Harper Valley P.T.A.

Director: Richard Bennett, Richard C. Bennett Richard Bennett

Overview

Based on the hit country song, this comedy stars Barbara Eden as Stella Johnson, a free-thinking housewife whose liberal attitudes grate on the stern members of the local PTA board.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/31/2005
UPC:	0026359024429
Original Release:	1978
Rating:	PG
Source:	HBO HOME VIDEO
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	4,810

Special Features

Closed Caption; [None specified]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Barbara Eden	Stella Johnson
Ronny Cox	Willis Newton
Nanette Fabray	Alice Finely
Susan Swift	Dee Johnson
Louis Nye	Kirby Baker
Pat Paulsen	Otis Harper Jr.
John Fiedler	Bobby Taylor
Audrey Christie	Flora Simpson Reilly
DeVera Marcus	Holly Taylor
Irene Yah Ling Sun	Myrna Wong
Louise Foley	Mavis Schroeder
Clint Howard	Corley
Jan Marie Teige	Reilly Twin
Jan Teige	Reilly Twin,Reilly Twin
Pitt Herbert	Henry Reilly
Fay DeWitt	Willa Mae Jones
Mollie Dodd	Olive Glover
Ron Masak	Herbie Maddox
Amzie Strickland	Shirley Thompson
Brian Cook	Carlyle Ridley
Tobias Anderson	Barney
Bob Hastings	Skeeter
Arlen Stuart	Bertha Harper,Bertha
J.J. Barry	Nolan
Royce D. Applegate	Dutch
Whitey Hughes	Stunt Man
Woody Harrelson	Actor

Technical Credits

Richard Bennett	Director,Director
George Edwards	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Far too many movies in the 1970s were based on hit songs, and Harper Valley PTA is one of them. All of them faced one common problem: taking a three-minute single and expanding it into a full length story. Harper's approach to solving this problem is to go through the "plot" of the entire song in about 15 minutes (including quoting liberally from the lyrics) and then spend the rest of the film creating stock sitcom revenge scenarios that are tiresomely repetitive. Viewers who get enjoyment out of seeing hypocrites get what's coming to them over and over and over again will find Harper just their cup of tea, but those who desire some spark of originality or, at the least, some progression in the sequence of events will be bored stiff. The level of humor is also set pretty low, and there's precious little in the screenplay that hasn't been seen or heard before. Richard Bennett's direction is trite and clearly based on the assumption that every point must be presented in as obvious a manner as possible so that the audience can't possibly miss anything. Fortunately, Harper has a game cast of talented actors. Barbara Eden brings as much spunk and sparkle to the lead role as she can muster, and such able supporting players as Nanette Fabray, Louis Nye, John Fiedler and Pat Paulsen are a big help in keeping viewer interest.