Parker v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

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Parker v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. | 474 P.2d 689 (1970)

Shirley MacLaine is a Hollywood legend. She’s been nominated for six Oscars, and won Best Actress for her 1983 performance in Terms of Endearment. But one of her lesser-known accomplishments happened in Parker versus Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, when she helped clarify the legal principle of mitigation of damages.

In 1965, Twentieth Century-Fox, a Hollywood movie studio, signed a contract with MacLaine. For $750,000, she was to star in a song-and-dance musical film called Bloomer Girl. The contract also gave her script approval and the right to approve the director.

But the studio subsequently cancelled that project, and instead offered her the female lead in a Western-type drama, Big Country, Big Men. MacLaine rejected the offer. Under her legal name, Shirley MacLaine Parker, she then sued the studio for the $750,000 due under the Bloomer Girl contract.

In its answer, the studio admitted it breached the Bloomer Girl contract. But it argued that it didn’t owe MacLaine anything because she’d rejected its substitute offer for Big Country, Big Men, at the same salary. MacLaine sought summary judgment, arguing that the studio admitted it breached the contract, and couldn’t raise a genuine issue of material fact regarding any defense. The trial court granted MacLaine’s motion, and awarded her the full contract amount. The studio then appealed to the California Supreme Court.

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