Movie review: ‘ 10’

FloridaGator80
A promotional still photograph from the movie “10.”

When “10” hit the big screen in 1979 it was an immediate hit and it sparked several sensations – the stunningly beautiful Bo Derek became an instant icon; slow-motion running sequences on a beach were immortalized; and the decade was closing out with a comedy bang that was nearly as loud as the 1970s best comedy: “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” Not surprisingly, what with its 46th anniversary in the rearview mirror from Oct. 5, 2025, “10” still stands the test of time: It is a great comedy; it has wonderful acting (and, sorry, I don’t count Bo in this category); and it is a fresh telling of a story told in many ways before. It’s simply the classic everyone remembers and deserves to be watched again and again.

‘10’
(1979; 107 minutes; rated R; directed by Blake Edwards and starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews and Bo Derek)

THE MOVIE ISN’T A ‘10’ … BUT IT’S A 9.99!

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion and trivia and the updating of links on March 31, 2020. I again expanded the review on Feb. 15, 2026.)

The big name in film comedy in the 1970s was Blake Edwards. The writer-director-producer was coming of a successful string of “Pink Panther” films when he dropped Bo Derek on the world with “10” – the naughty story of a middle-aged man who becomes captivated, then enthralled, then entranced and finally disillusioned by the looks of a young woman and the explosion in his life when he begins to pursue her.

“10” was considered very edgy in 1979 with its nudity, adult theme and free-wheeling lifestyles. Today, it wouldn’t even create a blip on the radar of the MTV crowd – heck, it’s almost along the lines of a Hallmark channel offering today.

Edwards had family-friendly Julie Andrews in a much more adult role here; Dudley Moore in a midlife crisis; and a wonderful supporting cast that made the most out of his screenplay. Edwards would get even edgier two years later when he had Andrews, who was his wife in real life, do a topless scene in “S.O.B.” She gave the middle finger in “10” but that was about her stretch of naughty in this one.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “10.”

From the beginning to the end, the dialogue is almost as crisp as any great Neil Simon effort and the scenes segue perfectly to form the story from its beginnings with Moore’s emotional crisis at his age of 42; to a growing distance with Andrews; to his full-fledged pursuit of Derek; and finally a less-than-saccharine ending that ties everything up neatly.

Moore plays composer “George Webber” and it was perfect casting as he is a man questioning everything in his life. Moore is just as good as he is in his signature role from two years later in “Arthur” (he was nominated for an Oscar for that one) and almost literally bounces from one scene to the next – earnest in one; desperate in another; and ultimately flummoxed by the true person that is Derek’s character.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “10.”

All in all, it’s a wonderful turn for Moore and should be as much a signature film for him as “Arthur.”

Moore is especially effective as he picks up the pace to finding Derek from going to the minister who performed her wedding ceremony. He first spots her in her wedding gown on her way to the church; then, onto her father, who is a dentist that finds many cavities; and leading to an alcohol-fueled trip to her honeymoon location initially spurred on by the combination of booze and the pain-killers prescribed by Derek’s father after their long dental office session.

Moore even has a run-in with police when he’s mistaken for a phone creep. His mouth had been numbed up for the dental work and, combined with his bloodstream bitten by the pain-killer bug, he sounded like a creep on the phone and the police became involved. Whew! Now that’s excellence in filmmaking to be able to balance all this (and Edwards wrote it, too).

Here’s a rundown of other primary cast members:

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “10.”

    An Oscar nominee (not for this one) and two-time Golden Globe winner and three-time nominee, Moore was nominated for a Globe for “10” and it was well deserved. He gives a clinic on how to change comedic gears seeming on the fly and ricochets from one scene to the next and you can’t wait to see what will happen. Moore won his Globes for “Arthur” and the dreadful “Miki + Maude” (sadly, his second Globe win) and was nominated for “Six Weeks” and the outstanding comedy “Foul Play” with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn (click here to read my review). He was also in “Bedazzled” and didn’t have a prolific career in acting – just 48 credits in a career spanning four decades beginning in 1961. Moore died at 66 in 2002 of pneumonia.

