Cold Turkey (1971)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Captivating movie !

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The idea for "Cold Turkey" was a good one, and it had a lot of potential. It could have been a first-rate satire, but instead we have a film that goes part way and then losses its steam. So, it comes off like a light-hearted soap opera. The film has a few good laughs, but as another reviewer noted, it begins to wear thin. It's too long for the content. Had there been more meat with the potatoes, it could have become a full-scale satire. I'll grant that it starts in that direction, but most of the film is obvious and repetitious. Great satire sneaks up without warning and sometimes doesn't make much of a noise. It comes out in witty dialog or clever scenes that we viewers don't expect. But this plot, with all the buildup and TV coverage as part of the story leaves little room for anything surprising. So, instead it seems like tongue-in-cheek preaching to the audience. It tells us that this is dumb, that these people are in denial, the pastor is a hypocrite, the people are just grubbers, etc. Those who think this is great satire should watch masterful examples. Start with "Dr. Strangelove," "The Mouse that Roared," "The Great Dictator," and "Ninotchka." Then see how this movie stacks up. There can be no real comparison. For the parts they had to play, most of the cast are OK. Dick Van Dyke, Edward Everett Horton and Tom Poston have been in much better comedies and roles than they have here. Again, it's an idea with a lot of potential. Norman Lear just needed to be a little more creative and imaginative. One shouldn't announce that people are about to see a satire, and then deliver them predictable bits and pieces. Without its comedic punch, satire slips into lecturing and finger pointing. My five stars are for the idea, a few laughs, and the decent effort some of the cast put into their roles.

Cigarette smoking, though legal, is looked upon as an ugly vice with ugly consequences (lung cancer, premature aging, second-hand smoke, etc.) To make a satire of it takes courage and adult sitcom savant Norman Lear ("All In The Family", its many spin-offs, "Sanford & Son", "One Day At A Time", "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman") did it in the form of the scatter shot, brilliantly cruel yet honest fable "Cold Turkey". If you know Mr. Lear's work, you know the battlefield. If not, hold on to your seat.P.R. man Mervin Wren (an underhanded Bob Newhart, a bit away from his first sitcom) convinces his mute, feeble, wheelchair-bound employer, Hiram C. Grayson (comic character actor Edward Everett Horton, his last role here), the head of the Valiant Tobacco Company, to do good things, despite being a producer of bad things, a la dynamite and Nobel Prize creator Alfred Nobel. The "capper", as Wren calls it, is to offer $25 million to any US town if its citizens can quit smoking for thirty days. This puts the company's board of directors in a ****-fit, but Wren calms them down with the fact that no group can go "cold turkey" and they approve of the deal.However, they didn't count on the 4,006 citizens of the dying Iowa hamlet, Eagle Rock, taking the challenge. Led by the religiously ambitious yet vain Rev. Clayton Brooks (Dick Van Dyke, miles away from his titular sitcom and "Mary Poppins"), the people go through withdrawal syndrome. The results? Let's say whoever makes straight-jackets will be richer than the tobacco companies.Based on "I'm Giving Them Up For Good", an unpublished novel by Margaret and Neil Rau, "Cold Turkey", like the animated sitcom "The Simpsons" (note the similarities, people), takes no prisoners in its narrative. Corporate greed; political, entertainment and news manipulation; the naiveté, self-exclusion and self-exploitation of small-town America and the military-industrial complex (a colonel promises the installation of a missile factory, after the town gets the money) are targets, and Mr. Lear, who wrote (shared story credit with William Price Fox Jr.) produced, directed this yarn, is an expert marksman (and a World War II vet to boot). With a misanthropic tone, it's understandable that United Artists, the film's distributor, shelved "Turkey" for two years, but it's a crime, due to Mr. Horton's passing.Lear has a nimble cast; some players would later show up in his sitcoms. Mr. Van Dyke (who starred in the Lear-penned "Divorce, American Style") is righteous to save his town but careless with his wife (Pippa Scott) who's silenced by his pomposity while Mr. Newhart performs his signature buttoned-down mind routine with sly dog confidence and doe-eyed dopeyness. Other players include Tom Poston (Mr. Newhart's second sitcom) as a rich, die-hard lush; Barnard Hughes ("The Lost Boys", a recurring role on the aforementioned "Family") as a nicotine-loving sawbones; Jean Stapleton (also of "Family") as the mayor's neurotic wife; Paul Benedict ("The Jeffersons") as an anti-smoking zen Buddhist; Graham Jarvis (the aforementioned "Hartman") as an anti-"Big Government" wing-nut and (my favorite) Judith Lowry (also of "Hartman") as a foul-mouthed, Commie-hating crone. Vintage radio comics Bob Elliot (real and sitcom dad of Chris Elliot of "Get A Life") and Ray Goulding show up as walking parodies of famous newsmen ("Walter Chronic" and "David Chetley" may confuse young viewers, but there's the Internet!!!). Lear himself has a cameo as a crying man, going without a smoke.On the technical side, there's d.p. Charles F. Wheeler, who captures the sweet rural look of Eagle Rock with some helicopter shots and wholesome, rural street shots (predating the opening sequences of Lear's sitcoms) while editor John C. Horger masterfully employs quick-cuts, like Lou Lombardo on "The Wild Bunch", when displaying the slapstick "withdrawl syndrome"gags (i.e. a husband slaps his wife while driving; a dog's kicked (!); a bowler throws himself onto a lane, crashing into some pins, etc). Award-winning composer Randy Newman (the ToyStory films, "Monk") makes his film debut here; the ironic tune that bookends the film, "He Gives Us All His Love" is dead-on funny, sweet and sad. Bottom line (to borrow a line from Mr. Wren): "Cold Turkey" is about how society can be so dumb. The only heroes are the town's youth; "Eagle Rock, where's your head?" one young man chants in a circle of protest as the town becomes a tourist trap and enjoys being one. Like most of society, its' head is in a hole that's rank. The youth are ignored, but, by the end, they have the last laugh. So will you.

