Testament (1983)

Director:

Lynne Littman

Writers:

Carol Amen (story)
John Sacret Young (screenplay)

Release Date:

December 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It happened in an instant. The televisions went blank, the radios - silent. The cities were gone, the future abandoned. And the only thing they have left to hold onto, is the people they love.

Plot:

Nuclear war in the United States is portrayed in a realistic and believable manner. The story is told...

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear | Nuclear War | Futuristic | Family Relationships | Apocalypse

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Jane Alexander	...	Carol Wetherly
William Devane	...	Tom Wetherly
Rossie Harris	...	Brad Wetherly (as Ross Harris)
Roxana Zal	...	Mary Liz Wetherly
Lukas Haas	...	Scottie Wetherly
Philip Anglim	...	Father Hollis Mann
Lilia Skala	...	Fania Morse
Leon Ames	...	Henry Abhart
Lurene Tuttle	...	Rosemary Abhart
Rebecca De Mornay	...	Cathy Pitkin
Kevin Costner	...	Phil Pitkin
Mako	...	Mike
Mico Olmos	...	Larry
Gerry Murillo	...	Hiroshi
J. Brennan Smith	...	Billdocker
Lesley Woods	...	Lady Mayor
Wayne Heffley	...	Police Chief
William G. Schilling	...	Pharmacist (as William Schilling)
David Nichols	...	Worried Man
Gary Bayer	...	Angry Man
Martin Rudy	...	Dr. Jenson
Jamie Abbott	...	Boy Mayor
Rocky Krakoff	...	Pied Piper
Rachel Gudmundson	...	Nancy
Keri Houlihan	...	Lisa
Pauline Lomas	...	Woman
Jesse Wayne	...	Man in Line
Clete Roberts	...	Newscaster
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lila Kedrova	...	(uncredited)
Helen Kelly	...	Woman in line (uncredited)

Directed by
Lynne Littman

Writing credits
Carol Amen		(story "The Last Testament")
John Sacret Young		(screenplay)

Produced by
Andrea Asimow	....	associate producer
Jonathan Bernstein	....	producer
Lynne Littman	....	producer

Original Music by
James Horner

Cinematography by
Steven Poster

Film Editing by
Suzanne Pettit

Casting by
Margery Simkin

Production Design by
David Nichols

Art Direction by
Linda Pearl

Set Decoration by
Waldemar Kalinowski

Costume Design by
Julie Weiss

Makeup Department
Marilyn Poucher	....	hair stylist
Tonya Blackmore Wexler	....	makeup artist (as Tonya Wexler)

Production Management
Peter Cornberg	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Bogart	....	first assistant director
Richard Graves	....	second assistant director
William Hassell	....	first assistant director
Ralph S. Singleton	....	second assistant director (as Ralph Singleton)

Art Department
Cynthia Carr	....	assistant props
Cheryl Cutler	....	assistant art director
Waldemar Kalinowski	....	construction coordinator
Gregory Mabry	....	swing gang
Kevin McDermott	....	swing gang
Robin L. Miller	....	property master (as Robin Miller)
Steve Olson	....	swing gang
Melody Ramirez	....	swing gang
Eric Zimmerman	....	swing gang
George Goode	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gary Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lee Alexander	....	sound mixer
Douglas B. Arnold	....	boom operator (as Doug Arnold)
Don Digirolamo	....	sound re-recording mixer
Roberta Doheny	....	sound effects
Lars Nelson	....	sound effects
Larry Stensvold	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Chuck E. Stewart	....	special effects (as Chuck Stewart)

Stunts
Jesse Wayne	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Herb Ault	....	grip
James R. Bagdonas	....	additional first assistant camera (as James Bagdonas)
Ray Boyle	....	gaffer
Martin Conn	....	lightflex consultant
Rick Cutler	....	grip
Michael S. Endler	....	second assistant camera (as Michael Endler)
Michael E. Gips	....	electrician (as Michael Gips)
Melinda Sue Gordon	....	still photographer
John Koester	....	camera operator
Michael E. Matteson	....	key grip (as Michael Matteson)
Charles Minsky	....	additional photographer
William Moffitt	....	additional camera operator
Frank Montoya	....	best boy
John Page	....	best boy
Norman Parker	....	first assistant camera
Allen Smith	....	grip (as Al Smith)
Roger Tonry	....	electrician
Joseph A. Unsinn	....	vtr operator (as Joe Unsinn III)

Casting Department
Susie Johnson	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Csilla Márki	....	costumer: women (as Csilla Marki)
John Sowle	....	costumer: men

Editorial Department
Cheryl Bloch	....	assistant editor
Susanne Gervay	....	negative cutter
Lynn Goodhall	....	apprentice film editor (as Lynn Goodhill)
Arthur Tostado	....	color timer (as Art Tostado)

Music Department
Shawn Murphy	....	music recording engineer
William Saracino	....	music editor
Joel Sill	....	music supervisor
James Horner	....	conductor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Bill Nuss	....	driver: camera car

