Directed by:
George Roy HillScreenplay:
Stephen GellerCinematography:
Miroslav OndříčekCast:
Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche, Valerie Perrine, Perry King, Kevin Conway, Roberts Blossom, Gilmer McCormick, John Wood, Emil Iserle (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
George Roy Hill's adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's whimsical antiwar black comedy--an immensely popular novel at the time of the film's release because of its implicit condemnation of the war in Vietnam--stars Michael Sacks as the placid Billy Pilgrim. He's become "unstuck in time," as the author describes him, or more prosaically, he's had a nervous breakdown as a result of a recurrence of the trauma of witnessing the horrific Allied firebombing of Dresden in 1945. The desultory narrative has Billy jumping from his war experience to his future on the planet Tralfamadore with the buxom Montana Wildhack (Valerie Perrine), then to an episode of shock therapy, then to an episode in his childhood, and then to his life as a relatively unhappy suburban optometrist. Throughout, the naive Billy remains a curious mixture of kindness and detachment, the best combination of qualities one could have, the author seems to imply, for surviving in a world of meaningless suffering. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Michael Sacks
USA
Best movies:
Split Image (1982)
The Sugarland Express (1974)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
Ron Leibman
USA
Best movies:
Phar Lap (1983)
Dummy (2002)
Garden State (2004)
Eugene Roche
USA
Best movies:
Miracle on Ice (1981) (TV movie)
Corvette Summer (1978)
The Late Show (1977)
Valerie Perrine
USA
Best movies:
Lenny (1974)
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
Superman (1978)
Perry King
USA
Best movies:
Mandingo (1975)
Class of 1984 (1982)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
Kevin Conway
USA
Best movies:
Mystic River (2003)
Gettysburg (1993)
Two Family House (2000)
Roberts Blossom
USA
Best movies:
Home Alone (1990)
Ściana (1982) (TV movie)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Gilmer McCormick
USA
Best movies:
The Burning Bed (1984) (TV movie)
Starting Over (1979)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
Emil Iserle
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
Closely Watched Trains (1966)
Case for a Rookie Hangman (1969)
Pearls of the Deep (1965)
Karl-Otto Alberty
German Empire
Best movies:
The Great Escape (1963)
Battle of Britain (1969)
The Damned (1969)
Sorrell Booke
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992)
Fail-Safe (1964)
John Dehner
USA
Best movies:
The Right Stuff (1983)
How the West Was Won (1976) (series)
The Man from Bitter Ridge (1955)
Oto Ševčík
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Assassination (1964)
Divided We Fall (2000)
Death Is Called Engelchen (1963)
Friedrich von Ledebur
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
Notorious (1946)
Moulin Rouge (1952)
Ludwig: The Mad King of Bavaria (1973)
Ladislav Jakim
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Black Peter (1963)
Case for a Rookie Hangman (1969)
Why? (1987)
Alexander Allerson
German Empire
Best movies:
Battle of Britain (1969)
I Only Want You to Love Me (1976) (TV movie)
Satan's Brew (1976)
Henry Bumstead
USA
Best movies:
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
Joshua Hill Lewis
Best movies:
Bad Company (1972)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
Tom Sawyer (1973)
John Goddard
USA
Best movies:
Ride Clear of Diablo (1954)
Not as a Stranger (1955)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)