Harry et Tonto

Art Carney took home the Academy Award for Best Actor not only for his work in this movie, but for his entire career. The movie is about a man living his final years. His best friend and partner is his side kick cat Tonto. Together they travel from New York City to the far ends of the west coast. On the way, they bump into one situation and conversation to the next. The final scene shows Carney meeting another face along the path of life as he makes his final goodbye to the audience. In a way, Carney's character has to make this journey in order to say goodbye to the world. A heart gripping scene, Carney must say goodbye to his best of friends as Tonto get old himself. This is in a way not a coming of age story but a coming of life story. This is a terrific movie that has a moral that needs to be learned.

I can only agree with the preceding praise of this wonderful movie. Art Carney was outstanding and deserved the Oscar. This is a story that relies on realism, fine dialogue, and excellent acting. There is no need for forced sentimentality here... the film's natural progression and true to life experiences provide the heart felt warmth, poignancy, and humor of this classic. I am going to purchase this film. It a movie that of which I never tire. It is sad that they do not produce films of this quality today. Kudos to all associated with it and a 10+ out of 10 rating.

Art La Cues

Art Carney gives us all a top caliber performance is this highly acclaimed movie drama.Here he plays a put upon retired school teacher.Who is forced to move from his West Side Apartment with his pet cat:"Tonto"and move in with his patronizing and complaining son and daughter in law.Unable to tolerate their difficult attitudes."Harry Coombes"(Carney)takes a trek accross country.Where he meets up with a teenage runaway:"Ginger"(Melenie Mayron),A Connving Vitamin Salesman(Athur Hunnicut),A Native American Medicine Man:"Sam Two Feathers"(Chief Dan George),A prositute(Rhonda Flemming)and his former girlfriend:"Jessie"(Geraldine Fitzgerald).He also spends some time with his oppionated daughter:"Shirley"(Ellen Burstyn)and His irresponsible son:"Eddie"(Larry Hagman).The film is filled with pogient moments and with some laughs.As well as some tradgety:"Harry's"old Friend:"Jacob"(Played here with some acerbic insight by the late Herbert Burghoff).Who dies and Poor "Harry"(Carney)has to indentify his friend's body at the morgue and the death of "Tonto".Art Carney won an Oscar for his portrayal of "Harry Coombes" in this picture.But most of all.He has won our admiration for his talents as an actor.Thanks Art!

"Harry And Tonto" is one of my all time favorite movies. It is a film that is as beautiful and funny as it is poignant and sad. It is also a film that features one of the finest acting performances in the last fifty years given by the late, great Art Carney. Carney shows why he won a well deserved Oscar for his performance as the kindhearted, retired teacher Harry Combes who goes cross-country with his pet cat Tonto as they encounter several eccentric characters and have some truly unforgettable moments. A wonderful film, that truly deserves a DVD release. Hopefully one day.

Art Carney was a quiet, quirky genius and this film is a lasting testament to his talent.

It's a story about how an -average- man (actually not average at all, as we come to find out) lives a life of dignity and confronts the chaos of modern existence--including that most devastating of inevitabilities, mortality and, particularly, old age .

Besides Carney, watch for superb ensemble acting from Ellen Burstyn, Larry Hagman, the inimitable Chief Dan George, Arthur Hunnicutt, and a host of great character actors from the 70's.

Unlike so many contemporary scripts from the late 60's and early 70's, the cultural references seem interesting and historical and not dated, probably because--like everything else in this film--they are treated with respect and a sense of mercy.

If this film had been made by a French director in 1974, it would be heralded as a major classic. Oh, well.

Watch it. Savor it. This is really something special.