Bitter Harvest

I can't say enough about this movie especially since much of it was filmed in my home town of Healdsburg, California. The production studio rented the "Iceberg Cafe" where I worked as a young man and I had the opportunity not only to meet Ron and the rest of the cast but also we catered their lunches while they filmed there over several days. I was only 16 but Ron being the genuinely Nice person treated me like a good, good friend.

I baked apple pies, (Just Like Shirley Taught me) for the crew and offered Ron a fresh hot slice in between shootings. We set at the counter and talked about mostly me, (Go Figure)

He was very personable and was/is a great guy....

I hope this movie comes out in DVD and when it does, I highly Recommend it! I give it 10 STARS & 2 THUMBS UP...

This movie was about a dairy farmer who bought some new feed to increase the production of milk from the cows. Cows were getting sick and producing less milk. This mysterious disease started to effect the humans. The farmer got extremely worried because these cows were his life, so he did all he could to save them. At first no one would help him, but then he came upon a Doctor who agreed to help. Numerous tests were run and at first they thought it was "malnutrition." Later it ended up being the chemical PBB. This was causing the cows to have bald-spots of cows, pink-eye, defects in birth, and eventually death. Humans had some of the same symptoms including a rash. This disease was spreading everywhere. The only way in order to get rid of the chemical, all the infected cows had to be terminated.

Most movies I see I forget after a while. Others, like Pearl Harbor, or Star Wars, stay with a person. I saw Bitter Harvest as a TV movie in 1981. It left an emotional stamp on my soul that I carry to this day. I don't even know why. Maybe I just believed Ron Howard really cared about the subject of the movie, beyond the playing of a character, and it showed. Tried to buy but was almost seventy dollars on one site. Good job. The story is about a farm family, faced with the ruin of their way of life because of the poisoning of their dairy herd. Faced with a decision no farmer should have to make, the lead, played by Ron Howard, makes the most financially ruinous, but the most ethical one. He shows everyone what an honest man does; tells the truth, and does the right thing. Try to see if possible.

Ron Howard and cast present the best modern depiction of a United States farm and the demands of modern farming. Facing a unknown peril that has him losing his dairy herd a young farmer faces disparagement and questions about his farming ability while his children also become ill. The movie is based on the true story of PCB's entering the food chain in the mid 1970's. Great acting, drama and suspense plus a great mix of home, work and family in the grasp of technology. One of Ron Howard's most underappreciated works.

This was one of Ron Howard's last acting jobs before devoting himself full-time to directing. Based on a true story, he plays a farmer who discovers that his herd of cows had been contaminated somewhat and that his baby had been quite sickly. So he decides to find out why but he keeps running into obstacles until he meets someone (Richard Dysart) who tells him what's been going on. Mr. Howard brings passion in his role as a farmer who feels at his wits end of not being told of why his farm as well as those of his neighbors like his friend played by Art Carney are being affected. Had he continued acting, he probably could have broached quite a list of accomplishments in the profession he had started at since his toddler days from before his big break in "The Andy Griffith Show". But he had accomplished quite well at the job he really wanted to this very day...