Source: Some information on this page may have been sourced as part of the 2023 Wikimedia Australia Partnership Projects grant, with the purpose of improving and expanding the use of Wikidata on our website. Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. Read more about this project here.
De Palma’s early black comedy tells the tale of Charlie and Jospehine, two college students who have decided to marry. But as the wedding day approaches the differences between the groom and the bride’s social worlds cause Charlie to rethink his tying of the knot. Set in the cloistered, snobbish world of New York “aristocracy”, “The Wedding Party” is a prankish send-up of family, wealth and matrimonial rites. Before developing the Hitchcock-influenced baroque horror films that were to make his reputation, De Palma was a comedy writer, activist and performer closely allied to the counter-culture and anti-Vietnam War movement. “The Wedding Party” makes clear its origins in the radical student subculture of the 1960s, but for a film based on a script which is dangerously chaotic and improvisary, De Palma’s masterful direction results in a film which is both coherent and elegant. Jill Clayburgh stars as the dizzy spoilt rich-brat Josephine and it features an early film performance by Robert de Niro as Charlie’s best friend, Cecil. With Jennifer Salt, Charles Pfluger.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
316585
Language
English
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Counterculture - United States
Crafts & Visual Arts → Counterculture - United States
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Counterculture - United States
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social classes
Education, Instruction, Teaching & Schools → Students - Attitudes
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Weddings
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)