Cold Turkey (1971)

Cold Turkey is a 1971 satirical comedy film. It stars Dick Van Dyke plus a long list of comedic actors. The film was directed, co-produced and co-written by Norman Lear and is based on the unpublished novel I'm Giving Them Up for Good by Margaret and Neil Rau.

The film was made in 1969, but was shelved for two years by the distributor due to concerns about its box-office potential.

A musical theatre version of Cold Turkey was workshopped at the Village Theatre in Issaquah, Washington in February 2005.

Synopsis

As part of a public relations and marketing strategy to compare the empathy of Big Tobacco to the nobility of the Nobel Peace Prize, advertising executive Merwin Wren (Bob Newhart) convinces the Valiant Tobacco Company to propose a challenge: a tax-free check for $25,000,000 (equal to $160 775 862 today) to any city or town in America that can stop smoking, or go cold turkey, for thirty days.

Actors