Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972)

A cocky Harvard graduate transports a load of marijuana from Berkeley to Boston. His girlfriend gets busted with the second load. He and a friend go against a dirty cop and a Cuban gangster to get the load and the girl back.

Director:

Paul Williams

Writers:

Douglas Crichton (novel) (as Michael Douglas), Michael Crichton (novel) (as Michael Douglas)

Stars:

Howard Gardner, Robert F. Lyons, Ellen Barber

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Howard Gardner	...	Lecturer
Robert F. Lyons	...	Peter
Ellen Barber	...	Annie
John Lithgow	...	John
Joy Bang	...	Sandra
Nancy Belle Fuller	...	Avis Girl
Barbara Hershey	...	Susan
Demond Wilson	...	Rupert
Gene Borkan	...	Musty
Herbert Kerr	...	Emir
Ted Williams	...	Receptionist
Buzzy Linhart	...	Buzzy
Anitra Walsh	...	Townie Girl
Paul Williams	...	Barry
Charles Durning	...	Murphy

Storyline

Peter is a cocky Harvard law student, who's tired of being square, so his best friend and theater director John gets him into the drug business. Peter loves the excitement of the gig and agrees to transport a suitcase full of pot from his suppliers to him. As a fan of the Rolling Stones' song Sympathy for the Devil, he picks Lucifer as his street name. At the drug dealers' hideout, Peter meets Susan and falls for her hard, since she's the complete opposite of his somewhat prudish and stuck up square girlfriend Annie. Susan likes him too and agrees to take him to a train station to hide the dope in one of the lockers there. They hit it off quickly. When they arrive at the station they notice a military officer, who's overseeing a funeral transport for what seems to be a casket of a dead soldier from Vietnam. This sight gives the two cold feet, so they leave to spend a night together at one of her musician friends' place. Peter then completes the job but soon asks John for another gig, ...

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Plot Keywords:

marijuana | drugs | drug dealer | drug trafficking | taxi driver | 

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Taglines:

From the best selling comedy-thriller set at Harvard and Berkeley

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

In his memoir, Drama, Lithgow credits Brian De Palma with getting the actor his feature film debut. In the summer of 1966, between his junior and senior years of college, Lithgow had tried to launch his own theater production company in Princeton, New Jersey, called The Great Road Players. The effort was a financial and promotional disaster, but De Palma happened to come down to see friends from Columbia in the some of the shows, and found Lithgow terribly funny in some Moliere one-acts. Four or five years later, the director passed the actor's name to Paul Williams when the latter was searching for a "patrician Harvard undergraduate dope dealer" for his film. Williams had attended Harvard as well, and remembered having seen Lithgow on stage there, so he interviewed and hired him. Of course De Palma also later cast Lithgow as the villain in at least three of his later films, Obsession (1976), Blow Out (1981), and Raising Cain (1992).

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Goofs

When Murphy enters the cab outside South Station, it's a 1971 Plymouth Satellite. When they get on Route 128 bound for Walden Pond, it grows into a '71 Plymouth Fury.

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Connections

References Love Story (1970)

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Soundtracks

Attics of My Life
Written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter
Performed by Grateful Dead

User Reviews

One of the better movies about the drug culture of the early 70's

It's a crying shame Warner's has never released this. I don't know if it's the subject matter or the classic packed soundtrack full of big acts that's preventing them from doing something with this one. The comment on the front page about the slugs seems to have been written by someone who has not seen the film. There is no Jimmy and NO SLUGS. What you do get is a very pro pot themed film about a guy who moves weed cross country for his dealer, seemingly just because he enjoys the thrill. Back in the early 70's you could get stuff in and out of airports without any effort too. The film does not advocate harder drugs though, and shows the pot dealer ( a terrific John Lithgow in his debut...with HAIR! ) and his friends to be the good guys, while the cops are corrupt and evil and the organized crime guys are flat out murderous. Fans of Barbara Hershey will not be let down either, she looks great and has nude scenes as the hippie girlfriend who gets mixed up in a deal gone bad.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1973 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues

Filming Locations:

Massachusetts, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1