Cold Turkey (1971)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Truly Dreadful Film

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

One of the really funny comedies. It's hard to make people laugh, but this movie does it effortlessly. When I saw this film, I started to really appreciate Dick Van Dyke. The script is great. The scene when a bunch of kids run in front of Dick Van Dyke wearing the mask with his face on is a great piece of pop art. This film could cure depression.

Its no wonder that so many sitcom stars of the 60's, 70's and 80's are in this Norman Lear farce with overtones of a 1947 Robert Riskin/William Wellman disappointment called "Magic Town". In that James Stewart/Jane Wyman film, a small community is thrust into the spotlight when it is named as the perfect All-American town which makes its residents cocky and brings on a tourist explosion that ruins the quaintness of it. "Cold Turkey" adds on the idea that if they can stop smoking for 30 days, they will get $25 million, enough to turn this dying community around. The people get greedy, fighting over how to spend the money EVEN before they have it, go bonkers from lack of a puff, over-eating (Jean Stapleton), having too much sex (Dick Van Dyke and Pippa Scott) or accusing everybody passing through of being communists (Judith Lowry). Sounds funny, right? Well, it isn't as funny as all that. Lowry, of course, was more famous than the Little Old Lady from Pasadena in the 70's, making cursing seniors a favorite gag. SHE is funny and adorable, the grandmother we'd all like to have. Over all, the movie is not, and to star such a gifted clown like Dick Van Dyke, that is a major disappointment.The problem is that most of these townspeople are not likable at all; I wouldn't want Barnard Hughes as my doctor, while Jean Stapleton simply coughing and sneezing all over husband Vincent Gardenia and Van Dyke really seems to have no point. I love all of the sitcoms these people have appeared in, a treasure trove of Lear and Carl Reiner classics that show what drivel we have on TV today. In addition to those I mention, there's Tom Poston (as the town drunk who simply decides to leave so he can continue his binge while everybody else suffers), Bob Newhart (as the evil cigarette company executive responsible for the contest) and Paul Benedict in a freaky performance as a Zen Buddhist. The strangest performance, though, is that lovable character actor Edward Everett Horton, looking as if he just swallowed an entire lemon whole, who doesn't say a word. Yes, there are some laughs and more minor TV actors whose faces you know and names you don't that you can shake a cigar at. This will never be a threat to the memory of all of the classic 70's comedies of Mel Brooks and Blake Edwards. The conclusion with political and environmental overtones comes out of left field and is just bizarre.

Every now and then some naive or scheming corporate executive comes along with such a stupid or outrageous idea to boost sales of a particular product, he believes no one can actually overcome his incredible challenge. Such is the basis for this film called " Cold Turkey." In the spirit of trying to imitate notable figures like Dr. Albert Schweizer or Alfred Nobel, Merwin Wren (Bob Newhart) a Valiant Tobacco executive convinces Hiram C. Grayson (Edward Everett Horton) of a brilliant, though patently ludicrous idea to increase sales, while at the same time appearing philanthropic and noble. His challenge to America is to offer a $25,000 million dollar prize to any city in America which can quit smoking for thirty days. Taking the challenge is a baptist minister (Dick Van Dyke) a Rev. Clayton Brooks, in Little Rock Iowa. Once the town is enrolled in the pledge, the fun begins. What transpires in the following weeks is sheer lunacy for the towns people, the Tobbaco company and the news media. Although the test is one of physical discipline, emotional struggle and civic patriotic commitment, it transforms into one of social upheaval when all involved realize the prize and it's future personal potential. This is a superb achievement in films and noted as Edward Everette Horton's final film. Tom Poston, Vincent Gardenia, Barnard Hughes and Jean Stapleton are simple magnificent. Excellent family fare and easily recommended. ****

Before he changed prime time television forever as the creator of shows like ALL IN THE FAMILY,MAUDE,THE JEFFERSON,GOOD TIMES,and ONE DAY AT A TIME, Norman Lear hit a bullseye as the director and co-writer of COLD TURKEY, a savage black comedy which takes a wicked swipe at the tobacco industry, thanks to a razor sharp screenplay and a first rate comic cast. This dark satire follows what happens when a tobacco company, so secure about the popularity of their product, decides to announce a nationwide contest where they agree to award $25,000,000 to any town where the entire population of the town can quit smoking for 30 days. A small mid western hamlet called Eagle Rock,Iowa decides to take up the challenge, led by the town's energetic minister, Rev. Clayton Brooks (superbly played by Dick Van Dyke). Some citizens are quick to balk at Brooks' challenge because he doesn't smoke and therefore it is no sacrifice to him. Brooks, a former smoker, silences these nay-sayers by agreeing to start smoking again until the contest starts, getting re-addicted and therefore making the same sacrifice he's asking the citizens of Eagle Rock to make. This lays the foundation for some outrageously funny scenes,including Brooks' efforts to get one citizen (Tom Poston) to participate who refuses not to mention how Brooks deals with finding a substitute for smoking after the contest starts. The first rate supporting cast includes Pippa Scott as Mrs. Brooks, Vincent Gardenia as the Mayor, Edward Everett Horton as the head of the Tobacco company, Jean Stapleton as the mayor's wife, and memorable comic bits also contributed by Bob and Ray, Barnard Hughes, Barbara Cason, Graham Jarvis, Judith Lowry, and Paul Benedict. A smart and nearly forgotten comedy classic that still holds up, thanks to the genius that is Norman Lear.