Other crew
Laura Blumenthal	....	production assistant
Becky Butler	....	production assistant
George Cooper	....	stand-in
Laurie Gilbert	....	production assistant
John Kaufman	....	production assistant
Pauline Lomas	....	stand-in
Jay May	....	production assistant
Mark Mentzer	....	production assistant
Maggie Mills	....	production assistant
Lyle Ann Morris	....	stand-in (as Lyle Morris)
Barbara Myerhoff	....	project consultant
Gladys Nelson	....	labor representative
Gladys Nelson	....	teacher
Sarah Olson	....	production assistant
Guy Pohlman	....	production assistant
Jenise Rogers	....	production accountant
C.D. Tiger	....	script supervisor
Cassandra Wilson	....	production office coordinator
Nancy Zearfoss	....	location manager

Thanks
Stuart Benjamin	....	special thanks
Ben Bennett	....	special thanks
Teresa Carr	....	special thanks
Norman Fleishman	....	special thanks
Robert Goldstein	....	special thanks (as Robert Goldston)
Timothy J. Hayes	....	special thanks
Jean Hill	....	special thanks
Robert Knudson	....	special thanks (as Buzz Knudsen)
Lindsay Law	....	special thanks
Leslie Linder	....	special thanks
Geralyn Miller	....	special thanks
Rita Riggs	....	special thanks
Heather Sheets	....	special thanks
Truman Van Dyke	....	special thanks
Jerry Vernig	....	special thanks
Ron Ward	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• American Playhouse
• Entertainment Events
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1983) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1984) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• CIC Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• High Noon Transportation  mobile dressing rooms
• Hill Production Services  camera equipment provided by
• J's Fine Art Inc.  sound effects
• Keylight  location equipment
• Lightflex America Inc.  lightflex
• Movie Magic  opticals
• Moviecam  camera equipment provided by
• Pacific Title  titles
• Petite Caterers  catering
• Tavoularis Design  title design
• The McBride School  special thanks
• The People of Sierra Madre  special thanks
• Todd-AO Studios  post-production services

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | Sweden:11 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Sierra Madre, California, USA

Company:

American Playhouse

Trivia:

Final film of Lurene Tuttle.

Quotes:

Newscaster: This is San Francisco. We have lost our New York signal. Radar sources confirm the explosion of nuclear devices there, in New York, and up and down the East Coast. Ladies and gentlemen, this is real. This is...
Emergency Broadcast System Announcer #1: [interrupting with a high-pitched tone] We interrupt this program at the request of the White House. This is a national emergency. This is an Emergency Action Notification. I repeat, we interrupt this program at the request of the White House. Do not use your telephone. Telephone lines should be kept open for official use. Important instructions will follow.
Carol Wetherly: [telephone rings] Hello? Tom? Hello?
Emergency Broadcast System Announcer #2: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
[the TV suddenly goes dark, a blinding flash appears outside the living room window, and air raid sirens begin to wail]
Brad Wetherly: Mom?
Mary Liz Wetherly: Mom?
Carol Wetherly: Get away from that window!
Scottie Wetherly: Mommy!
Carol Wetherly: Get down on the floor. Get down!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Features "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show" (1978)

Soundtrack:

This Is It

A small, brilliant gem of a film that still holds up after 20 years

I first saw "Testament" when it came out in 1983. At the time, I was 30 years old and the mother of a two year-old son. As a child of the Cold War years, I have always been interested in films about that most unthinkable event: the detonation of a nuclear bomb or bombs somewhere on our fragile planet. If you are, too, you must watch "Testament" (and another small gem of a slightly earlier era called "Fail-Safe.")

This is a wonderful film that slowly, unbearably reveals what happens in the small, idyllic town of Hamlin after a full-scale nuclear exchange between the superpowers wipes out a large part of America. The town and its citizens, including the Weatherly family, escape initial destruction. But slowly the bonds that hold western societies together (electricity, communication, fresh food, medical help) begin to fray and ravel. There is no television. Batteries to power transistor radios suddenly become more valuable than $20 bills in a town where, suddenly, there's nothing left to buy.

The story and scenes are permeated with a sense of enormous loss. A family loses its husband and father who simply walked out the door, waving a breezy goodbye one morning, and disappeared into the holocaust. All his wife, Carol, and two children have left of him are their memories and some flickering images on home movies, glimpses not just of a lost loved one, but of a lost -- and loved -- world.

A school play about the Pied Piper was in rehearsal before catastrophe hit, and, desperate to recapture some normalcy and to divert the children's attention from a reality to horrible to contemplate, the town decides to go on with the show.In the earlier rehearsal scenes, life was normal, the future shone brightly in the children's faces. Now, as the parents watch the performance, they see no future for these beautiful innocents. To me, this is the key scene of the film: the contrast between what these people once had and what has been lost is staggering. It makes you want to go outside, smell the air, marvel at the full supermarket shelves and the working telephone lines. (This is a gift that the movie gives its audience which goes far beyond entertainment and approaches enlightenment.)

Beyond the wonderful writing, direction and performances, I love the tiny touches in the story. For example, there's the foreshadowing, the implicit warning contained in the presence of a minor character, a little Japanese boy with Down Syndrome who is cared for by the town after his father dies. The child's name is Hiroshi. Pay attention, the script commands us in a whisper: Hiroshima happened once, but it can happen again, and it can happen to you as well as "them."

In the end, the movie is a testament to this undeniable fact, a testament to the stupidity of men who continue building ever-larger, more lethal means of mass destruction, and finally, a testament to the strength of mothers like the character of Carol Weatherly who have no choice but to love and protect their children no matter what comes.