford rush to the museum, where David finds Lisa on the museum steps. Upon seeing David, Lisa appears to be cured and speaks to him in prose. David, overcoming his own fear of touch for the first time, allows her to hold his hand, while they walk down the stairs to go on their return trip.
Cast
Keir Dullea as David Clemens
Janet Margolin as Lisa Brandt
Howard Da Silva as Dr. Alan Swinford
Neva Patterson as Mrs. Clemens
Richard McMurray as Stewart Clemens
Clifton James as John
Nancy Nutter as Maureen
Matthew Anden as Simon
Jamie Sanchez as Carlos
Coni Hudak as Kate
Karen Lynn Gorney as Josette
Janet Lee Parker as Sandra
Frank Perry as Newsdealer (uncredited)
This was the film debut of both Janet Margolin and Karen Gorney (who, billed as Karen Lynn Gorney, later became well known for her leading role in Saturday Night Fever in 1977).
Production
In 1961, Ann Perry read the novella and showed it to her mother Eleanor. The playwright was so fascinated by what she read that she set out to write a screenplay, enlisting her husband Frank as director. The resulting film was produced with small investors and a collection of unknowns to keep costs down. Production began in June 1962 in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Only after a run on the festival circuit did the film receive a willing exhibitor from New York.
Reception
David and Lisa has received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 85% of 13 reviews were positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. Perry estimated (in 1987) the film made roughly $25 million.
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times described the film as "commendable" and "sympathetic," finding the "vague and elusive" explanation of the characters' ills to be "one of the stumbling blocks in this film," but praising Dullea and Margolin, whose portrayal of the protagonists' "growing curiosity and attachment in the midst of a cheerless institute" is "touchingly presented." French director Jean Renoir called it “a turning point in world cinema."