Family Reunion

• Director: Fielder Cook
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Reunion Films, Family Drama
• Main Cast: Bette Davis, J. Ashley Hyman
• Release Year: 1981
• Country: CA
• Run Time: 174 minutes

Plot

Written for television by Allan Sloane, Family Reunion stars Bette Davis as an ageing New England schoolteacher who is given an "unlimited" bus ticket as a retirement present. She uses this gift to visit the farthest-flung members of her long-estranged family. In her absence, Davis' small town falls prey to corruptive influences, but with the help of her more honest relatives (four generations' worth, including Bette's real-life grandson J. Ashley Hyman), everything is resolved at the annual Founder's Day gathering. Family Reunion originally aired in two parts, on October 11 and 12, 1981; the preponderance of Davis' family members and unresolved plot strands would seem to suggest that this 4-hour film was intended as a series pilot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Roberts Blossom - Phil King; Tom Brennan - School principal; Sally Chamberlain - Judge Sommers32; Bette Davis - Elizabeth Winfield; Roy Dotrice - Lester Frye; Beth Ehlers - Janice Lyman; Robert Fields - George Winfield III; Julie Garfield - Girl on bus; Paul Hecht - Vernon Markham; David Huddleston - Sen. Chester Winfield; Anne Lange - Carol Lyman; Jeff McCracken - Max Winfield; Sally Prager - Susan Lyman; Adam Redfield - George Winfield IV; David Rounds; Paul Rudd - Lane Lyman; John Shea - James Cookman; Kathryn Walker - Louisa King; Roberta Wallach - Jessica Winfield; J. Ashley Hyman - Richard Cooper; Frederikke Borge - Madge Winfield; Christopher Murray - Arthur Lyman; Charles Brown - Sam Baker

Credit

John Boxer - Costume Designer, Marilyn Putnam - Costume Designer, Dwight Alonzo Williams - First Assistant Director, Fielder Cook - Director, Eric Albertson - Editor, Fred Mollin - Composer (Music Score), Barbara Maggi - Makeup, Robert Norin - Makeup, Jack Priestley - Cinematographer, William C. Gerrity - Production Manager, Fred C. Weiler - Set Designer, James J. Sabat - Sound/Sound Designer, Allan Sloane - Screenwriter

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