Cactus Flower

Cactus Flower is a 1969 American screwball comedy film directed by Gene Saks, and starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn, who won an Academy Award for her performance. The screenplay was adapted by I. A. L. Diamond from the 1965 Broadway play of the same name written by Abe Burrows, which in turn was based upon the French play Fleur de cactus by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy. Cactus Flower was the ninth highest-grossing film of 1969. Plot Twenty-one-year-old Toni Simmons attempts to commit suicide by inhaling gas from her stove. Toni's neighbor, Igor Sullivan, smells the gas and rescues her by using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which evolves into a kiss after Toni regains consciousness. Toni's suicide attempt came after being stood up by her lover, Manhattan dentist Julian Winston. Julian had told Toni from the beginning of their relationship that he had a wife and three children. Unbeknownst to Toni, Julian is not married; and Toni hates lying above all other transgressions. Impressed that Toni had been willing to die over him, Julian decides to marry Toni. However, she is concerned for his wife's well-being, and insists on meeting her to ensure that she has agreed to divorce him and will be taken care of. Julian asks Stephanie Dickinson, his longtime nurse, to pose as his wife. At first unwilling, she ultimately relents, since she has long been in love with her employer.