Author! Author! (film)

Author Author is a 1982 American comedy drama film directed by Arthur Hiller and written by Israel Horovitz, starring Al Pacino, Dyan Cannon, and Tuesday Weld. The plot, which is loosely autobiographical, concerns a Broadway playwright who strives to solve his family and relationship troubles while trying to get a new play into production.

Screenwriter Israel Horovitz first worked with actor Al Pacino in 1968, when Pacino starred in his play The Indian Wants the Bronx, for which they both received Obie Awards. They remained friends over the years and jumped at the chance to work again on Author Author The film was based on Horovitzs own personal experiences as a divorced father responsible for looking after two of his three children. I felt there was a lot of room to explore the ease with which people get married in this country, the way kids come along in huge bunches and the irresponsibility of parents in taking care of those children. He also talked to his three children for inspiration. He said, The film had to be written in a comic mode, because otherwise its too painful to deal with. Horovitz made the protagonist Armenian American to give him a strong ethnic identity parallel to his own Jewish background. Director Arthur Hiller was drawn to the project because it was about an extended family and that it showed that love is what makes a family strong, not necessarily whos the natural parent.Dyan Cannon was originally asked to play Gloria, but turned it down because she found the character bitchy and had played that kind of role before. She was then asked to play Alice and agreed because she loved the character. Cannon enjoyed making the film and compared the experience to being on a cruise. Alan King also enjoyed filming and said that his character was a cross between Hal Prince and Zero Mostel. ........

Source: Wikipedia