Chattahoochee (1989)

In 1955 Florida, a Korean vet has a breakdown and is incarcerated in a "maximum security" mental health prison, where patients are abused.

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writer:

James Cresson (as James Hicks)

Stars:

Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Frances McDormand

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Oldman	...	Emmett Foley
Dennis Hopper	...	Walker Benson
Frances McDormand	...	Mae Foley
Pamela Reed	...	Earlene
Ned Beatty	...	Dr. Harwood
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Morris
William De Acutis	...	Missy
Lee Wilkof	...	Vernon
Matt Craven	...	Lonny
Gary Howard Klar	...	Clarence (as Gary Klar)
Timothy Scott	...	Harley
Richard Portnow	...	Dr. Debner
William Newman	...	Jonathan
Whitey Hughes	...	Mr. Johnson
Wilbur Fitzgerald	...	Duane

Storyline

An American war hero attempts suicide and ends up in Chattahoochee State Mental Hospital. But he realizes that the doctors in the hospital are humiliating patients, and staff are murdering them.

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Plot Keywords:

woman on top | year 1952 | year 1955 | year 1957 | writing a letter | 

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Taglines:

Heroes happen in crazy places.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

A téboly börtöne

Filming Locations:

Columbia, South Carolina, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$259,486

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hemdale

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gary Oldman and Frances McDormand won Best Actor and Best Actress respectively at the Academy Awards in the same year for films released in 2017.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Emmett Foley: When you come back a certified hero, it kinda raises people's expectations. Makes 'em think you're a big guy.
Mae Foley: It started off like any other Sunday as far as I could see. I can't even remember what I did that morning. You always think, I guess, that, well, if you seen it coming, you coulda done something. But I don't know what it woulda been. He seemed normal enough the last time I seen him. A little tight around the eyes, but nothing worth mentioning. Kinda like maybe he looked ...

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Crazy Credits

The producers would like to thank the people of Columbia and Newberry, South Carolina for their generosity and support during the making of this film.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Miami Blues/Vital Signs/Lisa/Chattahoochee (1990)

User Reviews

Terribly overlooked

Seriously, why has no one heard of this? Why hadn't I? This was on sale, I was attracted by the talent and that was it. The title is the name of a dreadful mental hospital, and this is based on the true story of a Korean war vet who was sent there and who could not allow it to go on like that. In 90 minutes, this covers a lot of the unforgivable treatment(a more fitting word would be abuse) that the patients undergone back then, on account of the ignorance, the black and white view and the leaders not paying enough attention to what was going on(when the cat's away...). This is engaging from start to finish. The pace is good, if it does at times move excessively swiftly. This has excellent and flawless acting, especially as far as the leads go. Oldman and Hopper are amazing. The characters are well-written, credible and nicely developed. This has a marvelous plot, and it never stops being interesting. Not the only film about the subject, and not the best(if you can watch just one, and it's this or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... yeah, the latter), but most definitely worth your time. There is plenty of disturbing content, a bit of violence, relatively frequent moderate to strong language in this(and the movie can be disgusting). The DVD comes with a theatrical trailer. I recommend this to everyone mature enough for the themes. 7/10