Dec 10, 2025
Murphy's Romance premiered in New York City on 10 December 1985.
It is reported that Columbia Pictures only agreed to make the film because it had the same team as 1979's Norma Rae - director Martin Ritt, screenwriters Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch (based on Max Schott's novel) and star Sally Field - but demanded an actor with "greater box-office allure" opposite Field. Field and Ritt insisted on James Garner (who the studio did not think qualified).
Murphy's Romance was a commercial and critical success, and Garner received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.