"First Monday in October"

[Mr. Dolly Levi]

Posted: 12/16/23 at 2:12pm

I am trying to determine if two plays about Supreme Court justices were filmed and, if so, how I might find copies of the films.

The play "First Monday in October" came to Broadway in the fall of 1978 and starred Henry Fonda and Jane Alexander.  It only ran for 79 performances, but was subsequently made into a film. "Mountain" was a one-man play about Justice William O. Douglas that played at the Lucille Lortel theater in the spring of 1990.  It starred Len Cariou.

I know that shows are often filmed, but I also know that typically the films cannot be be publicly shown. Any suggestions on how to answer this question would be greatly appreciated. 

[Kad]

Posted: 12/16/23 at 2:34pm

If they weren’t filmed for broadcast or commercial distribution, then they may have been filmed for archival purposes at the library at Lincoln Center. You would need to call them to ask; I do not believe their archive list is public. The videos also can only be watched in person on the premises, and they may ask for a purpose- the general public can’t just view things at will, you need some sort of research purpose. They don’t check, generally, and will accept things like working on a paper or a production.

Their contact info is on their site here. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/17/23 at 11:01am

Unfortunately, due to its short run, TOFT did not film this production for their archives. Only available material they have for research purposes is the script/book. 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 12/17/23 at 6:08pm

There was a film adaptation of First Monday in October released in 1981 starring Walter Matthau and Jill Clayburgh, both of whom received Golden Globe nominations for there performances.  Unfortunately, it's not all that great of a movie.  The play in and of itself is a very idealized view of how SCOTUS works, and the movie Hollywood-izes it even more.  Clayburgh in particular seems miscast, and while the scenes between her and Matthau debating cases are the highlight of the movie, they're quickly abandoned in favor of a melodramatic plot. Director Ronald Neame also tries to pump up the sexual tension between Matthau and Clayburgh (read that a few more times) in ia seeming attempt to turn it into a sort of belligerent romcom at times, leading to a completely miscalculated moment in the climax where after Matthau has a speech where he says to Clayburgh that he doesn't think she has any ethical obligation to resign her seat at the Court, she proceeds to kiss him square on the mouth.  While that's as far as their "romance" goes, even the possibility of a romantic relationship between Justices would be a major conflict of interest, and that's not brought up at all.

If you're looking for other plays about the Supreme Court, you could also look at The Magnificent Yankee, about Oliver Wendell Holmes (the film adaptation of that play earned Louis Calhern, reprising his role from the Broadway production, an Oscar nomination) or Thurgood, the one man play by George Stevens about Thurgood Marshall whose stage production was filmed, and that earned Laurence Fishburne a Tony, Emmy, and SAG nomination for Best Actor.