''Second-Hand Hearts'' is a 1981 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Hal Ashby William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. Before his career as a director Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison, notably ''The Russ ...

from a screenplay by

Charles Eastman Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 – January 8, 1939) was an American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was the first Native American to be certified in Western medicine and was "one of the most prolific authors and speakers ...

. A shorter version of this screenplay, under its original intended title ''The Hamster of Happiness'', was written by Eastman for the unconventional

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

anthology series ''

NBC Experiment in Television ''NBC Experiment in Television'' is an American experimental television show broadcast on NBC from 1967 to 1971. The format of the show was an anthology series and it usually aired on Sunday afternoons. Many of the episodes were either dramatic pi ...

'', which was broadcast in 1968 with

Mildred Dunnock Mildred Dorothy Dunnock (January 25, 1901 – July 5, 1991) was an American stage and screen actress. She was twice nominated for an Academy Award: first ''Death of a Salesman'' in 1951, then ''Baby Doll'' in 1956. Early life Born in Baltimore, ...

and

Susan Tyrrell Susan Tyrrell (born Susan Jillian Creamer; March 18, 1945 – June 16, 2012) was an American character actress. Tyrrell's career began in theater in New York City in the 1960s in Broadway and off Broadway productions. Her first film was ''Shoot ...

in the cast. It was the second of three films Ashby directed which were produced by

Lorimar Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisio ...

Productions.

Plot description

The film stars Barbara Harris as a manic, mercurial widow separated from her three children, and

Robert Blake Robert Blake may refer to: Sportspeople * Bob Blake (American football) (1885–1962), American football player * Robbie Blake (born 1976), English footballer * Bob Blake (ice hockey) (1914–2008), American ice hockey player * Rob Blake (born 19 ...

as an insecure loner who inadvertently marries her after the two of them go on a drunken bender. After losing his job soon after their marriage, she badgers him into taking her to recover her children, currently in the custody of her less-than-accommodating in-laws, and taking them all to California in the hope of a better life for them all. The film follows the unusual incidents that occur along the road trip.

Cast

as Loyal Muke * Barbara Harris as Dinette Dusty *

Bert Remsen Herbert Birchell "Bert" Remsen (February 25, 1925 – April 22, 1999) was an American actor and casting director. He appeared in numerous films and television series. Biography Remsen was born in Glen Cove, New York, on Long Island, the son o ...

as Voyd *Collin Boone as Human Dusty *Amber Rose Gold as Iota *Jessica & Erica Stansbury as Sandra Dee *

Shirley Stoler Shirley Stoler (March 30, 1929 – February 17, 1999) was an American actress best known for her roles in ''The Honeymoon Killers'' and Lina Wertmüller's ''Seven Beauties''. Early years The eldest of four children born to Russian Jewish im ...

as Maxy *

Woodrow Chambliss Woodrow Lewis Chambliss (October 14, 1914 in Bowie, Texas – January 8, 1981 in Ojai, California) was an American character actor who appeared in both feature films and television. He is probably best known for his appearances as several chara ...

as Deaf Attendant

Production and release

The filming was plagued by trouble throughout production, much stemming from the erratic behavior of Ashby and writer Eastman. Although it was filmed in 1979, it was not released until 1981, and

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, at the time serving as Lorimar's theatrical distributor, chose to only open the film in New York and Los Angeles. This prompted Robert Blake, during one of his frequent guest appearances on ''The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'', to publicly complain about this decision; he presented a clip and tried to increase interest in the film. However, the New York/Los Angeles release received mostly negative reviews, and Paramount stood by its decision to not expand it to other cities. It briefly played cable television a year later, then virtually disappeared from circulation. The film was produced by James William Guercio (billed as James Guercio), who previously had directed Blake in the film ''

Electra Glide in Blue ''Electra Glide in Blue'' is a 1973 American action film, starring Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop in Arizona and Billy "Green" Bush as his partner. The film was produced and directed by James William Guercio, and is named after the Harley ...

''.

Home media

''Second-Hand Hearts'', together with another Ashby film made for Lorimar, ''

Lookin' to Get Out ''Lookin’ to Get Out'' is a 1982 American comedy film, directed by Hal Ashby and written by Al Schwartz and Jon Voight, who also stars. The film also stars Ann-Margret and Burt Young. Voight's daughter, Angelina Jolie, then seven years old, m ...

'', got a British video release through Guild Home Video in the early 1980s, but never received a domestic home video release until 2013, when it was released on Manufacture-on-Demand DVD by

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

References

External links

* * * 1981 films 1981 comedy films American comedy films American independent films Films directed by Hal Ashby 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{1980s-comedy-film-stub