Cold Turkey (1971)

Hoping for positive publicity, a tobacco company offers $25 million to any American town that quits smoking for 30 days. Amidst a media frenzy, Eagle Rock, Iowa accepts the challenge while the company's PR man tries to sabotage the effort.

Director:

Norman Lear

Writers:

Norman Lear (screen story), William Price Fox Jr. (screen story),

Stars:

Dick Van Dyke, Pippa Scott, Tom Poston

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dick Van Dyke	...	Rev. Clayton Brooks
Pippa Scott	...	Natalie Brooks
Tom Poston	...	Mr. Stopworth
Edward Everett Horton	...	Hiram C. Grayson
Bob Elliott	...	Hugh Upson / David Chetley / Sandy Van Andy (as Bob)
Ray Goulding	...	Walter Chronic / Paul Hardly / Arthur Lordly (as Ray)
Vincent Gardenia	...	Mayor Wappler
Barnard Hughes	...	Dr. Proctor
Graham Jarvis	...	Amos Bush
Jean Stapleton	...	Mrs. Wappler
Barbara Cason	...	Letitia Hornsby
Judith Lowry	...	Odie Turman
Sudie Bond	...	Cissy
Helen Page Camp	...	Mrs. Watson
Paul Benedict	...	Zen Buddhist

Storyline

Reverend Brooks leads the town in a contest to stop smoking for a month, But some tobacco executives don't want them to win, and try everything they can to make them smoke. If townspeople don't go nuts, from wanting a cigarette, or kill each other from irritation and frustration, they will win a huge prize.

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Plot Keywords:

contest | cigarette smoking | tourist attraction | air base | craziness | 

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Taglines:

What happens when an evil tobacco company offers $25,000,000 to an entire town to stop smoking for thirty days? What happens when 4,006 heavy smokers from Eagle Rock, Iowa take up the challenge?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for smoking content throughout and brief strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der 25 Millionen Dollar Preis

Filming Locations:

Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tandem Productions, DFI

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bulk of the film was shot in Greenfield, Iowa, with many of the actual residents playing extras in many scenes.

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Goofs

When the church service is being televised, the choir boy in the upper right is replaced in later takes.

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Quotes

Edgar Stopworth: How old do you think I am?
Rev. Clayton Brooks: Oh, 42?
Edgar Stopworth: No. I'm 42.

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Soundtracks

"Hail to the Chief"
(uncredited)
Written by James Sanderson
Played during band medley

User Reviews

A diamond that deserves the DVD treatment

I can't understand why a film with such big names, both in front of and behind the camera, is not available on DVD. Is there a conspiracy? Does "Big Tobacco" not want anyone to see this? I understand this is a "niche" film, but c'mon, surely there is a small distributor willing to pick up the rights and get this into the hands of the people? Dick Van Dykes name alone should be enough to warrant a release, along with Bob Newhart and Norman Lear. I guess that unless there are some big, firey explosions or gratuitous nudity (not that there's anything wrong with that)then something isn't worthy of a DVD release. This is a well-acted and scripted satire of the culture of smoking and gives great insight into how smoking was treated 35 years ago.