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

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Hal Ashby William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an Cinema of the United States, American film Film director, director and Film editing, editor. His work exemplified the countercultural attitude of the era. He directed wide-rangi ...

from a screenplay by

Charles Eastman Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 – January 8, 1939, born Hakadah and later named Ohíye S'a, sometimes written Ohiyesa) was an American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was among the first Native Americans to be certifie ...

. 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 American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

anthology series '' NBC Experiment in Television'', which was broadcast in 1968 with Mildred Dunnock and Susan Tyrrell in the cast. It was the second of three films Ashby directed which were produced by

Lorimar Lorimar may refer to: * Lorimar Television, previously Lorimar Productions and later Lorimar Distribution, an American film and television production and marketing company from 1969 to 1986 * Lorimar-Telepictures, formed in 1986 after the merger of ...

Productions.

Plot description

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

* Robert Blake 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 of ...

as Voyd *Collin Boone as Human Dusty *Amber Rose Gold as Iota *Jessica & Erica Stansbury as Sandra Dee * Shirley Stoler as Maxy * Woodrow Chambliss 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, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, 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''.

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 ol ...

'', 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 int ...

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-US-film-stub