Being There - just the facts

Being There is a political, satirical 1971 novel by Jerzy Kosinski & a 1979 film directed by Hal Ashby.

The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A. Dysart & Richard Basehart. It won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Melvyn Douglas) & was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Peter Sellers).

The screenplay was written by Kosinski, & won the 1981 British Academy of Film & Television Arts (Film) Best Screenplay Award, as well as the 1980 Writers Guild of America Award (Screen) for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was also nominated for the 1980 Golden Globes Best Screenplay Award (Motion Picture).

Plot summary
Spoiler warning: Plot & /or ending details follow.
Being There depicts the story of a gardener named Chance (Sellers) who grows up in the townhouse of a wealthy man in Washington, D.C.. For reasons that remain unexplained (beyond the implication that he is a simpleton), Chance has had virtually no contact with the outside world & no social interaction for his entire life. Apart from his limited relationship with Louise the maid (Ruth Attaway), Chance's cultural & social education is derived entirely from what he watches on the television sets provided by his employer.

When his benefactor dies, Chance, now middle-aged, is forced to leave his sheltered existence in the house & discover the world outside for the first time. He wanders around wintry Washington dressed in clothes that are thirty years out of fashion & carrying a suitcase & umbrella. Some of the rougher people he meets look upon him as either odd or trying to provoke trouble (which is furthest from his mind).

After being adventitiously struck by the vehicle of a wealthy & powerful businessman named Ben Rand (Douglas), he is invited into their home to recover from his broken leg. Coughing over a strong drink, Chance's name is interpreted as "Chauncey Gardiner" rather than "Chance the gardener", which is what he said. Rand & his wife Eve (MacLaine) believe that Chance is a businessman who has gone bust & take him under their wing. His simplistic, indeliberate utterances, which mostly concern the garden of which he was once steward, are interpreted as allegorical statements of deep wisdom.

Peter Sellers as Chance, the gardener.Rand, a dying man, is also the confidant & adviser of the US President (Warden), whom Chance has "seen on TV". In their meeting, Chance's remarks about how the garden changes with the seasons are interpreted by the President for economic & political advice. He makes similar quotes in a TV speech & as a result Chance quickly rises to national public prominence.

He becomes a media celebrity with appearances on TV talk shows, & is soon on the A-list of the most wanted in Washington DC society. Public opinion polls start to reflect just how much his "simple brand of wisdom" resonates with the jaded American public who think him a genius.

"Chauncey Gardiner"'s appeal is increased by the fact that nobody seems to know who he is or where he comes from. Neither the press nor the Secret Service can find information on him. Even the heads of the CIA & FBI argue if he is a former agent of each others' organization.

Only Rand's doctor (Dysart) sees Chance for what he is: a simple-minded gardener. However, the fact that the man has given his patient an apparent acceptance of his illness & peace with his imminent death makes him hesitant in revealing this. Rand himself encourages his wife to get close to Chance.

Rand dies, leaving Chance a legacy in his will, & the President gives a long-winded read-out of Rand's quotations at the funeral. The pallbearers, members of the board of Rand's companies, hold a whispered discussion over potential replacements for the President for the next term of office. As Rand's coffin is about to be added to his family's pyramid-like mausoleum they finally agree on "Chauncey Gardiner".

Oblivious to all this, Chance wanders through Rand's wintry estate. Ever the gardener, he straightens out a bush & then walks off across a small lake, seemingly on the water's surface.

How the Main Characters See "Chance"
The way each main character sees Chance says a little about Chance & a lot about themselves.

Ben Rand, the dying business leader & political king-maker, gains a perception of Chauncey as a failed though totally decent businessman down on his luck. & he sees Chauncey's reference to seasons in gardening as an insightful comment about the national economy.

Eve Rand (Ben's wife) is at first puzzled by Chauncey's strangeness & then thinks of him as having insight & a sense of humor. Later she sinks her own initial doubts & adopts the consensus view that he is a great man. She then pursues her own need for friendship & sexual contact, especially when her dying husband signals his assent to her forming a relationship with Chauncey.

The President initially sees Chauncey's "advice" as inspiring to the point that he quotes & names him on national TV. But he soon comes to regret bringing this mystery man into the spotlight since it might jeopardise his chances of running for a second term.

