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The Great Santini (1979) 7.1
As he approaches manhood, Ben Meechum struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father, an aggressively competitive, but frustrated marine pilot. Director:Lewis John Carlino |
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Title: The Great Santini (1979)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Robert Duvall | ... |
Lt. Col. 'Bull' Meechum
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| Blythe Danner | ... |
Lillian Meechum
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| Michael O'Keefe | ... | ||
| Lisa Jane Persky | ... |
Mary Anne Meechum
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Julie Anne Haddock | ... |
Karen Meechum
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| Brian Andrews | ... |
Matthew Meechum
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| Stan Shaw | ... |
Toomer Smalls
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| Theresa Merritt | ... |
Arrabella Smalls
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| David Keith | ... |
Red Petus
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Paul Mantee | ... |
Col. Virgil Hedgepath
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| Michael Strong | ... |
Col. Varney
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Bennett Liss | ... |
Cpl. Atcherly
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Joe Dorsey | ... |
Coach Spinks
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David Frankham | ... |
Capt. Weber
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Jan Stratton | ... |
Mrs. Weber
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
In 1962, the Marine Corps family, the Meechums - parents Lieutenant Colonel Wilbur "Bull" Meechum and Lillian Meechum, and their four children Ben Meechum, Mary Anne Meechum, Karen Meechum and Matthew Meechum - are moving like they do most years, this time to Beaufort, South Carolina. Bull - nicknamed "the Great Santini" - is known as a great pilot, but has gotten into much trouble in the past for his sophomoric behavior. He runs his family much as a military commander, where they are all to obey his orders without question. Everything he does within the family context he reasons is to build character, but in reality everything ends up being about him. The oldest Ben, approaching manhood, is the one of his offspring who has the greatest issue with his father. Ben wants his respect, but isn't sure if he really loves him. As Ben goes through his senior year in high school, his attempts to play varsity basketball and an incident between black Toomer Smalls - his friend and their cook ... Written by Huggo
Taglines:
The bravest thing he would ever do was let his family love him.Genres:
DramaParents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
26 October 1979 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
The Gift of Fury See more »Filming Locations:
Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA See more »Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Technicolor)
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Did You Know?
Trivia
On the morning of the Academy Award nominations in 1981, when the movie got nods for actor and supporting actor, author Pat Conroy received a phone call from him father who told him "You and me got nominated for Academy Awards, your mother didn't get squat". See more »Goofs
During the last scene of Bull Meechum with his family on the porch prior to the Prom the youngest son is wearing a jacket covered in aviation patches. One of these patches is for the F-14 Tomcat which first flew in 1970 and wasn't operationally deployed until 1974. The film is set in 1962. See more »Quotes
Lillian Meechum: I am not going anywhere at 3:00 in the morning. No, I am not moving this is ridiculous! It doesn't make any sense!See more »
This was the first "sleeper" movie I ever discovered. I had read _The Water Is Wide_ and seen _Conrack_ but I had never heard of this film when I found it on cable. I was captivated by it from the point where I turned it on and watched it to the end. Then I caught it again and watched it all the way through. I watched it again and again. I tried to find out something about it and found that it was released in theaters under the name _The Ace_ and had bombed. How on earth could there be a movie so wonderful that I had never heard of? I think it's because it is TOO good. Movie audiences want their bad guys to be bad and their good guys to be good. Without the white and black hats to signal who they are supposed to be, the complex, realistic characters confuse general audiences. It was painful in parts, just the same way life is, and just like life, it was joyful, horrifying, funny, gross, wonderful, and hopeful. It was just too real for most people.
Pat Conroy is the greatest living writer. This movie is what a movie should be.
Because of this movie, I buy every movie channel that the cable company offers. I couldn't miss the blockbusters if I tried. But I find more than my money's worth each month in wonderful movies that were just too good for the general movie-going public.