The Sterile Cuckoo [Blu-ray]

Director: Alan J. Pakula Alan J. Pakula

Overview

Liza Minnelli is Pookie Adams, a relentlessly kooky coed in The Sterile Cuckoo. The film's focus, however, is on Wendell Burton (likewise making his first screen appearance) as reserved young college student Jerry. He is actively pursued by the unpredictable Pookie, who helps him to survive his first months in school. Gradually, however, it is obvious that Jerry is outgrowing Pookie. Both, however, have benefited from the relationship (he has gained self-confidence, she is now able to come to grips with her unhappy home life) and their parting is a tender one. Not unlike his stars, Alan J. Pakula was making his directorial bow with The Sterile Cuckoo, which earned an Oscar nomination for its theme song "Come Saturday Morning.""

Product Details

Release Date:	10/16/2012
UPC:	0887090043403
Original Release:	1969
Rating:	PG
Source:	Olive
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:47:00
Sales rank:	15,739

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Liza Minnelli	Pookie Adams
Wendell Burton	Jerry Payne
Tim McIntire	Charlie Schumacher
Elizabeth Harrower	Landlady
Austin Green	Pookie's Father
Sandra Faison	Nancy Putnam,Nancy Putnam
Chris Bugbee	Roe
Jawn McKinley	Helen Upshaw
Fred Lerner	Actor
A. Frederick Gooseen	Actor
Mark P. Fish	Actor
Philip S. Derfler	Actor
John Hussey	Actor
Toni Shorrock	Actor
Eric Best	Actor
Becky Davis	Actor
Towyna Thomas	Actor
Frances Tobin	Actor
Tim Laurie	Actor
Margaret Markov	Actor
Anita Alberts	Actor
Warren Peterson	Actor
Paul McConnell	Actor
Adele Wynn	Actor
Cynthia Hull	Actor
Fred Karlin	Composer

Technical Credits

Alvin Sargent

John Nichols

David Lange	Executive Producer
Alan J. Pakula	Producer,Director
Charles Spurgeon	Special Effects
Alvin Sargent	Screenwriter
John Nichols	Screenwriter
John Wilkinson	Sound/Sound Designer
Ben Winkler	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

A sweet coming-of-age story from the late 1960s that seems as if it belongs to an earlier, more innocent era, The Sterile Cuckoo stars Liza Minnelli as an awkward but gregarious college girl who is determined to have her first sexual experience with a shy, naïve young man (played by Wendell Burton). Director Alan J. Pakula, in his debut film, shows flashes of brilliance in squeezing all the energy he can out of a predictable plot. Minnelli stepped out of the shadow of her mother, Judy Garland, and made a dramatic impact in her first major starring role. Minnelli and the film's theme song, "Come Saturday Morning," both received Oscar nominations, and Minnelli went on to fame in Cabaret. Pakula went on to Klute, All the President's Men, and other topical dramas and character studies. In England, The Sterile Cuckoo was titled Pookie.

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