The CIA, astounded by their inability to discover any records of a Chauncey Gardiner, come to the conclusion that someone has eliminated the entire record - a feat of such ability that "only a CIA man could have done it!" The FBI prefer to think that the cover-up was done by one of their own, highlighting the rivalry between the two organizations.

Thomas Franklin, the lawyer, distrusts Chance's motives for acting the way he does when they first meet. Later the lawyer, keen to make a career in politics, seems to view his contact with Chauncey Gardiner as potentially ruinous to his career.

Louise, the maid, sees Chance, whom she has known since he was a boy, on national TV, & declares out loud that he only has "rice pudding between the ears". It confirms her opinion that America is certainly a "white man's world".

The general public, as portrayed by the audience in the TV studio, opinion polls & the lawyer's girlfriend, thinks that Chauncey is "brilliant".

The political elite, seen at Rand's funeral, believe that Gardiner may be their man for the next presidential election instead of a second term for the current President.

Dr. Robert Allenby, the good-hearted doctor, initially worries that Chauncey will sue Rand for damages following the accident. Later he comes to understand the truth about Chauncey but chooses to hush it up.

Memorable scenes
Memorable scenes in the film version include Chance being confronted early on by a street gang. He pulls out his TV remote control as though to change the vision before his eyes. A lifetime of watching TV has not prepared him for the realities of real-life. He is surprised when it doesn't work.

In Eve Rand's limousine, Chance asks to watch TV, to which he pays more attention than the luxurious vehicle around him or the woman he has just met. Chance watches the Cheech & Chong short film Basketball Jones in Eve's limo, & the song continues to play when he arrives at the Rand estate & is brought into their mansion.

Leaving the house he has lived in all his life to enter into the poor black Washington, D.C. neighborhood he has never explored, the scene is musically set to a funked-up version of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (performed by Deodato & his group), the music popularized in 2001: A Space Odyssey & an accompaniment to many TV programs regarding space exploration.

MacLaine's character writhing in long-suppressed sexual pleasure on a bear rug while Chance obliviously channel-surfs & tries to mimic a yoga program by standing on his head.

The second to last scene has generated discussion & controversy. Before Ben dies, he says, "Tell Eve that...", & he dies in the middle of the sentence. The doctor puts Ben's hand to his chest. Chance then puts his hand on Ben's forehead as if reviving him. When he takes his hand off Ben's forehead, he speaks with the doctor, & then, leaves the room. As Chance is leaving the room, the doctor, blurred, is watching him with his back facing the screen. Someone (the doctor or Rand) then says, "I understand." The doctor turning around to look at the dead Ben, then says, "I understand?"

The Lake Scene
In the final scene, Chance is seen apparently walking across the surface of a lake while the most important movers & shakers in the USA discuss running him for President. This scene continues to generate discussion & controversy. Clearly we see Chance walking on water, an act with a clear Biblical reference.

Bloopers & continuity errors
While the credits are rolling the viewers see bloopers from a scene that does not appear in the movie: Sellers, lying on an operating bed, tries in vain to quote inner-city slang & swearwords with a straight face & ends up chuckling instead. The audience gets to see Peter Sellers "out of character" — the opposite of how his character has been portrayed. Outtakes like these being shown in a major Hollywood production were very rare, & Sellers disapproved of the decision to include them.

IMDb reports two continuity errors in the film. The napkin tucked into Chance's neck moves around from shot to shot, & while at dinner for the first evening with Ben & Eve, Chauncey's wine glass fills & empties within seconds. There is another they have omitted: When Chance first meets Ben they are in the part of the home deemed the hospital. As Ben tells Chance about his aplastic anemia & Chance prepares for x-rays the camera cuts repeatedly from one to the other. As it does, the nurses who are taking care of Ben during his transfusion repeatedly disappear & reappear.

Sellers' view
This was Peter Sellers' penultimate film (his next & the last one being The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu).

It is said to be the one film about which he was truly passionate since it was an opportunity to showcase his skills as an actor as opposed to being a comedian. Up till now almost all of his films had been straight or black comedies.

Reputedly, he pulled out all the stops to gain the role for himself after reading the book.

