The Group is an ensemble film directed by the great Sidney Lumet (Network, The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon), based on the novel by Mary McCarthy (The Company She Keeps) and adapted for the screen by legendary screenwriter Sidney Buchman (Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), about a group of eight young women—all classmates, friends, and recent graduates from a certain single-sex liberal arts college—as they face the inevitable pressures to sand the rough edges off their personalities and to surrender their independence to the men in their lives and the institutions they represent. The stellar cast includes Candice Bergen (Rich and Famous) in her film debut, Joan Hackett (Support Your Local Sheriff), Elizabeth Hartman (A Patch of Blue), Shirley Knight (The Rain People), Jessica Walter (Play Misty for Me), Joanna Pettet (Casino Royale), Kathleen Widdoes (TV’s As the World Turns), Larry Hagman (TV’s Dallas), Hal Holbrook (Magnum Force), Richard Mulligan (Scavenger Hunt), and James Congdon (4D Man). Award-winning cinematographer Boris Kaufman (On the Waterfront) lends this tale his peculiar sense of lighting with rich, captivating colors.
