Directed by Robert Altman • 1969 • United States, Canada
Starring Sandy Dennis, Michael Burns, Susanne Benton

Though often overshadowed by its follow-up, MASH, Robert Altman’s third directorial effort was in many ways an artistic breakthrough for him: the first in which his experimental, iconoclastic vision was unleashed in full force. A precursor of sorts to the fractured psychodrama of IMAGES and 3 WOMEN, THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK is an unnerving immersion into the world of Frances (Sandy Dennis), a wealthy, frustrated spinster who meets a mysterious young homeless man (Michael Burns) in a park and invites him to stay in her apartment. What at first seems an act of benevolence takes on frightening dimensions as Frances’s obsession with the boy grows.