Kramer vs. Kramer
original movie poster
Directed by	Robert Benton
Produced by	Stanley R. Jaffe
Written by	Avery Corman (novel), Robert Benton
Starring	Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry, Jane Alexander
Editing by	Gerald B. Greenberg
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 17, 1979
Running time	105 minutes
Language	English
IMDb profile

Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son. It received the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1979. Image File history File links Oscar_posters_79. ... Robert Benton (born September 29, 1932 in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American screenwriter and film director. ... Avery Corman is an American novelist and screenwriter. ... Robert Benton (born September 29, 1932 in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American screenwriter and film director. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Mary Louise Streep, mostly known as Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an Academy Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. ... Justin Henry (born May 25, 1971 in Rye, New York) is an American actor and director. ... Jane Alexander (born October 28, 1939), is an award-winning American actress, a former director of the National Endowment for the Arts, and an author. ... Gerald B. Greenberg (sometimes credited as Jerry Greenberg or Gerry Greenberg) is an Academy Award-winning film editor. ... The Columbia Pictures logo from 1993 to the present Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Robert Benton (born September 29, 1932 in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American screenwriter and film director. ... Avery Corman is an American novelist and screenwriter. ... For the record label, see Divorce Records. ... // The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards, awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which are voted on by others within the industry. ...

Music for the film features New York guitarist Frederic Hand. NY redirects here. ... Frederic Hand is a guitarist and composer who lives in the New York City area. ...

Plot

In Kramer vs. Kramer, Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep), a Smith College graduate, is a stay-at-home mother for her son Billy (Justin Henry). Feeling confined in this role, and neglected by her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman), Joanna leaves the marriage in order "to find herself." Mary Louise Streep, mostly known as Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an Academy Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. ... Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, is the largest womens college in the United States []. Smith admits only female undergraduates, but admits both men and women as graduate students. ... Two homemakers. ... Justin Henry (born May 25, 1971 in Rye, New York) is an American actor and director. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Ted and Billy

Ted, who has been focusing on his career in advertising, and was just given his agency's biggest new account, is shocked by Joanna's decision and is left to raise Billy by himself. With the help of his neighbor and Joanna's friend, Margaret (Jane Alexander), Ted comes to understand why Joanna left. In the process, he also becomes more invested in raising Billy than in his job (which he eventually loses). Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled. ... Jane Alexander (born October 28, 1939), is an award-winning American actress, a former director of the National Endowment for the Arts, and an author. ...

About a year and a half after leaving, Joanna returns to New York in order to claim Billy, and a custody battle ensues. The courts side with the mother, but on the morning that Billy is to move in with Joanna, she comes to the apartment and tells Ted that, while she loves Billy and wants him with her, she knows that his true home is with Ted, and she chooses to let Billy stay with his father. The movie ends with the elevator doors closing on Joanna, as she heads upstairs to tell Billy that he'll be staying with Daddy. NY redirects here. ...

Cultural impact

Kramer vs. Kramer reflected a cultural shift which occurred during the 1970s and the period of second-wave feminism, when ideas about "motherhood" and "fatherhood" were changing. The film was widely praised for the way in which it gave equal weight and importance to both Joanna and Ted's points of view [1]. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... Second-wave feminism refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted through the late 1980s. ...

1979 Academy Awards

Wins

• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
• Best Actor in a Leading Role - Dustin Hoffman
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Meryl Streep

// The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards, awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which are voted on by others within the industry. ... The Academy Award for Directing is one of the awards given to directors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ... The Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the awards given to actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the awards given to actresses working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ...

Nominations

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Justin Henry
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Jane Alexander
• Best Cinematography
• Best Film Editing

The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the awards given to actresses working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is awarded each year to a cinematographer for his work in one particular motion picture. ... The Academy Award for Film Editing was first given for films issued in 1934. ...

Trivia

• Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine, and Ellen Burstyn all turned down the part of Joanna Kramer, allowing Meryl Streep(who was relatively unknown at the time) to win the role.

• In the scene where Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep reunite in the restaurant, the part where a disgusted Hoffman gets up to leave and slams a wine glass against the wall was improvised. Afterwards, Streep has a genuinely surprised look on her face because she didn't expect it, and for the next second or so looks around wondering if the director was going to yell "CUT", but he didn't and the scene was left in the movie as it was.

• The famous wine glass scene was parodied in an episode of the animated series Family Guy, in which Meryl Streep's character is replaced by The Predator and the movie is subsequently referred to as Kramer vs. Predator, an allusion to the 2004 film Alien vs. Predator.

• One acting trick that Meryl Streep uses is giving her character a secret of some sort; Joanna's secret is that she never loved Ted.

• Justin Henry became, and still is, the youngest person to ever be nominated for a competitive Academy Award, at age eight.

• On Saturday Night Live, after the Michael Richards racism scandal, Amy Poehler, as Nancy Grace, stated that Richards should sue himself for ruining his career, saying the result would be "Kramer vs. Kramer."

Jane Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. ... Shirley MacLaine (born April 24, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American film and theatre actress, well-known not only for her acting, but for her devotion to her belief in reincarnation. ... Ellen Burstyn (born December 7, 1932 as Edna Rae Gillooly in Detroit, Michigan) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ... Mary Louise Streep, mostly known as Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an Academy Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. ... Family Guy is an Emmy award winning American animated television series about a nuclear family in the fictional town of Quahog (IPA or ), Rhode Island. ... The creature as seen in Predator (1987) Predators (known in the fictional expanded universe as Yautja or Hish-qu-Ten) are a fictional species featured in the films Predator (1987), Predator 2 (1990), Alien vs. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Comic book series Film version of Alien vs. ... Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late night 90 minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City that has been broadcast live by NBC on Saturday nights since October 11, 1975. ... For other persons named Michael Richards, see Michael Richards (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Michael Richards, see Michael Richards (disambiguation). ... Amy Poehler (born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian and actress. ... Nancy Ann Grace (born October 23, 1958) is an American talk show host and former prosecutor. ...

Other uses

"Kramer vs Kramer" is also sometimes used in reference to the strained relationship between sitcom actor Michael Richards (who played Cosmo Kramer on the popular show Seinfeld) and Kenny Kramer, the real-life inspiration for the character. Kenny Kramer starred in a documentary named for the film, Kramer vs Kramer: Kenny to Cosmo, on the DVD release of the series.^[1] A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... For other persons named Michael Richards, see Michael Richards (disambiguation). ... Cosmo Kramer is a fictional character on the United States based television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), played by Michael Richards. ... Kenny Kramer Kenny Kramer is the model for character of Cosmo Kramer in the sitcom Seinfeld. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... Size comparison: A 12 cm Sony DVD+RW and a 19 cm Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. ...

The term was also used to refer to Kenny Kramer speaking out against Richards's use of racial epithets at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood on November 17, 2006. Laugh Factory building on the Sunset Strip Original Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, CA The Laugh Factory is a comedy club in West Hollywood, California. ... West Hollywoods logo illustrates the citys borders. ... The PlayStation 3 is released in North America Category: ...

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Kramer vs. Kramer

• Kramer vs. Kramer at the Internet Movie Database

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...