Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

NORDIC-2 The son of Simon Jaglom, a wealthy Russian-Jewish financier from London who emigrated to New York just before World War II, Henry Jaglom has always possessed the means and confidence to pursue his own, sometimes highly idiosyncratic visions. His first film as a writer/director, 'A Safe Place', had its first incarnation in the mid-Sixties as a short-run Off Broadway play written by Jaglom and starring a then-unknown Tuesday Weld. Offered a film project by Columbia—through the auspices of 'Easy Rider' cohorts Bert Schneider and Dennis Hopper—Jaglom opted to turn his play into a film. Jaglom quite naturally signed Tuesday Weld to reprise the lead role of Susan/Noah, a young woman caught between two lovers and constantly retreating into her imagination (supposedly a "safe place"), which only seems to produce troubling memories of childhood that ultimately result in her ego dissolution and/or suicide. To complement what would turn out to be a magnetic performance by Weld—who drew on her own tumultuous youth for inspiration—Jaglom secured the services of other talented friends: Jack Nicholson (who plays one of Weld's lovers) and the legendary Orson Welles (who plays a street magician and Weld's titular father figure). Though he had his own play script to provide a blueprint for the film, Jaglom insisted on endless experimentation and improvisation. His cinematographer, Dick Kratina (who helped shoot 'Midnight Cowboy'), eventually shot some fifty hours of raw footage that Pieter Bergema edited down to 94 minutes (a shooting ratio of 32 to 1). In the end, though, 'A Safe Place' would achieve notoriety not for its acting, gritty New York City vistas, its strange soundtrack (combining Gershwin, Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, and mid-century Tin Pan Alley tunes), or even a hilarious soliloquy by Gwen Welles on New York City mashers but for its copious use of jump cuts between past, present, and future events—a risky editing technique deemed brilliant by some critics and derided as nonsensical and confusing by others. Indeed, when 'A Safe Place' premiered at the 9th Annual New York Film Festival (Oct. 15, 1971), audience members broke into a passionate shouting match over its merits that nearly escalated into a donnybrook. Though it bombed in the United States, 'A Safe Place' predictably fared better in France; a theater in Paris is reputed to have shown it continuously over a seven-year period.

zetes Henry Jaglom is a director I've heard about before, but had never seen one of his films. He makes a film every couple of years, they play in like three cities in America, and no one seems to like them. A Safe Place was his first film, adapted from his own play, which he wrote in 1964. Tuesday Weld plays an insufferable hippie chick who doesn't want to grow up. Phil Proctor is a square who wants desperately to bone her, so he puts up with her nonsense (he knows that she's half crazy, but that's why he wants to be there). Eventually, a much more exciting Jack Nicholson shows up and steals her away. Orson Welles plays a magician who occasionally enchants Weld with his magic. Gwen Welles (whom you might remember from Altman's films California Split and Nashville), in her film debut, also appears and rambles on about her dreams of being sexually assaulted. The film is pretty, and that prettiness is very much augmented by Tuesday Weld's enchanting beauty. But, honestly, there's not much going on here. It's very repetitive (there are some nice, old songs on the soundtrack, but each of them plays all the way through like three times), and, well, boring.

laffinsal This experimental piece of work, from Henry Jaglom, is actually something of a gem, if not for it's unique direction, for the typically stunning performance from Tuesday Weld. Weld is wonderful in her characterization of a simple, juvenile young woman, caught in the limbo between innocence and adulthood. This film is from the period which I consider Weld's peak. She is beautiful, charming and completely earnest in her delivery.Others in the cast are interesting at best. Orson Welles is good as the father figure in Weld's life. Philip Proctor is not much acting wise, but at least he has a pleasant voice. That seems to have helped his career in the years following this film. Jack Nicholson is his typical cocky, slimy character in this one. I didn't feel his acting was anything new here, but his presence makes for an interesting triangle relationship.The editing is choppy, utilizing audio and image clips flashing by, altered, and repeated again. It would seem to get old after a while, and it does to some degree, but it's effective nonetheless. There are some good vignettes here and there throughout the film, namely a scene where Weld describes to Proctor the importance of telephone exchanges. Not every actress could pull this off well, but Weld does so with empathy and charm...brilliant! The Ouija board scene also stands out, as do the ones of Weld and Welles in Central Park Zoo.A fascinating and surprisingly engaging film. If for no other reason, it's worth watching for Weld's performance.

graham clarke Henry Jaglom has often been accused, justifiably, of self indulgent movie making. "A Safe Place" is no exception, yet here it's an indulgence in experimenting with cinematic form itself. As always with Jaglom, it's a pretty mixed bag. There are scenes with some striking moments, but many which ramble on for much too long.The question remains does this experiment work ? The answer has to be – no. But the attempt itself is not without interest. While much of the film will certainly test your patience, the rewards are there, though not as predominant as to make one want to champion this as a film that should be seen.The film is centered round Tuesday Weld. Weld has always been something of an enigma. The movie persona of her earlier films established her firmly in the mind of the public as yet another pretty blonde. It took her a long time to shake this off. This need to find herself as an actress to be reckoned with must surely have drawn her to this project, written and directed by a newcomer. Her beauty and talent are in abundance here. This may have led to her next big role, made the following year; "Play It As It Lays". Sadly, despite a great performance, Weld never seemed to be able to prove her worth to the wider public or indeed the studios and moved towards a career in mainstream television movies, in which she still managed to shine."A Safe Place" boasts an intriguing cast. Alongside Weld is Orson Welles, a close friend of Jaglom's, obviously having much fun as a magician of sorts as well as a young and as always devilish, Jack Nicholson. Jaglom allows them much room for improvisation. He once related having written a scene for Nicholson and Weld; it somehow wasn't working. His feeling was that knowing them personally, they were both far more interesting people than the scene he had written for them showed. He simply let them improvise their dialog."A Safe Place" is the kind of film that sounds more interesting than is actually the case. I for one, despite being in favor of much of Jaglom's work and certainly that of Welles, Nicholson and Weld, am reticent in recommending it. For those with special interest in these people or the times, (New York, 1971), there will be points of interest but I must admit to being ultimately somewhat let down to what I sensed could have been far more than what I found.