Seldom was an Oscar more deserved than that won for this film by Ellen Burstyn, who gives one of cinema's great performances as the attractive if dowdy widow, who falteringly sets out to make a new life for herself and her 11-year-old son (Alfred Lutter) after her husband dies in an accident. Although Burstyn dominates the film, the action that swirls around her is crammed with laughs and truths that deserve almost equal praise. Alice enjoys a unique, just-right relationship with her son, and her four-letter words are so rare that they're a delightful part of the wry, anything-goes humour that keeps her afloat on the bilge of the world. Robert Getchell's screenplay never opts entirely for the soft centre, and Martin Scorsese's direction rightly and sensibly just pays homage to it, seeing that it gets its full justice. A completely original screen classic.