Cold Turkey (1971 film)

Cold Turkey
1971 movie poster by Sandy Kossin
Directed by	Norman Lear
Screenplay by	Norman Lear
Story by	Norman Lear William Price Fox, Jr.
Based on	I'm Giving Them Up for Good by Margaret and Neil Rau
Produced by	Norman Lear
Starring	Dick Van Dyke Pippa Scott Tom Poston Edward Everett Horton Bob and Ray Bob Newhart
Cinematography	Charles F. Wheeler
Edited by	John C. Horger
Music by	Randy Newman
Production company	Tandem Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	January 30, 1971 (1971-01-30) (Premiere) February 3, 1971 (1971-02-03) (Des Moines)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$11,000,000[1]

Cold Turkey is a 1971 satirical black comedy film starring Dick Van Dyke and a long list of comedic actors. The film was written for the screen, produced, and directed by Norman Lear, marking his directorial debut and his only directorial feature film credit. Cold Turkey was based on the unpublished novel I'm Giving Them Up for Good by Margaret and Neil Rau. Randy Newman composed and performed original music for the film.

In the film, the fictional Valiant Tobacco Company stages a publicity stunt, offering $25 million tax-free dollars to any American town whose entire population can stop smoking cigarettes for a month. A charismatic, ambitious preacher, Reverend Clayton Brooks, encourages the depressed small town of Eagle Rock, Iowa, to take on the challenge, but the town struggles to overcome its addiction to tobacco.

The film was shot in Greenfield, Iowa and local residents served as extras.^[2]

The film was produced in 1969 but was shelved for two years by the distributor over concerns about its box-office potential.