Use of television
The film makes continued use of actual television clips throughout. These clips are part of the ambient visual & audio background, presented as a natural occurrence of a television being on in the room where the scene is taking place. The clips were chosen by Dianne Schroeder, & are referenced in the film credits as "Special Television Effects."

These clips are an essential element of the film. They provide a window into the mind of Chance, who knows nothing of the world outside the old man's home except from what he's learned on television.

A car being driven out on The Price is Right.
Orchestral program, playing Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, the "Unfinished Symphony."
Scene from Jezebel, "Yowsah!"
Sealy mattress commercial: "It's a Sealy Posturepedic morning! Yeah!".
Scene from Sesame Street, with the song "Different People, Different Ways."
Lt. Mumbly cartoon, "I dare you to stop me in my Super Cop Clobberer."
Green Acres scene.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Captain Kangaroo scene.
Quaker State Motor Oil commercial.
Washington Post commercial.
Basketball Jones cartoon & song (sung by Cheech & Chong), including the line "I've got more moves than Ex-Lax!"
Get Smart, "Pardon me for intruding at a time like this, but were you very close to Max?" "Are you kidding? We were inseparable."
Fuzzbuster commercial, "You wouldn't think of driving without your rear view mirror. & yet some people still drive without a Fuzzbuster."
Gatorade commercial, "Ever watch a game on TV & see the players chuggin' down this stuff? Ever wonder why?"
Scene from Days of Our Lives.
Sanford & Son scene.
Scene from the film Little Caesar.
Scene from The Beverly Hillbillies.
Match Game clip.
Lilias! Yoga & You exercise program.
Paul Lynde on The Hollywood Squares.
Love-making scene from The Thomas Crown Affair, featuring Faye Dunaway & Steve McQueen. Hal Ashby served as editor of The Thomas Crown Affair.
TV news broadcast about a blizzard in the Midwest.
Documentary or news clip about a wheelchair-bound man who gets his Masters degree.
Anheuser Busch Natural Light beer commercial: "You can call me Ray."
Scene from The Gong Show
Clips are also included which were made especially for the film & not taken from actual programs, such as Chance's appearance on the Gary Burns Show, & the president (Jack Warden) appearing on television.

Use of music
The small amount of original music in the film (i.e. written for the film) is by Johnny Mandel & primarily features two recurring piano themes. These are both based on (but not the same as) two Gnossiennes by Eric Satie (No. 4, which is very haunting, & No. 5 which is slightly jovial). The other major piece of music used is the Eumir Deodato arrangement of the opening fanfare from Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, in the scene where Chance leaves the house & ventures out into the world for the first time. This composition is widely known for its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Famous quotes
I like to watch.
Life is a state of mind.
All is well...and all will be well...in the garden.
Now, get this, honky. You go tell Raphael that I ain't taking no jive from no Western Union messenger.
Are you going to die now?
That's a very small room.
In the garden, growth has its seasons. First comes spring & summer, but then we have fall & winter. & then we get spring & summer again.
I can't write. & I can't read. & I like to watch TV.
Ben's Quotes (As Read at His Funeral)

"I have no use for those on welfare, no patience whatsoever, but if I am to be honest with myself, I must admit that they have no use for me either."
"I do not regret having political differences with men that I respect. I do regret however, that our philosophies kept us apart."
"I could never conceive why I could never convince my kitchen staff that I looked forward to a good bowl of chili now & then."
"I have heard the word "sir," more often than I have heard the word "friend," but I suppose there are other rewards for wealth."
"I have met with kings; during these conferences I have suppressed bizarre thoughts. Could I beat him in a foot race? Could I throw a ball further than he?"
"No matter what our facades, we are all children."
"To raise your rifle is to lower your sights."
"No matter what you are told there is no such thing as an even trade."
"I was born into a position of extreme wealth, but I have spent many sleepless nights thinking about extreme poverty."
"I have lived a lot, trembled a lot, was surrounded by little men who forgot that we entered naked & exit naked & that no accountant can audit life in our favor."
"When I was a boy, I was told that the Lord fashioned us from His own image, that's when I decided to manufacture mirrors."
"Security. Tranquility. A Well Deserved Rest. All the aims I have pursued will soon be realized."
"Life is a state of mind."

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