The Pursuit of Happiness (1971)

A young college student is sent to prison as much for killing a pedestrian with his car as for not paying his parking tickets. When the opportunity presents itself he escapes and is ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Mulligan

Writers:

Thomas Rogers (book), Jon Boothe (screenplay),

Stars:

Michael Sarrazin, Barbara Hershey, Arthur Hill

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Sarrazin	...	William Popper
Barbara Hershey	...	Jane Kauffman
Arthur Hill	...	John Popper
Ruth White	...	Mrs. Popper
E.G. Marshall	...	Daniel Lawrence
Robert Klein	...	Melvin Lasher
Sada Thompson	...	Ruth Lawrence
David Doyle	...	James Moran
Barnard Hughes	...	Judge Vogel
Peter White	...	Terence Lawrence
Tom Rosqui	...	District Attorney Keller
William Devane	...	Pilot
Gilbert Lewis	...	Convict George Wilson
Albert Henderson	...	Convict McCardle
Ralph Waite	...	Detective Cromie

Storyline

A young college student is sent to prison as much for killing a pedestrian with his car as for not paying his parking tickets. When the opportunity presents itself he escapes and is subsequently on the run with his girlfriend. But how long can this situation last?

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Plot Keywords:

prison | on the run | college student | escape | new york city | 

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Taglines:

"I don't want to run anymore..."

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexuality, nudity, drug content and brief violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 July 1971 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Buscant la felicitat

Company Credits

Production Co:

Talent Associates

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Mrs. O'Mara: Carelessness, accident, what difference does it make? She's still dead!

User Reviews

Better than you'd probably expect

A lot of the films about disaffected youth in America produced at the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s were very clichéd and cheaply made by people who really didn't know anything about the subject. They were often clumsily and quickly made to cash in on the period's 'youthquake'.

This is not entirely the case here, though it does have its clumsy clichéd moments. By and large, this film was sensitively executed, about a Columbia student, from an old and wealthy New York family, who accidentally knocks down and kills a woman with his car on a very rainy night and where the tragedy leads him.

Michael Sarrazin is good to look at, as his girlfriend played by Barbara Hershey and he turns in an honest and tender performance. The plot is quite thin but the sensitivity and reasonable depth of many of the various performances, notably by his gentle father (Arthur Hill) and bigoted grandmother (Ruth White), give it substance. It's definitely worth watching.