This movie isn't at all what I expected. I thought it would be much more predictable, more cartoonish, or childish, like "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World." Certainly there's a lot of slapstick, and a lot of the references and jokes are dated - but, for the most part, this movie stands up to the test of time, and is skewering so much more than the tobacco industry: the self-righteous Joel-Osteen-like preacher, the Tea-Party-like Christopher Mott Society, the product tie-ins to the city's stunt, the resulting media circus, the attempts by the town to make money off their stunt, the anti-capitalist protesters (Occupy Eagle Rock?), the armed militia, the corporate villains afraid of the movement, the new age guru… it's all here, just like now. This a darkly hilarious, searing, indictment of misplaced American values, most of which we're still embracing today. If you are going to watch, keep in mind that this is a very visual movie - most of the laughs, and the satire, come from what you are seeing, not what's being said, so you have to watch (no multi-tasking!). It's also a movie worth watching only on a channel that won't cut any of the very adult language. The almost-silent Pippa Scott almost steals the film, IMO - she's brilliant, as is her character. Second comes Judith Lowry as the gun-toting Odie. There's only one thing I don't like about the movie: Bob Newhart. He's more creepy than funny, which I didn't think was possible (I'm a big fan).

The evil cigarette magnets (and in this movie they are definitely shown as being evil) have a plan. They want to increase business by denouncing, in a way, smoking. This sounds a lot like all the sick ads we see and hear from the "concerned folks at Philip Morris" that encourage us to kick the habit--yeah, sure! Anyways, back to the plot. The cigarette execs figure that a publicity stunt that makes them appear nice and kind will pay off but what exactly this stunt will be is the question. Finally, they hit upon the idea of trying to convince America that they really want our health to come first and offer any town a huge sum of money ($25,000,000) to give up and remain tobacco-free for one month. They figure it makes them look good AND no city could ever really give up tobacco--thus convincing people that addiction is inevitable.The little town of Eagle Rock, Iowa decides to accept the challenge. No matter how difficult it will be, they need the money and the 4000+ residents imagine all the wonderful things the money could buy. However, not everyone is so excited about the idea and compliance COULD be a problem. So, the town council organizes everyone to police each other AND they later decide to let the Christopher Mott Society (a local right-wing paramilitary group) to patrol the city and its borders. That's because once the month begins, people come pouring in from across the nation. Some come because it's become a media event (complete with Bob and Ray being on hand to report the happenings) and some because they are evil stooges working FOR the tobacco companies to make sure the people DO smoke (lead by Bob Newhart).What I particularly liked was how crazed people became over time. Barnard Hughes was the most likely to begin smoking and his hysterics around trying to find a smoke were hilarious. The preacher, played by Dick Van Dyke, dealt with it by developing a new addiction--as he began making more and more frequent trips home to make whoopie with his wife! And, the Christopher Mott society began to get very scary--treating their job like it was the ultimate battle between Democracy and Communism! In other words, if you smoke or try to get others to smoke, you are the ENEMY and must be stopped at all costs! In particular, I adored the performance of 81 year-old Judith Lowry as they incredibly over-zealous member who wanted to "shoot Commies". You may just remember her as they horrible but hilarious "Mother Dexter" from the Phyllis Show (1975).As the days tick by, the tobacco companies become more and more nervous that the city MIGHT win the challenge--thus convincing people all across the country and even the world that they, too, can stop smoking. So, Bob Newhart's devious plans get wilder and wilder. Ms. Lowry spots his antics and decides Newhart is DEFINITELY a Commie spy! At the very end, Newhart is going to release tons of cigarettes onto the town square just BEFORE the deadline--knowing someone MUST be too overcome to resist. And, as he's releasing the cigarettes Ms. Lowry shoots him! And, in spite of this, the people are too into the moment to even care. In the end, after they won the 25 million, you see garbage and cigarettes strewn everywhere--as well as the still bleeding Bob Newhart! Everyone has gone home and no one thought to call an ambulance or administer help! A very creative and energetic film. While some of the jokes fall a bit flat here and there, the film is so much fun it's well worth seeing.