Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

Paul Mazursky’s directorial début, co-written with Larry Tucker, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) is a satiric comedy of manners focusing on two Eisenhower-era couples (Robert Culp, Natalie Wood, Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon) who must confront the sexual revolution of the 1960s. They do this with varying levels of timidity and gusto, and the result is a sharp yet generous-spirited send-up of social mores, spectacularly acted by its quartet of anxious protagonists.