Mr. & Mrs. Bridge is a 1990 American drama film based on the novels by Evan S. Connell of the same name. It is directed by James Ivory, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film stars real-life couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward as Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. The character of Mrs. Bridge is based on Connell's mother, Ruth Connell. Plot The story of a traditionally minded family living in the Country Club District of Kansas City, Missouri, during the 1930s and 1940s. The Bridges grapple with changing mores and expectations. Mr. Bridge (Paul Newman) is a lawyer who resists his children's rebellion against the conservative values he holds dear. Mrs. Bridge (Joanne Woodward) labors to maintain a Pollyanna view of the world, against her husband's emotional distance and her children's eagerness to adopt a world view more modern than her own. Cast Paul Newman as Walter Gene Bridge Joanne Woodward as India Bridge Margaret Welsh as Carolyn Bridge, daughter of India and Walter Kyra Sedgwick as Ruth Bridge, daughter of India and Walter Robert Sean Leonard as Douglas Bridge, son of Walter and India Simon Callow as Dr. Alex Sauer, psychiatrist Remak Ramsay as Virgil Barron, Grace's husband Blythe Danner as Grace Barron, India's best friend Austin Pendleton as Mr. Gadbury, India's art instructor Gale Garnett as Mabel Ong, India's Friend Saundra McClain as Harriet Rogers, maid for the Bridge family Diane Kagan as Julia, Walter's secretary Robyn Rosenfeld as Genevieve, Dr. Sauer's girlfriend Marcus Giamatti as Gil Davis, Carolyn's husband Melissa Newman as Young India at the pool Production Joanne Woodward read the first of Mr. Connell's two novels when it was published in 1959, and for many years she hoped to adapt it into a television production. Originally, she did not intend to play the character of Mrs. Bridge due to the difference in age, but by the late 1980s, when developing the project proved difficult, that was no longer the case. After a dinner at which James Ivory met the Newmans for the very first time, they decided to adapt the books into a feature-length film. After a script was finished, Paul Newman agreed to play Mr. Bridge which brought in enough financing to shoot the film. Estimated at $7.5 million, with $500,000 immediately earmarked on interest payments for loans, it was considered a very modest budget, but it