Themes: Wanderlust, Journey of Self-Discovery, Golden Years
Main Cast: Art Carney, Ellen Burstyn, Chief Dan George, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Larry Hagman
Release Year: 1974
Country: US
Run Time: 115 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
In Paul Mazursky's rueful character drama, 57-year-old Art Carney plays Harry, a 70-plus Manhattan widower who loses his tiny apartment to the wrecking ball. Accompanied by his pet, an aged cat named Tonto, Harry sets out on an odyssey to Los Angeles. During his journey, he finds a kindred spirit in a youthful hitchhiker (Melanie Mayron), who eventually finds happiness with Harry's grandson (Joshua Mostel). Harry makes stops at the homes of his grown children (Philip Bruns, Ellen Burstyn, and Larry Hagman), but each visit is more disappointing than the last; he also touches base with an old flame (Geraldine Fitzgerald), who has slipped into senility. By the time he arrives in L.A., Harry has become dispirited by his desultory visits with friends and family, but he eventually realizes that each new day can be a beginning rather than an end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Paul Mazursky's bittersweet film on the cross-country odyssey of man nearing the end of life sometimes crosses the line into sentimentality, but it features an Academy Award-winning performance by Art Carney in what is likely his finest role. Septuagenarian widower Harry (Carney) decides to visit friends and relatives across America after learning that his New York City apartment building is about to be razed. As he touches on these links with his past, he is sobered by the changes time has wrought. As with the handicapped, there is often a degree of dishonesty in presenting aged people as the central characters of a film or dramatic work. Incapable of initiating significant action, they usually serve as symbolic lightning rods for the filmmakers' guilt, reminding the rest of us what punishment they are forced to absorb at our hands. To some extent, this is the case with Mazursky's film, which rather than exploring Harry's relationships with his wife, children, and friends, makes him seem like a nice man who a number of unhappy and ungrateful people have failed to appreciate. This somehow rings false. The truest and most moving part of the film is the first section, which offers a window on both the tentative relationships and painful isolation of old age. Carney gives a miraculous performance as the retired schoolteacher, slightly bewildered by novel experiences, yet always sensible and resilient. Ellen Burstyn is also excellent as his unhappy daughter, as is Geraldine Fitzgerald as a former lover. The strong cast includes Larry Hagman, Cliff De Young, Herbert Berghof, Melanie Mayron, and Josh Mostel. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Ted Haworth - Art Director, Albert Wolsky - Costume Designer, Tony Ray - First Assistant Director, John Speak - First Assistant Director, Paul Mazursky - Director, Richard Halsey - Editor, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Bob O'Bradovich - Makeup, Edward S. Haworth - Production Designer, Michael C. Butler - Cinematographer, Paul Mazursky - Producer, Tony Ray - Producer, John Godfrey - Set Designer, Theodore Soderberg - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Mazursky - Screenwriter, Josh Greenfeld - Screenwriter, June Samson - Script Supervisor
Harry Coombes is an elderly widower who is forced from his Upper West Side apartment in New York City when his building is condemned. He initially stays with his son's family in the suburbs, but eventually chooses to travel cross country with his pet cat Tonto in tow. During his episodic journey, he befriends a hitchhiker, visits his daughter in Chicago and finally meets his youngest son in Los Angeles.
At the time, Carney noted that prior to his work in Harry and Tonto, he "never liked cats", but said he wound up getting along well with the cat in the film. [1]