  • An Oscar winner and two-time nominee and a five-time Golden Globe winner and nine-time nominee (not for this one), Andrews’ character “Samantha Taylor” doesn’t allow her the comedy or physical latitudes of Moore’s, but she’s just as effective in a serious role in a comedy. Andrews is the mature person who is everything Moore is running away from. Just like with Moore, I couldn’t see any other actor in her part. Andrews won both the Oscar and a Globe for “Mary Poppins” and was nominated for Oscars for “The Sound of Music” and “Victor Victoria,” also with Edwards. She did good work, too, in “The Princess Diaries” and the sequel with Anne Hathaway.
  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “10.”

    A Golden Globe nominee for this one as “New Star of the Year,” Derek plays “Jennifer ‘Jenny’ Miles Hanley” and is, of course, strikingly beautiful from her first frame in the wedding sequence to the more-well known beach scene from the Mexico honeymoon. However, there’s absolutely no acting here by Derek, as shown by the Globe nomination, which was not for her thespian talent. Derek did some modest acting in her career and stretched to be just OK in “Tommy Boy” 16 years later with Chris Farley and David Spade – however, she got by with her looks in a bathing suit with that one, too. Derek won two “Razzies” for “worst” and was a three-time nominee.

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “10.”

    Underappreciated in the film is Robert Webber, who plays Moore’s writing partner “Larry Hugh” and until the end the emotional foundation of the film. His character is gay, but he wasn’t into camp or overplaying a stereotype – and this is just one reason his performance is so solid. Webber had a wonderful career from classics such as “12 Angry Men” to working with Sam Peckinpah (“Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia”) to war movies such as “The Dirty Dozen” and “Midway” (click here to read my review). He would have liked to forget a cop film, “The Choirboys” (click here to read my review), but we all would, too. Webber died a decade after the release of “10” at 64 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and he had 150 acting credits on a career spanning four decades beginning in 1950. In an odd numerical note, if his career had started a year earlier and ended a year later, then his career would have spanned six decades.

  • Max Showalter (you’ll probably recognize him as “Grandpa Fred” in “Sixteen Candles” in his last acting credit) played the energetic reverend who fancies himself a composer like Moore. He did a really good job as the happy, but actually somewhat grounded, man of the cloth. Showalter was in “Niagara” and “Bus Stop” – both with Marilyn Monroe. He died at 83 in 2000 of cancer.
  • A Golden Globe winner (not for this one), Brian Dennehy does a nice understated turn as “Donald” or just “Don,” the bartender at the resort in Mexico where Derek is on her honeymoon and Moore follows her. Dennehy, who was solid in the TV movie “The Jericho Mile” (click here for my review), does a great job with only a few lines here. His physical presence is just perfect behind the bar. Dennehy was in “Best Seller” as well as being the bad cop in the original “Rambo” movie “First Blood.” He won for 2000’s TV movie “Death of a Salesman.” He was simply terrible in the Burt Reynolds football flick “Semi-Tough” (click here for my review) as well as “Foul Play” with Moore. Dennehy died at 81 of sepsis in 2020.
  • Dee Wallace plays “Mary Lewis,” who is a woman who meets Moore at the resort. It is a small role, but she elevates the few lines that she does have. Wallace is probably best remembered as the mother in “T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and was in “Cujo.” Wallace is a prolific worker in Hollywood with 282 acting credits into early 2026 in a career that began in 1974 on an episode of TV’s “Lucas Tanner” (her credit was Dee Wallace-Stone) and spans six decades.
  • The strangest and somewhat most interesting character is the neighbor played with wonderful delight by Don Calfa. The character is succinctly titled “Neighbor.” He holds orgies at his house and makes sure that Moore can see him on the telescope Moore keeps on his patio for just such viewings … and Calfa has his own, but doesn’t get the same entertainment from Dudley and Julie. When Moore (or anyone else, for that matter) sneaks a peek into the telescope, you never know what you’ll see – and you’re never disappointed by the variety. Calfa has the perfect face for the decadent neighbor and he’s had an eclectic career with turns in “Weekend at Bernie’s” (click here to read my review); “Bugsy;” “Return of the Living Dead;” and “Foul Play” with Moore and Dennehy. Calfa died at 76 in 2016 in Yucca Valley, Calif., and he had come a long way from his birthplace of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Flatulence alert: Nedra Voltz, who plays the reverend’s aged housekeeper “Mrs. Kissel,” let’s go a good rip here. Then, the reverend’s dog bolts from the room. In a wonderful politically-incorrect moment, the reverend tells Moore, “When Mrs. Kissel breaks wind, we beat the dog!” Voltz had a humorous urinal scene in the simply awful “Moving Violations” (click here to read my review) and she was also in a variety of TV series including “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Diff’rent Strokes.” Voltz died at 94 in 2002 of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Several other supporting cast members are worthy of a mention, but I’m running out of time and there are too many to call out individually. Check out the film, you won’t want to miss a minute (even if you’ve seen it before).

