Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

A man named Billy Pilgrim tells the story of how he became unstuck in time and was abducted by aliens.

Director:

George Roy Hill

Writers:

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (novel), Stephen Geller (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Sacks	...	Billy Pilgrim
Ron Leibman	...	Paul Lazzaro
Eugene Roche	...	Edgar Derby
Sharon Gans	...	Valencia Merble Pilgrim
Valerie Perrine	...	Montana Wildhack
Holly Near	...	Barbara Pilgrim
Perry King	...	Robert Pilgrim
Kevin Conway	...	Roland Weary
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	German Leader (as Friedrich Ledebur)
Ekkehardt Belle	...	Young German Guard (as Nick Belle)
Sorrell Booke	...	Lionel Merble
Roberts Blossom	...	Wild Bob Cody
John Dehner	...	Prof. Rumfoord
Gary Waynesmith	...	Stanley
Richard Schaal	...	Howard W. Campbell Jr.

Storyline

Using his own terminology, Billy Pilgrim is "unstuck in time", which means he is moving between different points in his life uncontrollably, although he is aware of it at certain of those points as witnessed by the letter to the editor he writes to the Ilium Daily News about his situation. Primarily, he is moving between three general time periods and locations. The first is his stint as a GI during WWII, when, as a pacifist, he was acting as a Chaplain's assistant for his unit. This time is largely as a POW, where he was in Dresden the day of the bombing, spending it with among others an older compassionate GI named Edgar Derby, and a brash loudmouth GI named Paul Lazzaro. The second is his life as an optometrist in Ilium in upstate New York, eventually married to the wealthy and overbearing Valencia Merble, and having two offspring, Robert, who would spend his teen-aged years as a semi-delinquent, and Barbara, who would end up much like her mother. And the third is as an abductee on...

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Plot Keywords:

prisoner of war camp | alien abduction | nonlinear timeline | time travel | 1940s | 

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Taglines:

He survived the deadliest day on Earth! To enjoy the sexiest night in outer space!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

15 March 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Slaughterhouse-Five

Filming Locations:

Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$3,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Vanadas Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 93 min (Ontario - edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., author of the book this film was adapted from, was a prisoner of war in World War II. He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge while a battalion scout with the 106 Infantry Division on December 22, 1944, and used these experiences in his novel when Billy Pilgrim is captured by the Germans and sent to a POW camp. Vonnegut also lived through the bombing of Dresden and used that experience in the book.

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Goofs

An aerial shot of the aeroplane in which Pilgrim is flying is reversed to make it appear to be flying left-right. The registration is reversed as it's actually a shot of the left side of the aircraft.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Valencia Merble Pilgrim: I'm gonna lose weight. I'm really gonna lose weight.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies You've Probably Never Seen (2016)

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Soundtracks

Concerto No 3 for Harpsichord in D major, BWV 1054 - 3rd movement 'Allegro'
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J.S. Bach)
Glenn Gould, Piano
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Vladimir Goldschmann, Conductor

User Reviews

another early 70's classic!

I've never read the book but I think this is an excellent film, if anything seeing the FILM first gives me interest in reading the novel, as opposed to the other way around.

I'm getting so sick of reading these endless reviews hammering in "read the book read the book!" Jeezus Christ allmighty, is the book crowd still so dense as to think a movie could or should in some way actually be 100% faithful to an adaption and capture all of the emotional subtleties as the written word can? Movies are movies, books are books, both have wonderful things to offer! end of conversation!