Endless Love (1981 film)

This article is about the 1981 film. Not to be confused with Endless Love (2014 American film) or Endless Love (2014 Burmese film).

Endless Love
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Franco Zeffirelli
Screenplay by	Judith Rascoe
Based on	Endless Love by Scott Spencer
Produced by	Keith Barish Dyson Lovell
Starring	Brooke Shields Martin Hewitt Shirley Knight Don Murray Richard Kiley Penelope Milford Beatrice Straight
Cinematography	David Watkin
Edited by	Michael J. Sheridan
Music by	Jonathan Tunick
Production company	PolyGram Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	July 17, 1981 (1981-07-17) (United States)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9.7 million
Box office	$32.4 million

Endless Love is a 1981 American romantic drama film directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Penelope Milford , and Beatrice Straight. The film also marks the feature film debut of Tom Cruise.

Adapted from the 1979 novel of the same name by Scott Spencer, the screenplay was written by Judith Rascoe. The original score was composed by Jonathan Tunick. While the novel is set during the summer of 1969, the film updates the setting to the early 1980s and presents the narrative in chronological order, omitting the non-linear structure of the source material.

The film received generally negative reviews, with critics drawing unfavorable comparisons to the novel, which explored themes of obsessive love. Despite the critical reception, the film's theme song—also titled "Endless Love" and performed by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie—emerged as a commercial success. It spent nine consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, along with five Grammy Award nominations.

Plot

In suburban Chicago, 15-year-old Jade Butterfield and 17-year-old David Axelrod fall in love after being introduced by Jade's older brother, Keith. The Butterfields' bohemian lifestyle, for which they're well known in their community, allows Jade and David to develop an all-consuming and passionate relationship, including allowing them to have sex in Jade's room. Where her family is open, David's home life is dull; his parents are wealthy political activists who have little interest in his life.

One night, Jade's mother, Ann, sneaks downstairs, catching Jade and David making love by the fireplace. She starts living vicariously through them, but her husband, Hugh, watches them with increasing unease. Jade's nightly trysts begin to negatively impact her grades and her ability to sleep. One morning, she tries to steal a prescription sleeping pill from her father, but he catches her. As a last straw, Hugh demands that David stop seeing Jade until the end of the school year. David is devastated, believing that Hugh wants to destroy their relationship, but Ann calmly assures him that the time apart is for the best and will go by quickly.

Back at school, one of David's friends, Billy, tells him that when he was eight, he tried to burn a pile of newspapers, got scared and put the fire out, and his parents thought he was a hero for saving the house from burning. Inspired by this grim story, David starts a fire on the Butterfields' front porch after their late-night party and walks away. Unfortunately, by the time he returns, the flame has spread too far under the high wind. David immediately evacuates the Butterfields from the burning house before he is subsequently apprehended.

Following the trial, David is convicted of second-degree arson, sentenced to five years' probation, committed into a mental hospital for evaluation and forbidden to go anywhere near Jade or her family again. He continues to write her daily, but the letters are not sent because of the no-contact order. His parents arrange to have him released early from the mental hospital, much to Hugh's chagrin. Meanwhile, David receives his many letters upon his exit, and after realizing why Jade never wrote back, he decides to pursue her, although he knows it is a violation of his parole.

After the loss of their home, the Butterfields have moved from Chicago to Manhattan, where Ann and Hugh file for divorce. David unexpectedly visits Ann at her apartment. At dinner, she intimates she has an attraction to David, but he gently refuses her advances. When she is not looking, he thumbs through her address book, finding out where Jade is and discovers that she now attends the University of Vermont in Burlington. Intent on catching a bus to Vermont, David encounters Hugh on the street. Enraged, Hugh starts chasing him and is hit by a car and killed. Hugh's fiancée, Ingrid, arrives on the scene just in time to see David leaving. He comes close to boarding the bus to Vermont but is overcome with grief and returns to Ann's apartment and consoles her. Keith orders David to leave and tells him that Jade hates him whilst Ingrid, catching a glimpse of David, recognizes him from the accident.

Later, Jade goes to David's hotel room and tells him that they have to leave their relationship in the past and move on with their lives separately. He pulls her back as she tries to leave, throwing her on the bed and holding her down until she admits she still loves him and they stay the night together. The next morning, Jade and David plan to return to Chicago and begin a new life together. Keith and Ingrid arrive at David’s hotel and tell Jade that David is at fault for their father's death. She refuses to believe it at first, but when Ingrid confirms that David was actually at the scene she becomes horrified. David tries to explain, but Keith attacks him, and the two get in a struggle. The police arrive and arrest David for brawling, disturbing the peace and violating his parole.

David is sentenced to five years in a state prison and despairs that he may never see Jade again. At a lakeside, Jade informs her mother that nobody will ever love her as David does, and Ann expresses her understanding and approval. From prison, through his barred cell window, David sees Jade approach the prison to visit him.

