The Lathe of Heaven (TV 1980)

George Orr, a man whose dreams can change waking reality, tries to suppress this unpredictable gift with drugs. Dr. Haber, an assigned psychiatrist, discovers the gift to be real and ... See full summary »

Directors:

Fred Barzyk, David R. Loxton

Writers:

Diane English, Ursula K. Le Guin (novel),

Stars:

Bruce Davison, Peyton E. Park, Niki Flacks

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Davison	...	George Orr
Peyton E. Park	...	Mannie Ahrens (as Peyton Park)
Niki Flacks	...	Penny Crouch
Kevin Conway	...	Dr. William Haber
Vandi Clark	...	Aunt Ethel
Bernadette Whitehead	...	George's Mother
Jo Livingston	...	George's Father
Jane Roberts	...	Grandmother
Tom Matts	...	Grandfather
Frank Miller	...	Parole Officer
Joye Nash	...	Woman on Subway
Gena Sleete	...	Woman on Subway
Margaret Avery	...	Heather LeLache
Ben McKinley III	...	Orderlie
R.A. Mihailoff	...	Orderlie

Storyline

George Orr, a man whose dreams can change waking reality, tries to suppress this unpredictable gift with drugs. Dr. Haber, an assigned psychiatrist, discovers the gift to be real and hypnotically induces Mr. Orr to change reality for the benefit of mankind --- with bizarre and frightening results.

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Plot Keywords:

dream | psychiatrist | alternative reality | interracial relationship | utopia quest | 

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Thirteen/WNET

Country:

USA West Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

La rueda celeste

Filming Locations:

Agate Beach, Oregon, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Taurus Film, WNET Channel 13 New York

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Unseen for twenty years because of a copyright issue: in one scene, George Orr plays a record of The Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." The film was finally allowed to be rebroadcast when The Beatles' version of the song was replaced with one sung by a different vocalist.

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Quotes

George Orr: Did you ever happen to think, Dr. Haber, that there might be other people who dream the way I do? That reality is being changed out from under us, replaced, renewed, all the time -- only we don't know it? Only the dreamer knows it, and those who know his dream. If that's true, I guess we're lucky not knowing it. This is confusing enough.

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Connections

Remade as Lathe of Heaven (2002)

User Reviews

The rare SF movie that does it right

Science fiction is a literature of ideas. Science fiction movies, however, are usually typified by their lack of ideas (although often fun for all that).

The novel "The Lathe of Heaven" was chock full of ideas, and the movie didn't sell the book short. Just about everything in Le Guin's vision about how the road to, uhhh, insomnia is paved with good intention came right across in this TV movie adaptation. I wish I could see it again.

Science fiction wouldn't have such a reputation for silliness if other movies took such pains to match the quality of "The Lathe of Heaven's" intellectual effects instead of matching "Star Wars's" special effects.