Cold Turkey (film)
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| Cold Turkey | |
|---|---|
 1971 movie poster |
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| Directed by | Norman Lear |
| Produced by | Norman Lear |
| Written by | Norman Lear William Price Fox Jr. |
| Starring | Dick Van Dyke Bob Newhart Paul Benedict Bob Elliott Ray Goulding Vincent Gardenia Edward Everett Horton Barnard Hughes Graham Jarvis Harvey Jason Judith Lowry Tom Poston Pippa Scott Jean Stapleton M. Emmet Walsh |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
| Cinematography | Charles F. Wheeler |
| Editing by | John C. Horger |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | February 19, 1971 |
| Running time | 99 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Cold Turkey is a satirical comedy film released in 1971. It stars a long list of comedic actors, several of whom are well-known to North American television audiences. The film was directed, co-produced and co-written by Norman Lear and is based on the novel I'm Giving Them Up for Good by Margaret and Neil Rau.
Cold Turkey features original music by Randy Newman including "He Gives Us All His Love", a sparsely-arranged ballad with gospel influence that serves as the film's theme song.
The film was made in 1969, but was shelved for two years by the distributor due to concerns about its box-office potential.
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[edit] Plot
As part of a public relations and marketing strategy, a large tobacco company offers $25,000,000 to any town that can stop smoking for thirty days.
Rev. Clayton Brooks (Dick Van Dyke), a kindly minister, leads his community (population 4,006) to accept the challenge and strives to help them find the strength to succeed.
Wanting to see the townspeople fail, the tobacco company sends flunky Merwin Wren (Bob Newhart) to undermine their efforts by targeting the weaker-willed members of the community such as alcoholic Edgar Stopworth (Tom Poston), elderly Dr. Proctor (Barnard Hughes) and anxiety-ridden Mrs. Wappler (Jean Stapleton).
The attention of newscasters (Bob and Ray) turns the community's efforts into a matter of highly-publicized failure or success.
[edit] Setting
Most of the film's action takes place in the fictional community of Eagle Rock, Iowa. Much of the film was actually filmed in the small town of Greenfield, Iowa and many local people were used as extras. This gives the setting a certain authenticity which might be different had it been filmed in a Hollywood soundstage.
[edit] Themes
Cold Turkey is a light-hearted and comedic exploration of serious themes germane to American society including addiction, the power of advertising and the mass media, right wing and left wing politics, personal liberty versus loyalty to one's community, and the relative value of material gain versus personal honor and interpersonal relationships.
[edit] Quotes
- Odie Turman: I'll tell that to a Communist when he H-bombs me! Before you H-bomb me, you go over to that man with a gun and get captured! (immediately followed in the uncensored version by:) You're a bullshit, Amos Bush!
- Edgar Stopworth: The booze bone is connected to the smoke bone...
- Merwin Wren: Big clocks are never wrong!
[edit] Actors
- Veteran actor Edward Everett Horton, whose career began in 1906, played tobacco company president Hiram C. "Mr. Tobacco' Grayson in a wheelchair and without dialogue. This was Horton's last role as he died before the film was released.
- Director Norman Lear has a 3 second cameo approximately 2/3 of the way into the film. He is shown as one of the townspeople sitting down and crying because he is unable to get a cigarette fix.
- Maureen McCormick, best known for her role as Marcia Brady on television's The Brady Bunch, provided the voice of a talking doll in the film.
- The characters played by Bob and Ray are parodies of real-life news personalities: "Walter Chronic" (Walter Cronkite), "Hugh Upson" (Hugh Downs), "David Chetley" (Chet Huntley/David Brinkley), "Arthur Lordly" (Arthur Godfrey), "Paul Hardly" (Paul Harvey). The trailer features different newscasters, "Hardly Reasonable" (Harry Reasoner) and "Mike Walrus" (Mike Wallace), one of whom is played by Paul Dooley (who does not appear in the final film).
