Where's Poppa? (1970)

When an attorney meets the girl of his dreams, he fears that his batty mother will scare her off, so he schemes to eliminate the senile old woman.

Director:

Carl Reiner

Writers:

Robert Klane (screenplay by), Robert Klane (based on his novel)

Stars:

George Segal, Ruth Gordon, Ron Leibman

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Segal	...	Gordon Hocheiser
Ruth Gordon	...	Mrs. Hocheiser
Ron Leibman	...	Sidney Hocheiser
Trish Van Devere	...	Louise Callan
Barnard Hughes	...	Colonel Hendricks
Vincent Gardenia	...	Coach Williams
Rae Allen	...	Gladys Hocheiser
Paul Sorvino	...	Owner of 'Gus & Grace's Home'
William LeMassena	...	Judge (as William Le Massena)
Michael McGuire	...	Army Lawyer
Rob Reiner	...	Roger
Joe Keyes Jr.	...	Gang Leader
Israel Lang	...	Mutha
Garrett Morris	...	Garrett
Arnold Williams	...	Arnold

Storyline

When New York attorney Gordon Hocheiser meets Louise Callan, the girl of his dreams, he schemes to eliminate his aging, senile mother, even though he promised his late father that he'd always take care of her. He fears that his batty mom's eccentricities will shortly lead to Louise's departure.

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Plot Keywords:

lawyer | caretaker | dementia | central park manhattan new york city | undercover | 

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Taglines:

I wish momma would stop saying that! Yeah.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Paul Sorvino.

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Goofs

When Gordon puts the old trunk in the trunk of his car, its top is up. In the next shot the trunk is over on his side with the rounded top to the left. Later, out of the city, the trunk's top is to the right.

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Quotes

Colonel Hendricks: I got one of the brains as a souvenir. Brought it home to my little boy. He keeps it in a little jar on a shelf in his room.

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Crazy Credits

Bill Adams and Vic Ramos are listed in the opening credits, which had no character names, but are not in the end credits, which listed the character names. On the other hand, Fuddles was not in the opening credits but listed last in the end credits.

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Alternate Versions

The original title was "Where's Poppa?" and featured the "here's poppa" ending. In 1975 United Artists engaged a marketing consultant to re-title and re-release some of their films that had been well-received critically but not commercially. Among them were "Where's Poppa?"/"Going Ape," "Quemada"/"Burn"/"The Mercenary," and "Duck, You Sucker"/"A Fistful of Dynamite."

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Connections

Referenced in Family Ties: Where's Poppa? (1986)

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Soundtracks

Pleasure Palace
Music by Jack Elliott
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Sung by Bright Cheerstrad

User Reviews

A film that takes comedic chances and wins big!

Short of most John Waters films, today's cinema offers little by way of absurd comedy. Generally speaking, cinema has sold out to Nike, Madison avenue and all the rest of the greedy faces behind Hollywood who make sure their "clients" products are wagged in yor face and written into the script.(Think of "What Women Want" or "E.T." for instance) Well, here's a film that takes comedic chances and pays off big! This film is a equal opportunity offender and is in nobody's pocket! Segal and Gordon are in perfect pacing and timing thanks to Carl Riner's direction and no holds barred attack on everything. I can not recommend this film enough to the intelligent viewer who hungers for more than the banal "comedies" of today which are for the most part nothing more than padded 90 minute commercials.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1971 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Going Ape

Filming Locations:

NYPD 26th Precinct, 150 West 68th Street, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Where's Poppa Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White (fantasy sequence) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1