How Do I Love Thee?

This article is about the film. For the poem, see Sonnets from the Portuguese.

How Do I Love Thee? is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed by Michael Gordon. It stars Jackie Gleason and Maureen O'Hara and is based on Peter De Vries's 1965 novel Let Me Count the Ways.^[1]

How Do I Love Thee?
Directed by	Michael Gordon
Written by	Everett Freeman Karl Tunberg
Based on	Let Me Count the Ways by Peter De Vries
Produced by	Robert Enders Everett Freeman
Starring	Jackie Gleason
Cinematography	Russell Metty
Edited by	Ronald Sinclair
Music by	Randy Sparks
Production companies	ABC Pictures Freeman-Enders[1]
Distributed by	Cinerama Releasing Corporation[1]
Release date	October 1, 1970 (1970-10-01) [1]
Running time	110 mins.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,975,000[2]
Box office	$275,000[2]

Plot

Tom Waltz, a college professor, finds out that Stanley, his father, is in Lourdes, France. He quickly catches a flight there over his wife Marion's objections.

Stanley is a furniture mover, happily married to Elsie but tempted by Lena, an artist. No actual affair takes place, but Lena does give him a poem as a parting gift that Stanley later enters in a contest. He wins a $10,000 prize and donates the money to Tom's department at the university. Tom is rewarded with a promotion over his rival, Littlefield.

Trouble develops when the "original" poem is exposed as being one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnets. Littlefield gets the job and Tom's reputation is sullied. Stanley prays for divine intervention and Littlefield promptly dies. Stanley flies to Lourdes to atone and pray for forgiveness, but is relieved when Tom informs him that Littlefield's death occurred before his request for help from above.

Cast

• Jackie Gleason as Stanley Waltz
• Maureen O'Hara as Elsie Waltz
• Shelley Winters as Lena Mervin
• Rosemary Forsyth as Marion Waltz
• Rick Lenz as Tom Waltz
• Jeffrey Orloff as University of Miami student wearing TKE shirt during campus demonstration

Production notes

Filming began in Florida in June 1969. Maureen O'Hara, who accepted the role after a five year absence from the screen, later said she regretted making the film because the script was bad and there were numerous problems on the set.^[3]

Reception

How Do I Love Thee? premiered in Los Angeles on October 1, 1970.^[1] It was a box office failure and recorded an overall loss of $2,425,000. It earned rentals of $150,000 in North America and $125,000 in other countries.^[2]

Home media

How Do I Love Thee? was released on Region 1 Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics on May 15, 2018.

See also

• List of American films of 1970