The Pursuit of Happiness (1971 film)
Encyclopedia
The Pursuit of Happiness is a 1971 American drama film
about a student who goes on the run to avoid serving his full prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter. The film was directed by Robert Mulligan
. The producer was David Susskind
and the associate producer, Alan Shayne. The screenplay was written by Jon Boothe and George L. Sherman.
) is convicted of vehicular manslaughter for killing a woman with his car. With only a week left on his sentence and the help of his girlfriend, Jane (Barbara Hershey
), he escapes to Canada
, making both of them wanted fugitives.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
about a student who goes on the run to avoid serving his full prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter. The film was directed by Robert Mulligan
Robert Mulligan
Robert Mulligan was an American film and television director best known as the director of humanistic American dramas, including To Kill A Mockingbird , Summer of '42 , The Other , Same Time, Next Year and The Man in the Moon...
. The producer was David Susskind
David Susskind
David Susskind was a producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a pioneer TV talk show host.-Personal:...
and the associate producer, Alan Shayne. The screenplay was written by Jon Boothe and George L. Sherman.
Plot
Disenchanted college student William Popper (Michael SarrazinMichael Sarrazin
Michael Sarrazin was a Canadian film and television actor who found fame opposite Jane Fonda in the drama film They Shoot Horses, Don't They? .- Early life :...
) is convicted of vehicular manslaughter for killing a woman with his car. With only a week left on his sentence and the help of his girlfriend, Jane (Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
), he escapes to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, making both of them wanted fugitives.
Cast
- Michael SarrazinMichael SarrazinMichael Sarrazin was a Canadian film and television actor who found fame opposite Jane Fonda in the drama film They Shoot Horses, Don't They? .- Early life :...
as William Popper - Barbara HersheyBarbara HersheyBarbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
as Jane Kauffman - Robert KleinRobert KleinRobert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer and actor.-Early life:Klein was born in the Bronx, the son of Frieda and Benjamin Klein, and was raised in a "prototypical 1950s Bronx Jewish" environment. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, Klein planned to study medicine...
as Melvin Lasher - Sada ThompsonSada ThompsonSada Carolyn Thompson was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Life and career:Born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1927 to Hugh Woodruff Thompson and his wife Corlyss , and raised in New Jersey, Thompson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, after...
as Ruth Lawrence - Ralph WaiteRalph WaiteRalph Waite is an American actor, whose most notable role was playing John Walton Sr. on the 1970s CBS TV series The Waltons, which he also occasionally directed...
as Detective Cromie - Arthur HillArthur Hill (actor)Arthur Edward Spence Hill was a Canadian actor best known for appearances in British and American theater, movies and television...
as John Popper - E. G. MarshallE. G. MarshallE. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s...
as Daniel Lawrence - Maya Kenin as Mrs. Conroy
- Rue McClanahanRue McClanahanRue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
as Mrs. O'Mara - Peter WhitePeter WhitePeter White, PC was a Canadian parliamentarian.White was born into a family that had established its homestead at the junction of the Muskrat and Ottawa Rivers where the town of Pembroke, Ontario was soon established...
as Terence Lawrence - Joseph AttlesJoseph AttlesJoseph Attles was an American character actor.He was born in James Island, South Carolina, United States on April 7, 1903. He died on October 29, 1990.-Theatre:*Tambourines to Glory*John Henry - 1940*Porgy and Bess...
as Holmes - Beulah Garrick as Josephine
- Ruth WhiteRuth White (actress)Ruth Patricia White was an American Emmy Award-winning and movie actress.-Early career:A lifelong resident of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, White graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Literature from Rutgers University in 1935. While pursuing her acting career in nearby New York City, she taught acting...
as Mrs. Popper - Charles DurningCharles DurningCharles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
as Guard #2 - Barnard HughesBarnard HughesBernard Aloysius Kiernan “Barnard” Hughes was an American actor of theater and film. Hughes became famous for a variety of roles; his most notable roles came after middle age, and he was often cast as a dithering authority figure or grandfatherly elder.-Personal life:Hughes was born in Bedford...
as Judge Vogel - David DoyleDavid DoyleDavid Fitzgerald Doyle was an American actor.-Early life:Doyle was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Mary Ruth and Lewis Raymond Doyle, an attorney. His maternal grandfather, John Fitzgerald, was a prominent railroad builder and banker in Nebraska...
as [Senator] James [J.] Moran - Gilbert LewisGilbert LewisGilbert Lewis is an American actor who is best known for playing The King of Cartoons in the first season of the 1986 children's show, Pee-wee's Playhouse. Lewis played the King of Cartoons in thirteen episodes before being replaced by actor, William Marshall...
as George Wilson - Albert HendersonAlbert HendersonAlbert Percy Henderson was a Canadian amateur football player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.He was born in Galt, Ontario and died in Los Angeles....
as McArdle