Writer/director Peter Markle's first feature film,[1] it was made with a SAG cast recruited from the Guthrie Theater[5] and a nonunion crew.[6] Principal photography was May–September 1980, with additional takes and pickups through December and continuing into August 1981.[4] It was shot on 16 mm,[4] and blown up to 35 mm for theater screenings.[7]
It was filmed in and around Minneapolis, including such landmarks as the Lake of the Isles,[5]Bde Maka Ska,[8] and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.[9] As a low budget, independent film, the homes of director Markle, writer Wells, and actor Schoppert were used as filming locations as well.[10]
A man whose wife has left him starts dating again by placing ads in newspaperpersonal columns. He gets some letters and he dates around the Minnesota area.
New World Pictures distributed the film nationally, and it ran for twelve weeks at St. Louis Park's Cooper Theater.[8] It also received generally positive reviews:[8]The Washington Post called it a "minor but admirably polished and attractive low-budget gem,"[5] and Variety said that the "story really isn't all the profound, but it's told with sincerity and humor, full of likeable, decent people dealing with familiar problems with wigging out."[11]Variety also commended the cast "making their feature film debut ... so natural it could embarrass some Hollywood acting schools."[11] Multiple reviewers appreciated Minneapolis as a fresh setting for filmmaking.[11][12]
Its rental tally was $2 million (equivalent to $6.31 million in 2023).[1]
^ abcTimberg, Bernard; Arnold, Thomas (February 1982). "Voices from the Hinterlands... Part Three". The Independent. Vol. 4, no. 10. pp. 10–11. Starting out with $50,000 of their own money, Pat Wells and Peter Markle raised the balance of the $375,000 needed to produce their film The Personals by this method.
^ abcArnold, Gary (January 22, 1983). "Roller Romance, as Advertised". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. pp. B1, B4.
