Writer-director Blake Edwards came up with the idea for 10 (1979), one of his greatest comedies, one day in Brussels as he was being driven through the city. At a stop sign, he saw a bride in the next car for a fleeting moment, and he wondered what it would be like to see the girl of one's dreams in such a situation -- as she was on her way to be married.

Edwards wrote the script fairly quickly and was excited about it; the Hollywood studios were not. Edwards had not made a successful film without the words "Pink Panther" in the title for many years, and it was not easy to find studio backing. Ultimately, to secure funding he had to agree with the newly formed Orion Pictures, a subsidiary of United Artists, to follow 10 with a caper comedy in the vein of The Pink Panther.

The screenplay at this point centered on a 42-year-old dentist named George who spies a knockout woman -- a "10" -- on her way to her wedding, triggering a midlife crisis that drives him to pursue her on her Mexican honeymoon. To play George, Edwards cast the veteran George Segal. To play George's girlfriend Samantha, Edwards cast his own real-life wife, Julie Andrews, in her first screen role in five years. And to play Jenny, the movie's "10," Edwards tested countless pretty young women -- fruitlessly -- until he overheard someone talking about actor John Derek's beautiful wife, 22-year-old Bo Derek. She had only acted in two films. As author Sam Wasson has recounted, "He arranged to meet her, and when she arrived at the office he took one look and gave her the part. The phrase he used was 'skidding halt.' He never even tested her."

On the eve of production, George Segal withdrew from the movie, allegedly because Edwards refused to cut certain scenes from the script. Some have suggested it was because Segal felt the script favored Bo Derek's character too much. In any event, he and Edwards sued each other, and later settled out of court.

Two weeks later, Dudley Moore had the role. Edwards was acquainted with the British actor from group therapy sessions they both attended, but he was a virtual unknown to everyone else. To take advantage of Moore's proficiency at the piano, Edwards changed the character's occupation from dentist to songwriter. One potential problem was Moore's height; he was 5'2", and Julie Andrews was concerned about their height difference. "I thought it would be very unflattering to Dudley," she later said. "And then Blake reminded me that Dudley always went out with giant ladies without thinking anything about it -- and nor, presumably, did they. That was before I met Dudley. Then once we met there was no problem at all, because he's so damned attractive anyway that I completely forgot all about the height difference." Nonetheless, Edwards still had Moore wear platform shoes to lessen the difference a little.

Moore proved utterly perfect as George, bringing not just uncanny physical comedy and timing, but also a great deal of sensitivity and vulnerability to the part. Edwards said, "He gave an extraordinary quality to the film -- his charm, manner, warmth." Moore reflected, "In 10, I'm really just playing myself. The dilemma that George Webber finds himself in is something that I've struggled with, in one way or another, forever: coming to the reality of things and people."

10 was also a significant film for Julie Andrews, demonstrating that she could pull off a sexy role in an adult comedy -- a complete turnaround from her good-girl image. Edwards would help her shed that image even further in the subsequent films S.O.B. (1981), Victor/Victoria (1982) and The Man Who Loved Women (1983).

Andrews got along swimmingly with Moore, who said, "There's a marvelous English ice about Julie, and you don't have to chip very hard to get at the fire." Andrews and Edwards worked just fine together, too, and the actress later mused, "It's very difficult, when you're doing a love scene with someone and your husband says, 'I'd like you to do it better' -- and you wonder whether he really means it."

An opening scene of a surprise birthday party was originally shot with an array of celebrities making cameos, including Peter Sellers, Jon Voight, Dyan Cannon and Henry Mancini. But they all had trouble staying in character, with Sellers repeatedly calling Moore "Dudley" instead of "George." Edwards had to scrap the original scene and re-shoot it without the celebrities. But for the most part, filming in Los Angeles, Mexico, and Hawaii went well, though the company faced torrential rains in Hawaii.

10 was received brilliantly by critics. The New York Times called it "frequently hilarious... The movie belongs very much to Mr. Moore, who manages to be funny without ever having to appear stupid... George is most funny when most in peril, which is psychological as often as it's physical. His principal failing is to embark on an endeavor that, for one reason or another, he cannot complete. Success through failure, though, is the way comedies like 10 operate... The Edwards gags are almost non-stop and often as funny as anything is his 'Clouzot' movies."

The trade paper Variety deemed the movie "a shrewdly observed and beautifully executed comedy of manners and morals. Edwards has come up with his best film in many years."

Upon its release in October 1979, 10 became a huge and unexpected hit, grossing a then-startling $75 million. Many moviegoers returned to see it several times. And two Oscar nominations followed, for Best Original Score and Best Song ("It's Easy to Say"). Bo Derek became a major sex symbol, but so did an unlikely Dudley Moore. And Blake Edwards' career was rejuvenated. The director made a fortune off the film because when the unknown Dudley Moore replaced the well-known George Segal, Edwards had to take a much lower upfront fee and settle for a percentage of the gross instead -- a move that ultimately paid off handsomely. It was a fitting coda to a filmmaking experience of which Edwards later said: "I have never been so happy in my whole life."

By Jeremy Arnold

SOURCES:
Barbara Paskin, Dudley Moore
Leo Spindle, Julie Andrews: A Bio-Bibliography
Richard Stirling, Julie Andrews: An Intimate Biography
Sam Wasson, A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards