Customer Reviews

Cold Turkey [VHS]

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

lucky seven for those of us who fondly recall this underappreciated satire. Keep in mind that it was only in 1966 that Congress first required ciagarette manufactureres to place specific warning labels on cigarette packs and that the last cigarette commercial (for Virginia Slims) was broadcast on "The Tonight Show" at one minute to midnight on January 1, 1971. While there were those who were worried that the lost of ad revenue would destroy network television (which seemed like a good idea at the time), the larger question was how cigarette companies would seek to market their product.

In "Cold Turkey" the idea is advanced by Merwin Wren (Bob Newhart), an advertising executive who convinces the Valiant Tobacco Company to offer $25 million to any town that can stop smoking for thirty days. The idea is that the offer will generate free publicity but that no town in American would ever be able to successfully go cold turkey. But the 4,006 heavy smokers of Eagle Rock, Iowa take up the challenge, led by the thought of all that money and the persuasive efforts of The Reverend Clayton Brooks (Dick Van Dyke), of the Eagle Rock Community Church. The town had been trying to woo back the military, hoping the return of the military industrial complex would help the local cash flow, but that has not panned out.

This film, co-written and directed by Norman Lear, on the cusp of remaking television with "All in the Family," falls into three acts. In the first Reverend Brooks convinces the townspeople to take the pledge, while in the second the members of the community deal with not being able to smoke any more (substituting sex seemed like such a good idea at the time). The climax of the film comes as it looks like Eagle Rock might actually be able to do it and Merwin Wren has to pull out all the stops to make sure that does not happen. There are plenty of laughs and while you have to feel "Cold Turkey" falls short of its true satirical potential, it is still worthy tracking down and checking out.

In many ways "Cold Turkey" is the impoverished cousin of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," with a host of familiar faces such as Tom Poston, Vincent Gardenia, Jean Stapleton, Barnard Hughes, Graham Jarvis, and Edward Everett Horton. The comedy team of Bob (Elliott) and Ray (Goulding) appear in multiple roles of "familiar" Names. Bob is Hugh Upson, David Chetley, and Sandy Van Andy, while Ray plays Walter Chronic, Paul Hardly, and Arthur Lordly (think about it for a while and if you are my age you should get most of those). Add to the mix Randy Newman's first film score, which opens with his song "He Gives Us all His Love."

What brought this movie back to mind was the decision of Hollywood to change the case at the heart of John Grisham's novel "Runaway Jury" from a tobacco case to a gun case. The reasoning was that Hollywood had already done a "cigarette" more with "The Insider," and, as we all know, Hollywood never repeats an idea and companies only pay to have products placed in movies not to have them not placed in movies. However, even a faithful adaptation of Grisham's novel would not be as brutal an indictment of the tobacco industry as "Cold Turkey." For that matter it has a pretty cynical take on small town Americana as well. Of course, in the end the joke is on the people of Eagle Rock, and, by extension, the rest of us.

A hidden gem from the early 70's, funnier by far than all the TV sitcoms and "comedy" films rleased week after week. My favorite scene among many fine ones is where town-drunk Tom Poston delivers a hiarious, whacked-out anatomy lesson describing how if he stops smoking it will inevitably lead to his head falling off. So the civic leaders convince him to leave town for a while, at least until they win their money. With all Norman Lear's Hollywood clout you'd think he'd have convinced Universal to release it on DVD by now. I think there's a big-enough niche market waiting for it to justify its release.

I remember seeing "Cold Turkey" back in the early 70's when I was but a wee lad, but even then, I found it to be very funny. I wouldn't describe it as laugh-out-loud funny, but a smart satire; so don't go in expecting Jim Carrey antics! Instead, you'll get some wonderful character actors (Bob Newhart, Tom Poston, Graham Jarvis, Vincent Gardenia, and Dick Van Dyke) playing some of the town's memorable inhabitants.

The premise is that the Valiant Tobacco Company, in an effort to improve its image and show it's a company that "cares," decides to offer $25 million dollars to any town that can quite smoking for thirty days. The only town in the USA where all the inhabitants have signed a binding pledge is Eagle Rock, Iowa. The tobacco company, taken aback that a town would actually accept their offer, goes into damage control mode as they attempt to foil the townspeople's' efforts.

There are so many great performances, it's hard for me to pick just one. But the one that comes to mind first is that of the late Graham Jarvis as Amos Bush, President of the Christopher Mott Society. His introduction to the society's very special guest, Rear Admiral Nelson Steinschweiker, is priceless!

The movie was written and directed by Norman Lear back in 1971, just before "All in the Family" was unleashed. And I can't forget the wonderful score by Randy Newman. It complements the small town atmosphere so vividly portrayed on screen. If the DVD and the movie soundtrack ever sees the light of day, I'll be first in line to make my purchase! Truly one of my all time favorite movies.

A movie demonstrates comic talent when it generates laughs during the first viewing. A movie demonstrates comic genius when you're laughing during the forty-first viewing. After watching it four times on TV and at least once a year since getting the tape in 1989, I am still holding my sides.

The worst thing about Hollywood comedies is the filmmakers' insistence on padding nearly every one with boring, unfunny garbage - there has to be a "life lesson", or an annoying romance, or scenes where egotistical turds like Chevy Chase or Eddie Murphy force us to watch their "acting chops", or, God help us, their singing (even Animal House had the stupid Karen Allen love triangle). This movie refuses to include any of that stuff. It starts out absurd, but the absurdity then builds and builds until you arrive at the most wonderfully insane climax in motion picture history.

The problems created by movie star egos are avoided here by not casting any movie stars. Instead, baby boomers may enjoy seeing a who's who of 1960's and 1970's television comedy including Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Tom Poston, Jean Stapleton, Vincent Gardenia, Bob Elliot, Ray Goulding and especially Judith Lowry. It even has the guy who narrated "Fractured Fairy Tales" from the Bullwinkle show in the role of silent Hiram Grayson.

Since this was a United Artists release, I guess the reason there is no DVD is because of the Kirk Kerkorian bankruptcy mess. In the meantime, I guess we will have to lobby the cable movie channels to give a younger audience a chance to enjoy this.

This comedy is based on an original idea and executed superbly through great acting and non stop gags.There are no dull moments here.But WHERE IS THE DVD edition? We need one urgently!

It's a shame more people don't remember this film. Made in 1971, it hasn't aged one bit. It remains a devastating (and gut-bustingly funny) commentary on addiction, greed, and industry. How can you go wrong with a script by Larry Gelbart (writer of several classic "M*A*S*H" episodes), direction by Norman Lear (who brought us "All in the Family," "Maude," "The Jeffersons," etc.), and a cast of comic geniuses like Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Edwrad Everett Horton, Jean Stapelton (Edith Bunker on "All in the Family"), Vincent Gardenia, Tom Poston ("Newhart"), and Bob & Ray? You can't. Throw in a score which features some of Randy Newman's best songs from his album "Sail Away," and you have one of the great film comedies.

Saw this movie when it first came out and my wife and I have been looking for a copy of it for years - this film deserves to be distributed in DVD format. Vintage humor. Will be the first on our block to purchase it when its offered.

I'm shocked that this movie isn't more available. I was quite young when I saw it and didn't recognize most of the names that would be more familiar to me now, but I still found it to be bitingly funny satire, and there are scenes in it that I've never forgotten. Get rid of a few of the clunkers that keep getting reissued and make room for this little gem.

One of the funniest films you are likely to see. A town agrees to go smoke-free for a month, to win a tobacco company challenge. You will get to see a little old lady going after commies with a huge civil war era pistol, a man kicking a dog about fifty yards outside a barbershop, and a Walter Cronkite knockoff showing up during a surgical procedure with a round florescent lamp hanging above his head like a halo. With the Randy Newman score, who could ask for anything more?

I love this film, so my rating is really just a review of the DVD. Despite the fact that the case says "full screen", this movie is presented as mentioned on here in what I presume is 1:85/1. While it doesn't present a HUGE improvement over the old VHS framing, it does allow you to see the credits, which the previous version did not. The movie doesn't appear to have been restored in any meaningful way, but it is much clearer than the VHS release. I suspect that the production values were never especially sophisticated, so I didn't expect it to look like a classic Hollywood film. I don't have the laserdisc release so I don't know if this is simply a DVD issue of that transfer. While I would much rather have a pressed commercial DVD release, I'm glad to finally have this movie on DVD and can now retired my old videotape to the trash.