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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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:
Add content advisory for parents »
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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
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Jerry Payne: [confused] What?
'Pookie' Adams: [quieter, more seductively] Do you want to strip me?
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Alan J. Pakula recalled that Liza Minnelli became very attached to him as a father-figure on the set, always asking Pakula to tell her the story's plot in child-like terms before a big scene was to be shot. He also said that Liza carried around the book by John Nichols "like a Bible" until she knew the character of Pookie Adams inside and out. See more »Goofs
When they are walking by the cows he's telling her about all the stuff he read in her letters and she's wearing a short skirt with a pink blouse. Then they show them from the back in a far away shot as they walking away from the cows and their clothing has changed to the ones they were wearing when they were flying the kite. See more »Quotes
'Pookie' Adams: [a little brassily, during her first tryst with Jerry] So, would you like to peel a tomato?Jerry Payne: [confused] What?
'Pookie' Adams: [quieter, more seductively] Do you want to strip me?
See more »
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Liza Minnelli...That name conjures up so many images: Her mother, Judy, elegance, beauty, humor, and sometimes pain. Well, she sheds all of them except the last 2. In this role as the odd Pookie Adams, a girl who is afraid of "weirdos" but who in a sense really is, Liza Minnelli has to pull together a wonderful (Academy Award Nominating) part that will tug at your heart and look at the world through HER eyes. Pookie meets Jerry Payne (Wendell Burton) and goes through a couple of sly tricks to make sure that he never forgets her. Jerry falls in love with this strange but lovable girl. That is until her fear of him leaving makes her over-protective and a little pushy. It begins to drive him away. But what movie on teenage lovers is really convincing? Well, these two sure are convincing. Sometimes you just want to strangle Pookie and other times you just want to jump into the screen and hold her close and say "It's gonna be all right". I rated this a 7 because there was something missing and I felt it. But otherwise, Liza Minnelli fans, this is way worth it!