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This weekend sees the release of Snatched, the latest big-studio comedy vehicle for Amy Schumer. But that’s not the big story. The big story is who got cast to play Schumer’s mom: 71-year-old Goldie Hawn, who is coming out of her 15-year retirement in order to once again grace the big screen with her presence. This is important, and not just because we need more great movie stars of Hawn’s age and gender in big movie roles (though we certainly do), but because Goldie Hawn specifically is a screen presence we haven’t ever truly been able to replicate.
From her earliest days on Laugh-In, though her surprise Academy Award for Cactus Flower — her first big-screen role — in 1969, Hawn capitalized on a bubble-headed persona that was undoubtedly captivating and disarming, a personal that Hawn allowed to evolve but that she never really abandoned. Just how much of the on-screen ditz was acting versus just Hawn’s natural personality was always something of a hazy question. There’s a certain breed of movie star where you can never fully tell where the screen persona ends and the real-life actor begins, and all you had to do was watch one Goldie Hawn appearance at an award show to know that she existed in that middle space.
But what that meant for Hawn’s screen roles was that she was always able to surprise her audiences, with surprising depth or warmth or cleverness on the part of her characters. Hawn spent pretty much the entire 1980s and half of the ’90s as a leading lady, fronting films as diverse as Private Benjamin (for which she received her second Oscar nomination) and Death Becomes Her, with her final screen role coming in 2002’s The Banger Sisters. During her prime, she made a bunch of comedies that you could probably call “forgettable” today, but in starring opposite the likes of Burt Reynolds, Chevy Chase, Mel Gibson, and Warren Beatty, she was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the top movie stars of her day.
The reviews on Snatched are not great, but I’ll make the case that it doesn’t matter. We’ve got Goldie Hawn back on a movie screen, and that’s where she needs to stay. And if you’re unconvinced, allow these ten essential movies to convince you.
'Cactus Flower' (1969)
The plot of Cactus Flower is verrry Swingin’ Sixties. Walter Matthau plays a dentist who’s carrying on with a 21-year-old (Hawn) and lying to her that he has a wife and three kids so they won’t have to get serious. This is the kind of movie that casts Ingrid Bergman to play the dupe Matthau gets to pose as his wife in order to fool Hawn, and the whole thing is a partner-swapping sex romp … starring Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman. Look, the ’60s were strange, and this won Goldie Hawn her Oscar, so just accept it.
'Shampoo' (1975)
This Warren Beatty-produced, Hal Ashby-directed film was a standard bearer for the New Hollywood era of the ’70s. Hawn plays Beatty’s girlfriend, though he spends the whole movie cheating on her. She was Golden Globe-nominated for the film, though she and co-star Julie Christie lost to Ann-Margret for Tommy.
'Private Benjamin' (1980)
From a script co-written by Nancy Meyers, Hawn starred as Judy Benjamin, a pampered widow who is essentially tricked into joining the Army when her dreams of wealthy leisure get dashed. While this certainly doesn’t seem like a smart way for the U.S. Armed Services to go about recruiting, it ends up being a brilliant showcase for Hawn to show her chops as an unexpectedly tenacious little doe-eyed creature.
'Swing Shift' (1984)
The late Jonathan Demme directed this film, a throwback to World War II, where Hawn does the Rosie the Riveter thing, playing a woman working at an armaments factory while her husband is off in the Pacific. This would be the film where Hawn met Kurt Russell, with whom she’s been in a relationship ever since.
'Wildcats' (1986)
After Private Benjamin proved that Hawn was well suited to play the fish out of water, particularly in all-male environments. Which led to Wildcats, where she plays a woman who ends up coaching a tough-as-nails high-school football team in a kind of riff on the Bad News Bears.
'Overboard' (1987)
Of all of Hawn’s many broad ’80s comedies, Overboard is decidedly the best. Or at least the most fondly remembered. Hawn and Russell team up again, this time with Garry Marshall in this story of a wealthy, pampered woman (sound familiar?) who ends up with amnesia after she falls off her yacht. She’s then taken advantage of by her sexy lout contractor (Russell), who takes her home and tells her she’s his wife. Is this a movie about a woman with a brain injury being exploited by a man for commercial gain? Sure. But it’s also a really fun comedy, and Hawn and Russell could sell just about anything together.
'Housesitter' (1992)
Housesitter is so great. Hawn plays a con artist who schemes her way into squatting at an empty Connecticut home built by an architect (Steve Martin) who’s hung up on another woman. Martin does his manic-flustered thing, but it’s Hawn who shines most especially as she effortlessly weaves these shaggy-dog stories to get herself out of any number of tight corners.
'Death Becomes Her' (1992)
Honestly, Death Becomes Her is an all-time comedy classic, and anybody who tells you different is a liar who means you real harm. Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep play long-time rivals who each end up taking a secret elixir that promises them eternal youth and beauty … so long as they take care of themselves. Watching two screen legends in their middle-age prime throwing down in a movie that tackles things like the beauty myth and double standards for women is an experience that should be treasured forever.
'The First Wives Club' (1996)
Another modern comedy classic that will bear no ill words! Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton play a trio of New York women whose husbands have all ditched them for younger models, so they set out on a plan for revenge and self-betterment that is just a delight from start to finish. Hawn’s character is a famous Hollywood actress, which allows for a whole bunch of inside jabs and winking nods (her character beat Meryl out for a Golden Globe!), and the sing-along ending is one of the best of Hawn’s career.
'The Banger Sisters' (2002)
Hawn’s last screen appearance for 15 years saw Hawn play an aging groupie who manages to convince her now-buttoned-up former BFF (Susan Sarandon) to revert to their old freewheeling life. It’s not her best movie, but it’s not her worst, either (she got her last of eight Golden Globe nominations for it), and most importantly, it’s now no longer her last.
