Freaky Friday

"Annabel and her mother are not quite themselves today... In fact, they're each other!"

1976 1h 35m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🍅

65%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.3

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 321🍅65%Rotten Tomatoes●51Metacritic★6.3IMDB · 15,585

FantasyComedyFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

School girl Annabel is hassled by her mother, and Mrs. Andrews is annoyed with her daughter, Annabel. They both think that the other has an easy life. On a normal Friday morning, both complain about each other and wish they could have the easy life of their daughter/mother for just one day and their wishes come true as a bit of magic puts Annabel in Mrs. Andrews' body and vice versa. They both have a Freaky Friday.

“Annabel and her mother are not quite themselves today... In fact, they're each other!”

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Cast

Jodie Foster
Annabel Andrews
Barbara Harris
Ellen Andrews
John Astin
Bill Andrews
Patsy Kelly
Mrs Schmauss
Dick Van Patten
Harold Jennings
Vicki Schreck
Virginia
Sorrell Booke
Mr Dilk
Alan Oppenheimer
Mr Joffert

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gary Nelson
Writers: Mary Rodgers
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

50 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Gary Nelson, shot by Charles F. Wheeler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Johnny Mandel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris and John Astin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Annabel and her mother are not quite themselves today... In fact, they're each other!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0076054 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gary Nelson directs. Charles F. Wheeler behind the camera. Johnny Mandel scores. Cotton Warburton cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

150 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Gary Nelson, shot by Charles F. Wheeler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Johnny Mandel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris and John Astin carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Annabel and her mother are not quite themselves today... In fact, they're each other!".
7IMDB entry: tt0076054 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles F. Wheeler
Original score: Johnny Mandel
Editing: Cotton Warburton
Costume design: Emily Sundby
Makeup / hair: Gloria Montemayor
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $25,942,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Freaky Friday (1976)
Rotten Tomatoes: 65% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 51/100
IMDB rating: 6.3/10 · 15,585 votes
MPAA: G

Awards

3 nominations total

Also by

Gary Nelson

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Kamurai2020-07-13
★ 5/10
Okay watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend. It was interesting to see a young Jodie Foster... While I appreciate this popularizing (I'm still not convinced it birthed) a trope of "body swapping", it seems very uninspired: as if they said, "Wouldn't it be great if a kid and a parent swapped?" and then just stopped coming up with ideas. It was honestly very jarring on both swaps, the latter being honestly confusing (despite having addressed it directly). The movie made me realize how difficult it would be to swap places and attempt to "be" that person without a shred of preparation. I'm sure that's a bad sign as I should be more entertained by the novelty or adversity of the situation, but no. It's not that its a bad movie, there's a lot going on, a lot of it decent, but it's very dated. Even the action in it is a little awkward, but I certainly see why people in 1976 would have been impressed with this. On the other hand, I don't imagine people were talking about it for very long. There is a lot of thought narration that occurs, which isn't very engaging, and most of the engaging humor is cheap physical humor of "what's going to go wrong this time" so you're not engaged very long and the impression doesn't hold. The part of the movie that is actually rather good is the substance of teaching everyone to appreciate everyone else in the family, but we really took "walk a mile in his shoes" to an extreme here. There are more palatable ways to express the concept, and more movies that use this trope. I honestly suggest the 2003 version over this one, it's just not very memorable.
r96sk2020-08-27
★ 9/10
Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster are superb in <em>'Freaky Friday'</em>! Having only seen the 2003 remake, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this 1976 original. In short, I loved it. It's funny and charming, a real shining light in Disney's live-action stuff from the 1970s. They only give you a snippet of Ellen (Harris) and Annabel (Foster) in their actual state, before switching it up, but it's more than enough to set up how the characters should act versus how they then act. The two leads are utterly fantastic, they both boss their respective roles. It's easy to forget they're acting as their opposing characters in moments, which is very impressive. Obviously a load of the story elements are outdated in terms of gender roles etc., but even when that stuffs occurs the film - at least in my interpretation - sniggers at it - especially with Bill (John Astin). The actual comedic moments remain amusing. I enjoyed this way more than I would've predicted, I haven't watched the '03 production in an incredibly long time so look forward to seeing how it compares to this. A great film, elevated by Harris and Foster.