Two students from neighboring colleges in upstate New York are swept up in a tragic romantic interlude calling for a maturity of vision beyond their experience of capabilities. Pookie Adams...
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Title: The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)
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Certificate: GP
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Liza Minnelli | ... | Pookie Adams | |
 |
Wendell Burton | ... | Jerry Payne |
| Tim McIntire | ... | Charlie Schumacher | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Two students from neighboring colleges in upstate New York are swept up in a tragic romantic interlude calling for a maturity of vision beyond their experience of capabilities. Pookie Adams - a kooky, lonely misfit with no family and no place to go, insists on calling all those who won't participate in her world, "weirdos," clings to a quiet studious Jerry, who has the ability to make a choice of living in Pookie's private little world or be accepted by the society that Pookie rejects. Unwittingly, it is through their awkward relationship that Pookie actually prepares Jerry for the world of "weirdos" that she doesn't fit into or wish to be apart of. Written by alfiehitchie
Plot Keywords:
college | oddball | father daughter estrangement | estranged father | planning a vacation |Taglines:
First love is beautiful hurt....if it happens to you once, you're lucky.Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
22 October 1969 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Pookie See more »Filming Locations:
Howell Furniture and Hardware/The Bank Block, 300 S. Euclid Ave., Ontario, California, USA See more »Edit
Box Office
Gross USA:
$13,982,357Company Credits
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
In the original novel, the story takes place over three years. This was shortened to a single school year for the movie. See more »Goofs
In Pookie's written rants against the weirdos of the world, the word is always spelled "wierdo." See more »Quotes
Charlie Schumacher: [privately debunking his ladies-man reputation to Jerry] I'll bet you and me are the only two guys in the dorm who've never been laid.See more »
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A friend of mine once commented that she never liked the TV series "Courtship Of Eddie's Father" because "it was such a lonely little show." I understand what she meant. It wasn't that it was underpopulated, it just exuded an atmosphere of melancholia. "The Sterile Cuckoo" is much the same way. Even though Mary Ann "Pookie" Adams has found her guy, she can't escape the loneliness within. She's desperate, clinging, and beautiful in her need--but a pain to her college boyfriend who quickly outgrows her. There are monologues by Liza Minnelli in this film that are haunting (the story of her father spraying perfume on his bed, or the one with Pookie making a recording for her father out of a love letter she swiped). Most importantly, Minnelli makes Pookie easily identifiable to us. Sure, we get angry at her, frustrated with her childish games, but she never alienates the audience (or director Alan J. Pakula, who stays right with her on the bus as the film fades out). I don't think I've ever seen a portrait of loneliness and need conveyed as well as it is done here. Liza probably deserved an Oscar for this quiet tour-de-force--hers is an amazing achievement that has not been equaled. ***1/2 from ****