Harper Valley P.T.A. (1978)

Stella Johnson is a single mother living in the town of Harper Valley. Now most of the townspeople, particularly on the PTA board, think that she is a little too liberal and liberated for ... See full summary »

Directors:

Richard C. Bennett, Ralph Senensky (uncredited)

Writers:

George Edwards (screenplay), Barry Schneider (screenplay)

Stars:

Barbara Eden, Ronny Cox, Nanette Fabray

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbara Eden	...	Stella Johnson
Ronny Cox	...	Willis Newton
Nanette Fabray	...	Alice Finely
Louis Nye	...	Kirby Baker
Audrey Christie	...	Flora Simpson Reilly
Ron Masak	...	Herbie Maddox
John Fiedler	...	Bobby Taylor
Susan Swift	...	Dee Johnson
Pat Paulsen	...	Mr. Harper
Bob Hastings	...	Skeeter
Fay DeWitt	...	Willa Mae Jones (as Fay De Witt)
J.J. Barry	...	Tex
Royce D. Applegate	...	Dutch
Irene Yah-Ling Sun	...	Myrna Wong (as Irene Yah Ling Sun)
Louise Foley	...	Mavis

Storyline

Stella Johnson is a single mother living in the town of Harper Valley. Now most of the townspeople, particularly on the PTA board, think that she is a little too liberal and liberated for them, so they are making things tough for her and her daughter. When the PTA board threaten to have her daughter expelled unless Stella changes her ways, she decides to get back at them by first exposing all their hidden secrets and then pulling all sorts of humiliating pranks on them. When she decides to run for the position of PTA President, they are really infuriated and try to stop her any way they can.

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Plot Keywords:

pta | single mother | prank | mailman | school teacher | 

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Taglines:

The song was scandalous. The movie is hilarious!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Rache der blonden Hexe

Filming Locations:

Lebanon, Ohio, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

April Fools Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alice Finley's red Volkswagen car tag is L 8639 A.

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Goofs

The helicopter's shadow can be seen during an aerial scene.

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Quotes

Herbie Maddox: Did you hear the one about the two newborn babies in the nursery? The girl baby says to the boy baby, Are you a boy baby or a girl baby? He says I'm a boy baby. The girl baby says, How do you know you're a boy baby? At that, the boy baby whips back the blankets and says, "See that? Blue booties!"

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Crazy Credits

Immediately, during the first five seconds, of chapter one, the HBO DVD has This is an "APRIL FOOL'S PRODUCTION phrase, just before Jeannie C. Riley's song begins and as the movie opening credits start beginning.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1989)

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Soundtracks

HARPER VALLEY P.T.A.
Words and music by Tom T. Hall
Sung by Jeannie C. Riley

User Reviews

A fun song makes for a pretty good comedy

Someone had the right idea of visualizing Jeannie C. Riley's fantastic country-western song "Harper Valley P.T.A." with a low-budget and a low brow. A big glossy look and lots of celebrities in the cast would've sapped the raucous spirit of this piece. As party-girl Mrs. Johnson, Barbara Eden is perfectly cast, as are Susan Swift as her somewhat embarrassed daughter and Nanette Fabray as her gal-pal. The picture moves along swimmingly until a chase-climax pops the balloon (it's too routine and badly extended). Still, the details here are just right and the writing is pretty solid--and creating a screenplay from one song can't be easy. **1/2 from ****