Mixed Company
October. 18,1974 PGKathy Morrison (Harris), mother of three, who helps run a "color-blind" adoption program, wants to have another biological child. Her husband, Pete (Bologna), the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, finds out he can't produce another child. Kathy thinks about adopting a boy, Frederic "Freddie" Wilcox, and Pete does not want to adopt a boy who happens to be black. When he relents, Freddie's arrival causes an upheaval in the Morrison's neighborhood, their school, and family. Kathy's answer is to adopt another child, in this case two, a war-traumatized half-Vietnamese girl, Quan Tran, and a Hopi boy, Joe. The new extended family must now learn to live together.
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Reviews
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Just what I expected
best movie i've ever seen.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
The writer of "Yours, Mine, and Hours" came back to the well with this vaguely similar plot line....but to dismiss this charming, genuine, and very heartfelt little sleeper as a mere retread is to risk missing some big laughs, some great performances, and many deftly wrung tears.Story of a coach's wife who finds herself drawn to the hobby of collecting "unwanted" kids could have come across as sentimental drivel. This low budget gem instead draws upon the grit of 1974 and brings it's characters to full life with a raw intensity that is all but unheard of today....The sublime Rush and Bologna may come off a bit broad at first...and the no frills cinematography may give the early scenes a TV sitcom vibe...but stick around until the three orphans begin working their magic on their prospective parents...(and your own heartstrings).These are damage, scarred kids...and their baggage is displayed in unflinching detail which looks quite shocking now (almost as surprising as the film's flashes of nudity...try and see an uncut print if you can find one).To my view this film deserves to be a family favorite even more than the original "Yours Mine and ours" ...and I would also it deserved to be remade...if I thought there was a small chance Of modern Hollywood recapturing it's honesty and heart!
This move was entertaining solely for its camp value and rampant political incorrectness. The writing is lazy, sloppy and predictable. As with many movies featuring large casts, the supporting players are reduced to a few quirks which pass for character development. My favorite part of the movie is the way that each and every character (including the kids) say "goddamnit" several times each. Having said all that, Joseph Baloney is always good at playing a blustery character, and Barbara Harris' character is so loony, I would have killed her within the first ten minutes of the movie. The script reads more like a terrible 1970's sitcom than a feature film, with its attempts at "relevance", including a prospective black suitor for the oldest daughter, played with gusto by veteran TV actress Lisa Gerritsen (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Phyllis, My World and Welcome to It). A colossal misunderstanding in the vein of "Three's Company" shows the movies true colors. If you are looking for some so-bad-it's-good 1970's crap, you can't go too far wrong in watching this. We saw it on the FLIX cable channel. Goddamnit!
I saw this movie twice, first time in the theater. The movie was well written and very interesting indeed. The character I liked best was the couples' youngest and biological daughter, Mary (played by Ariane Heller). She was so cute and mischeivous, and had very beautiful brown eyes! I loved the scene where she was in the bathroom showing her adopted Black Brother, Freddy, that she was all white by removing her bath robe standing there wearing only in her under pants. This scene was so cute!I wish this film had a sequel, and hope that it will be released on DVD soon!
A couple with three children, two girls and a boy, adopt or foster three other children; a Black teen (Haywood Nelson), a Viet Namese girl and a Native American boy. With Joe Bologna and Barbara Harris as those parents, you can guarantee that any conflicts will be met and dealt with. I caught about half of this movie when I saw it and was overwhelmed by the way the subject matter was handled so humorously.Stephen Honanie as Joe, the Native American child, who was one of the youngest children, was without a doubt the funniest, as on Halloween he wore a feather in a headband, mocassins and buckskin breeches and carried a tomahawk and exclaimed over and over "I'm an Indian, I'm an Indian, I'm an Indian!" It would be years before I would realize the joke here; as far as he could tell, it was the costume that made him the Indian, not his heritage. Ariane Heller as the white child of the couple, their youngest, would also show a child's innocence in what she perceived around her.Lisa Gerritsen, best known as Cloris Leachman's daughter on Mary Tyler Moore, was the oldest child and on that same holiday, her date removed his Frankenstein mask to reveal what her parents didn't know, nor did Haywood Nelson; that he too was Black.The final conflict came down between Bologna, a basketball coach, and Nelson, and how each of them would show they care, in the end by cheering on their team at the basketball game. I would love to see this movie again and get a better clue of how the racial lines were crossed. From what I can recall it did an excellent job. This came on the heels of the cancellation of The Brady Bunch and later on there would be Mulligan's Stew with Elinore Donahue. This one got lost in all the shows. It is truly an outstanding viewpoint of the extended family.