University of Virginia Library

'Turkey': Gobbledygook

By Susan Hardwicke
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

"Cold Turkey" is a misleading
title for a very misleading film.
During the first 90 minutes its plot
reminds one of an American
fantasy — a modern day "Music
Man," with a preaching Dick Van
Dyke in place of the dancing
Robert Preston. But the film
develops into a biting, sick sarcasm
of American society in the final
scene, which has not been prepared
for.

Opening Shots

The opening shots of Edward
Everett Horton are nice. He plays
the tobacco tycoon Hiram Grayson
extremely well without uttering a
word. Bob Newhart comes on
strong as the scheming conniver of
the plan to make Grayson even
more famous than he is. The
tycoon offers $25 million to any
city that performs the impossible
feat of giving up smoking for 30
days.

The Reverend Clayton Brooks,
played by Dick Van Dyke,
seemingly rescues the near-destitute
town of Eagle Rock, Iowa, by
taking up the tycoon's challenge.
Most of the town's inhabitants are
played by real, homely people; but
their distorted facial expressions
and idiosyncrasies are overdone to
the point of gross ugliness. That, in
fact, is what happens to the entire
film.

"Cold Turkey" fires at one
target of American life after
another. Unfortunately for Director
Norman Lear, however, it is done in
a totally wrong way. First of all,
the base for the plot is too weak
and ridiculous to be credible. And
second, the characters are not
strong enough to sustain this
weakness. Third, the film lacks
subtlety in every way. Because of
these weaknesses, "Cold Turkey"
fails from the start; it is faced with
difficulties that are insurmountable.

Not His Part

The role of the Reverend should
not have been played by Van Dyke.
It just isn't his part. The role
confines him instead of allowing
him to develop his potential. Pippa
Scott, as his wife, is good in the
scenes when she was not smoking.
She plays within the limits of the
role well — but the audience has
not been prepared for her action
(or lack of it) in the final scene.

Because of the lack of subtlety,
the shots fired by "Cold Turkey"
destroy their targets instead of
simply hitting them. An overly
patriotic old woman, for example,
fires a gun, hits the wrong person,
and shows no sign of surprise or
pity. She fires again, succeeds this
time, and says "A lotta bullshit." Is
this subtlety? Is this realistic? The
scene succeeds in the element of
shock, but in nothing else.

The only redeeming factor of
the movie is its theme song: "He
Gives Us All His Love." It is
peaceful and soothing, while
providing a painful contrast to the
beginning and the end of the film.
However, a song alone cannot
rescue it from its numerous faux
pas. "Cold Turkey" couldn't have
been much better, and it couldn't
have been much worse.

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