Richard Gere’s early movie with Diane Keaton was Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), a crime drama written and directed by Richard Brooks. Keaton plays Theresa Dunn, and Gere plays Tony—credited by Apple TV as Tony Lo Porto. The American Film Institute lists the film’s release date as October 19, 1977, and its runtime as 136 minutes.
What is Looking for Mr. Goodbar about?
Theresa Dunn teaches deaf children by day and pursues one-night encounters at night. The story places her between two very different men: James, played by William Atherton, and Tony, played by Gere. That synopsis captures the film’s central setup without reducing Theresa’s story to a simple choice between them.
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The AFI Catalog identifies Brooks as the film’s writer and director and lists Keaton as Theresa Dunn. Apple TV’s listing names Gere’s character Tony Lo Porto.
How the film connects to Judith Rossner’s novel and Roseann Quinn
The film adapts Judith Rossner’s 1975 novel of the same name. The American Film Institute records that Paramount bought the motion-picture rights in 1975 and notes that Rossner’s novel was inspired by the 1973 murder of schoolteacher Roseann Quinn. AFI also reports that a 1977 review suggested Brooks drew on both the novel and the real-life case for his screenplay. The distinction matters: the novel was inspired by Quinn’s murder, while the film adapted the novel and, according to AFI’s account, Brooks’s screenplay also drew on the case.
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Brooks changed the book’s structure, including removing its opening framing device: the killer’s confession. The movie is therefore not a scene-for-scene rendering of Rossner’s narrative approach.
What critics said about Keaton and Gere
In a review published October 24, 1977, TIME critic Frank Rich praised Keaton’s performance while criticizing the adaptation and Brooks’s choices. Rich described Gere’s performance this way: “Only the Italian stud Tony, played with magnetic ferocity by Richard Gere, seems remotely human.” That is Rich’s individual contemporary judgment, not a claim of critical consensus. Read the TIME review.
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La Cinémathèque française’s oral-history article also preserves Gere’s recollection of Brooks’s advice on acting: “Brooks m’a donné un conseil : faire quelque chose de nouveau dans chaque scène, pour marquer le film.” The French wording is retained as published rather than translated as a direct quotation. Read the Cinémathèque française oral history.
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| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Film | Looking for Mr. Goodbar |
| Release date | October 19, 1977, according to the American Film Institute |
| Runtime | 136 minutes, according to the American Film Institute |
| Writer and director | Richard Brooks |
| Diane Keaton | Theresa Dunn |
| Richard Gere | Tony; Apple TV lists his character as Tony Lo Porto |
| Source novel | Judith Rossner’s 1975 novel Looking for Mr. Goodbar |
AFI also records that “Don’t Ask To Stay Until Tomorrow” and “She’s Lonely, She Wants To” were written specifically for the movie.
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