Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is a 1969 comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky. It stars Robert Culp and Natalie Wood as Bob and Carol Sanders, and Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon as Ted and Alice Henderson. The film tells the story of two couples who undergo a transformation in their sexual and emotional lives after attending a weekend retreat.
Bob and Carol, an affluent couple, attend a retreat where they are encouraged to embrace their sexual and emotional impulses. They return home enlightened and eager to share their newfound beliefs with their friends. Ted and Alice, who are more conservative, are skeptical at first but soon find themselves drawn to the same kind of self-discovery.
As the two couples explore their newly found sexual and emotional freedom, they begin to question the traditional values that they had held in the past. The film explores the themes of love, marriage, and social conformity, and the tensions that can arise when individuals challenge these norms.
The film was praised for its frank portrayal of sexuality and its exploration of the changing social mores of the time. It received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice remains a landmark film of the countercultural era and a classic of American cinema.