Cast

• Brooke Shields as Jade Butterfield
• Martin Hewitt as David Axelrod
• Shirley Knight as Ann Butterfield
• Don Murray as Hugh Butterfield
• Richard Kiley as Arthur Axelrod
• Penelope Milford as Ingrid Orchester
• Beatrice Straight as Rose Axelrod
• James Spader as Keith Butterfield
• Tom Cruise as Billy
• Ian Ziering as Sammy Butterfield
• Jami Gertz as Patty
• Jeff Marcus as Leonard
• Walt Gorney as Passerby
• Robert Altman as Hotel Manager

Production

Endless Love is based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Scott Spencer. The film was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and written by Judith Rascoe. It stars Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt in the lead roles and marks the film debut of Hewitt, Tom Cruise, Jami Gertz, Jeff Marcus and Ian Ziering. Principal photography began on September 22, 1980, with filming taking place on location in Chicago, New York City, and Long Island, as well as on soundstages at Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. Production concluded on December 19, 1980.

The initial cut of the film received an X rating from the Motion Picture Association of Ameruca (MPAA). In response, director Franco Zeffirelli made multiple edits to the love scenes between Shields and Hewitt in an effort to obtain a lower rating. The film was resubmitted to the MPAA five times before it was ultimately granted an R rating.

Release

Box office

The premiere of Endless Love was held on July 16, 1981, at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. The film was released theatrically the following day. Despite receiving largely negative reviews from critics, the film was a commercial success. It earned $4,163,623 during its opening weekend and went on to gross $31,184,024 in the United States and Canada, making it the twenty-second highest-grossing domestic film of 1981. Internationally, it grossed an additional $1,308,650, bringing its total worldwide gross to $32,492,674.

Reception

Endless Love received predominantly negative reviews upon its release. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticized the film's adaptation of the novel, describing Martin Hewitt as miscast and the narrative as incoherent. However, he praised Brooke Shields' performance, noting her natural screen presence and emotional range. Ebert wrote:

"Brooke Shields is good. She is a great natural beauty, and she demonstrates... that she has a strong, unaffected screen acting manner. But the movie as a whole... is a narrative and logical mess."

Janet Maslin of The New York Times similarly expressed disappointment, especially from the perspective of readers of the source material:

"There are two sorts of people who'll be going to see Endless Love—those who have read the richly imaginative novel... and those who have not. There will be dismay in the first camp, but it may be nothing beside the bewilderment in the second."

Film historian Leonard Maltin also criticized the film, calling it a "textbook example of how to do everything wrong in a literary adaptation."

In a 2014 retrospective, author Scott Spencer expressed strong disapproval of the film adaptation of his novel. He described it as "tepid and conventional," and stated that director Franco Zeffirelli "egregiously and ridiculously misunderstood" the tone and themes of the original work.

As of November 2021, Endless Love holds an approval rating of 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 19 reviews.

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	Best Original Song	"Endless Love" Music and Lyrics by Lionel Richie	Nominated
American Movie Awards	Best Original Song		Won
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards	Most Performed Feature Film Standards		Won
Golden Globe Awards	Best Original Song		Nominated
Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Picture	Dyson Lovell	Nominated
	Worst Director	Franco Zeffirelli	Nominated
	Worst Actress	Brooke Shields	Nominated
	Worst Supporting Actress	Shirley Knight	Nominated
	Worst Screenplay	Screenplay by Judith Rascoe; Based on the novel by Scott Spencer	Nominated
	Worst New Star	Martin Hewitt	Nominated
Grammy Awards	Record of the Year	"Endless Love" – Lionel Richie	Nominated
	Song of the Year		Nominated
	Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal	"Endless Love" – Lionel Richie and Diana Ross	Nominated
	Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special	Endless Love: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Lionel Richie, Jonathan Tunick, and Thomas McClary	Nominated
Jupiter Awards	Best International Actress	Brooke Shields	Nominated
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards	Worst Picture	Keith Barish and Dyson Lovell	Nominated
	Worst Director	Franco Zeffirelli	Nominated
	Worst Actress	Brooke Shields	Nominated
	Worst Screenplay	Screenplay by Judith Rascoe; Based on the novel by Scott Spencer	Nominated
	Worst On-Screen Couple	Martin Hewitt and Brooke Shields or Shirley Knight	Nominated
Young Artist Awards	Best Young Motion Picture Actor	Martin Hewitt	Nominated
	Best Young Motion Picture Actress	Brooke Shields	Nominated

Soundtrack

Main article: Endless Love (soundtrack)

The film's theme song, "Endless Love", was written by Lionel Richie, and performed as a duet by Richie and Diana Ross. The song became a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for nine consecutive weeks. It was the highest-selling single of Ross's career and received widespread acclaim. In 2011, Billboard magazine named it the "Best Duet of All Time," marking the 30th anniversary of its release.

"Endless Love" earned nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as five Grammy Award nominations. The film's soundtrack peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum. It also featured a second duet by Ross and Richie, titled "Dreaming of You," which received notable airplay despite not being released as a single.

Home media

Endless Love was released on Blu-ray by Shout! Factory on August 13, 2019. This edition featured a new 2K scan from the interpositive and included enhanced DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound. Bonus features comprised an audio commentary by film historian Lee Gambin, interviews with cast members such as Martin Hewitt, Penelope Milford, Jeff Marcus, and Shirley Knight, as well as the theatrical trailer and an image gallery.

As of 2025, Endless Love is available for streaming on several platforms. In the United States, it can be streamed for free with advertisements on Freevee and Tubi. Additionally, it is available for rental or purchase through services like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, and Microsoft Store.

See also

• Endless Love (2014 American film)
• Culture and menstruation

External links

• Endless Love at IMDb
• Endless Love at the TCM Movie Database
• Endless Love at Box Office Mojo
• Endless Love at Rotten Tomatoes