They All Laughed

They All Laughed is a 1981 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Ben Gazzara, Audrey Hepburn, John Ritter, Colleen Camp, Patti Hansen, and Dorothy Stratten. The film was based on a screenplay by Bogdanovich and Blaine Novak. It takes its name from the George and Ira Gershwin song of the same name. The film is set in New York City, largely filmed outdoors on the streets, and tells the story of three private detectives investigating two beautiful women for infidelity. The detectives eventually wind up romantically pursuing the women, who turn the tables on them. The film is also a candid look at love and sex in New York City in the early 1980s. In the aftermath of Stratten's murder in 1980, Bogdanovich bought the film's theatrical rights for a late 1981 theatrical release, which eventually led to his bankruptcy in 1985. It was Bogdanovich's last film project for several decades that he pitched himself until his last film She's Funny That Way in 2014, having become a director-for-hire in his succeeding projects.