A promotional still photograph from the movie “10.”

Although the most memorable song from the movie, Maurice Ravel’s “Boléro” wasn’t part of the two Oscar nominations – those came for Henry Mancini’s original score and his joint nomination with Robert Wells for best original song.

“10” was the seventh ranked film at the domestic box office in 1979 with $74.8 million in sales on its $7 million budget, according to Wiki. The No. 1 film of the year was the vastly overrated snifflebag “Kramer vs. Kramer” with $106.2 million. Other films from that year that I’ve reviewed are:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Moore’s full birth name was Dudley Stuart John Moore and his nickname was “The Sex Thimble;” Derek’s birth name is Mary Cathleen Collins; Andrews’ birth name is Julia Elizabeth Wells; Wallace’s birth name is Deanna Lee Bowers; and Dennehy’s middle name was Manion.
  • Edwards’ given name was William Blake Crump. He was married to Andrews from 1969 until his death at 88 in 2010 and the couple had two children.
  • Voltz’ birth name was Nedra Viola Gordonier and she was married to second husband Oren William Voltz from 1945 to his death in 1987. The couple had two children.
  • Moore was one of Hollywood’s micro-men, as he was 5-foot-2½, but that is only one-inch shorter than Derek! Just for the record, Andrews is 5-foot-7.
  • George Segal was originally cast as the role played by Moore, but reportedly walked off the set when Andrews’ part was increased. I’d like to say, “too bad,” since I enjoy Segal’s work, but there’s simply no way he could do the comedy as Moore did. The mistake, if Segal was in fact cast, was that he was hired for the film in the first place.
  • Peter Sellers had a cameo as a band’s drummer, but the scene was cut from the final print.
  • Denise Crosby, who would go on to “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” is in her first film here with an uncredited role as a party guest.
  • Kim Basinger and Christie Brinkley were both considered for the role eventually given to Derek. I’d have to say Derek had a little different beauty than either of the other two and that works well here, but any one of the three would have captured the audience. Also, either of the other women could have done a better acting job than Bo, while, at the same time, not able to become as iconic in the character as Derek.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Entirely thanks to this movie, Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ is, to this day, one of the most expensive songs for which to obtain usage rights for film and TV (in excess of $25,000) and, according to SACEM (the French equivalent of ASCAP), Ravel’s estate earns more royalties than any other French composer.”

© Chuck Curry and A Gator in Naples,
©2015 , ©2020, ©2026
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without
express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner
is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that
full and clear credit is given to Chuck Curry and A Gator in Naples
with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Unknown's avatar

Published by FloridaGator80

Leave a Reply