edwagreen With a marvelous cast, you know you're in for a treat on this satire regarding smoking.Eagle Rock, Iowa accepts the challenge of tobacco for its residents to quit smoking for one month so that the depressed town can get $25 million. The man who proposed this as a joke, soon finds it no laughing matter and Bob Newhart, as that man, tries about anything he can to prevent this from happening.The town Reverend, wonderfully played by Dick Van Dyke, even starts smoking again himself to show the town how difficult it will be to give it up.There are so many wonderful themes discussed here-commercialization, and factory pollutants which endanger the health of the residents as well. The depiction of withdrawal and the irritability it causes is hilarious, but so very true.The ending was somewhat silly in showing that you don't give Judith Lowry a gun. Barnard Hughes,as the surgeon, who is a constant smoker, steals the movie with some of his acting.

winner55 This is the strongest - and most vicious - satire on the American "way of life" ever filmed. Although the Vietnam War was still going on - and still the focus of national attention - director Lear wisely avoids any mention of it, and thus any use of it for political purposes; he chooses instead to concentrate on how Americans of that period saw themselves - in other words, what most Americans thought was good about America, not any of the "social issues" that were dividing the country at the time.Well, but what is this "good about America" that the film lampoons so unrelentingly? Most Americans think they have a religion - even though their ministers prefer showing up on the cover of Time magazine to living a good life. Most Americans believe TV newscasters keep them informed, even though they know that those people are just entertainers, really, reading script written out for them, that may or may not actually have something to do with current events. Americans want to believe that they are politically committed to some important cause or other - but they can get hysterical over matters as trivial as someone lighting up a cigarette.The fact is, American morality is just a big balloon - it looks impressive but it's all hot air.I should point out that satire can frequently be put to use to help with the improvement of social life, by pointing out attitudes that need changing - and, balancing this film off against Lear's television shows, there's little doubt that such is the case here. If the film still seems vicious - and it does - it's because Americans haven't yet stopped to think through the consequences of their attitudes - such as the thousands dead in Iraq, or the continuing misery of the poor.I certainly hope the day will come when I can look back at Cold Turkey as a relic of the past, with nothing more to say. Sadly, that is not yet the case. America still looks and sounds pretty much like this today, and so the satire remains as potent as when this film first came out.Oh, yes, and it is also VERY funny.

MartinHafer The evil cigarette magnets (and in this movie they are definitely shown as being evil) have a plan. They want to increase business by denouncing, in a way, smoking. This sounds a lot like all the sick ads we see and hear from the "concerned folks at Philip Morris" that encourage us to kick the habit--yeah, sure! Anyways, back to the plot. The cigarette execs figure that a publicity stunt that makes them appear nice and kind will pay off but what exactly this stunt will be is the question. Finally, they hit upon the idea of trying to convince America that they really want our health to come first and offer any town a huge sum of money ($25,000,000) to give up and remain tobacco-free for one month. They figure it makes them look good AND no city could ever really give up tobacco--thus convincing people that addiction is inevitable.The little town of Eagle Rock, Iowa decides to accept the challenge. No matter how difficult it will be, they need the money and the 4000+ residents imagine all the wonderful things the money could buy. However, not everyone is so excited about the idea and compliance COULD be a problem. So, the town council organizes everyone to police each other AND they later decide to let the Christopher Mott Society (a local right-wing paramilitary group) to patrol the city and its borders. That's because once the month begins, people come pouring in from across the nation. Some come because it's become a media event (complete with Bob and Ray being on hand to report the happenings) and some because they are evil stooges working FOR the tobacco companies to make sure the people DO smoke (lead by Bob Newhart).What I particularly liked was how crazed people became over time. Barnard Hughes was the most likely to begin smoking and his hysterics around trying to find a smoke were hilarious. The preacher, played by Dick Van Dyke, dealt with it by developing a new addiction--as he began making more and more frequent trips home to make whoopie with his wife! And, the Christopher Mott society began to get very scary--treating their job like it was the ultimate battle between Democracy and Communism! In other words, if you smoke or try to get others to smoke, you are the ENEMY and must be stopped at all costs! In particular, I adored the performance of 81 year-old Judith Lowry as they incredibly over-zealous member who wanted to "shoot Commies". You may just remember her as they horrible but hilarious "Mother Dexter" from the Phyllis Show (1975).As the days tick by, the tobacco companies become more and more nervous that the city MIGHT win the challenge--thus convincing people all across the country and even the world that they, too, can stop smoking. So, Bob Newhart's devious plans get wilder and wilder. Ms. Lowry spots his antics and decides Newhart is DEFINITELY a Commie spy! At the very end, Newhart is going to release tons of cigarettes onto the town square just BEFORE the deadline--knowing someone MUST be too overcome to resist. And, as he's releasing the cigarettes Ms. Lowry shoots him! And, in spite of this, the people are too into the moment to even care. In the end, after they won the 25 million, you see garbage and cigarettes strewn everywhere--as well as the still bleeding Bob Newhart! Everyone has gone home and no one thought to call an ambulance or administer help! A very creative and energetic film. While some of the jokes fall a bit flat here and there, the film is so much fun it's well worth seeing.

sailrusako I saw this movie on HBO. It gives a dated look at smoking, which is interesting. It's interesting that even back in '71, big tobacco is the enemy. I'd be interested to see what they would do with this premise in a modern movie.While it's cute in some areas (the rev. and the wife dealing with nicotine withdrawal by "engaging in the act of physical love" constantly), I left feeling a little let down. The ending seems rushed and I'm not really sure what the moral is. The town quits smoking, but then ends up in a greed-infested society. And in the end, they get a missile plant that causes more pollution than a town of smokers couldn't possibly compete with. So is this a movie that we should quit smoking? Cuz it seems that the town got only more problems when it did that.But on the other hand, the scenes with the town coping with nicotine withdrawal are some of the most humorous I've seen in an old movie. My guess is that this movie opened the door on attacking smoking, but didn't have the gumption to take it all the way. It's interesting to note that big tobacco is already fingered in taking some of the blame in the smoking epidemic - I didn't realize that so early on they were already seen as a culprit.I give this movie a 7 because for the majority of it, I enjoyed myself. I am surprised that I haven't heard more about it around, but I'm not surprised that it's not on DVD. I'd recommend it if you're in the mood for something cutesy, dated, and not too deep.