Der 25 Millionen Dollar Preis

Cold Turkey is my all time favorite comedy and a very underrated film that many people have not seen. Still relevant today it is a classic satire of smoking and American life. Filmed in Iowa in 1969 and released to the theater in 1971 the comedy is timeless. I have the laser disc, it is not available on DVD as of yet but is available on VHS video tape. Barnard Hughes gives the performance of his career as Dr. Proctor, the town surgeon and doctor who is a chain smoker. The best scene in the film is when Dr. Proctor is in the operating room with a cigarette and Dick Van Dyke and friends are trying to convince him not to light up because the town will not get the $25 million dollars for everyone not smoking for thirty days if he does. Then Walter Chronic appears in the operating room under a round light which is made to look like a halo. Pippa Scott is Dick Van Dyke's long suffering wife. Graham Jarvis is President of the Christopher Mott Society, a takeoff on the John Birch Society. Tom Poston has a small but important role as the town drunk Mr. Stopworth. Dick Van Dyke is the preacher at the Eagle Rock Community Church who almost single handedly whips the town into action. Edward Everett Horton in his final screen appearance as Hiram Grayson, head of the Valiant Tobacco Company. Bob Newhart in a somewhat unusual role as the villain from the tobacco company who is trying to win the bet with the town. An early vehicle for Norman Lear, this movie foretold his eventual success later. The old lady who is so cantankerous is priceless. Comedians Bob and Ray play numerous news anchors of the time. Vincent Gardenia plays the towns Mayor. I have seen this film many times. I recommend watching it if it comes on TV or buying the video tape if you come across one.

I came across this film on BBC2 late at night one time only in the early eighties. I've never seen it again, and I would love to. There are moments in this film which will make you wet yourself laughing. Puppy on the pavement anyone? If this movie ever shows up on your TV schedules, set the video, pop open a beer or five and watch a totally underrated classic. Dick Van Dyke makes up for his horrendous "Gawd bless yer, Mary Poppins" accent with this one movie. Watch it - and any TV schedulers out there who can get this on British TV again, DO IT!

Never was the human limitations tested as they were in this film, when the town of Eagle Rock, Iowa, must quit smoking for 30 days to win a foolish challenge proposed by a big tobacco company. As Parent Trap became a strange testimony on how divorce affects children, so has Cold Turkey become a statement on addiction and withdrawal, with humorous results.

Dick Van Dyke is the town minister who finds himself caught up leading the fray; first he must develop an addiction, then join his neighbors in quitting. Barnard Hughes is the town doctor, who cannot quit smoking at all. The fight with his wife over the ashtrays in the car brings a smile to my face everytime. Bob Newhart is the tobacco company representative who must now get someone to start smoking so they will lose the bet. Pippa Scott is Van Dyke's wife, Natalie, who endures some of the most verbal spousal abuse, laced with concern and mock sincerity ("There's a demon in you, Natalie. Why are you working against me, Natalie?"), that I have ever heard. Scott only has one scene with dialogue. Jean Stapleton, Vincent Gardenia, Paul Benedict, Barbara Cason, Tom Poston and Graham Jarvis also appear in various roles. And yes, Bob and Ray spoof many of the newscasters who were popular at that time with hilarious results. They do it so well and are both so unassuming, you will not realize it is the same two guys over and over again. But the town's withdrawal is hysterical as well. I will always love when the crossing guard screams at the little girl. And the auto smash-up that happens just before the dog-kicking incident will hold your undivided attention. Finally, the town council is told if they can wait another day or so, the president of the United States himself, then Richard Nixon, will present Eagle Rock with the prize money. The council's reaction is absolutely brilliant. Add to all of this a typical Randy Newman song, 'He Gives Us All His Love', played at the beginning, the end and when Dick Van Dyke realizes the town is caught up in its own celebrity as he watches over a dozen children run by wearing masks of his own face. They just don't make films like this one anymore.

Much like "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "Cold Turkey" shows how crazy people can get when they're greedy. The plot centers on a town whose people are offered a lot of money if they can stop smoking for an entire month. They agree after getting convinced by the local clergyman (Dick Van Dyke), but things start going crazy when they don't get to have their cigarettes.

The movie also pokes fun at the media, with characters like "Hugh Upson" and "Walter Chronic". But overall, the movie makes fun of the "wholesome Middle America" image, showing how even seemingly idealistic small town folk can get corrupted when money is in the picture.

Knowing full well that it could never happen, a major tobacco company offers a multi-million dollar prize to any town in the USA that will quit smoking for an entire month.

What the company doesn't expect is the little town of Eagle Rock, Iowa, and the Reverand Clayton Brooks leading the distressed town to prosperity with the much needed money as incentive.

The film, the work of TV sit-com legend Norman Lear, is a savage satire of the American tobacco industry, as well as the TV news community (Comic Ray Goulding appears in one scene as "Walter Chronic" in a parody of TV news anchor Walter Cronkite, with a florescent lamp behind his head, forming an angelic halo).

Many people in the film later went on to become notable television actors, and it's a delight to see how people become so easily unhinged when they're deprived of their nicotine fix (this from a happy non-smoker)!

Bob Newhart plays an odd villain in this film. A strange role for a man so associated with playing meek roles is cast as a rather icy consultant for the tobacco giants.

An underrated film that is worth another viewing, if only to have a snicker at the tobacco industry or see the town of Greenfield, Iowa used as a backdrop.