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David and Lisa

Play trailer Poster for David and Lisa 1962 1h 34m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Teenager David Clemens (Keir Dullea) develops a hysterical fear that he will die if he comes into physical contact with another person. Perturbed, David's overbearing mother places him in a home for mentally disturbed young people, but David remains withdrawn from the other patients and his psychiatrist. Over time, however, David grows interested in 15-year-old Lisa (Janet Margolin), who suffers from multiple personalities -- one who can only speak in rhyme, and the other, a mute.

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David and Lisa

Critics Reviews

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TIME Staff TIME Magazine 10/30/2007
Deeply touching. Go to Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times 05/10/2005
4/5
[Frank Perry] has done a simple, commendable, sympathetic semi-documentary. Go to Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader 01/01/2000
Probably not everything it was cracked up to be in 1963. Go to Full Review Judith Crist New York Herald Tribune 08/15/2022
David and Lisa has something to say in its exploration of troubled adolescents, that it recognizes and probes the wounds of the mind and the heart and the power of love to penetrate even the most private of worlds. Go to Full Review Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine 10/07/2019
The result is a memorable debut for Eleanor Perry, who wrote the intelligent script, and for her husband Frank, who directed it with discretion and vitality. Go to Full Review Dwight MacDonald Esquire Magazine 08/09/2019
David [and Lisa], for all its deficiencies (among which is not casting), is dramatic, it moves. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D @RT35616104 07/19/2023 A mixed bag but the acting is strong. See more 11/24/2019 This movie was boring as heck. Couldn't finish it. See more Blobbo X @Blobbo 07/20/2019 This really bowled over the young Blobbo. Also, fell in love with girl and couldn't stop rhyming for a while. See more Thomas M @TMProofreader 01/31/2019 The best romance movie ever made! See more 03/12/2018 A touching and well balanced coming of age tale of two persons who have rather extreme needs. A shame Margolin isn't better known today, I guess she wasn't offered the right parts. See more ashley h @ashleyhobgood87 02/27/2018 David and Lisa is an incredible film. It is about a young man in a mental institution for teens who begins to understand his psychosis. Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin give fantastic performances. The screenplay is well written. Frank Perry did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this movie because of the drama. David and Lisa is a must see. See more Read all reviews
David and Lisa

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Cast & Crew

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Frank Perry

Director

Keir Dullea

David Clemens

Janet Margolin

Lisa Brandt

Howard Da Silva

Dr. Swinford

Neva Patterson

Mrs. Clemens

Clifton James

John

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David and Lisa

David and Lisa (1962) David and Lisa (1962) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Teenager David Clemens (Keir Dullea) develops a hysterical fear that he will die if he comes into physical contact with another person. Perturbed, David's overbearing mother places him in a home for mentally disturbed young people, but David remains withdrawn from the other patients and his psychiatrist. Over time, however, David grows interested in 15-year-old Lisa (Janet Margolin), who suffers from multiple personalities -- one who can only speak in rhyme, and the other, a mute.
Director
Frank Perry
Producer
Paul M. Heller
Screenwriter
Eleanor Perry
Distributor
Continental Distributing Inc.
Production Co
Vision Associates Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 26, 1962, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 16, 2018
Runtime
1h 34m