Family Reunion (film)
| Family Reunion | |
|---|---|
 Video tape cover | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by |
Allan Sloane Joe Sparton (article) |
| Directed by | Fielder Cook |
| Starring |
Bette Davis J. Ashley Hyman David Huddleston John Shea |
| Theme music composer | Wladimir Selinsky |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Lucy Jarvis Helen Baker (associate producer) |
| Location(s) |
Locust Valley Elementry School, Locust Valley, Long Island, New York, USA New York City Washington, D.C. |
| Cinematography | Jack Priestley |
| Editor(s) | Eric Albertson |
| Running time | 200 min. |
| Production company(s) |
Columbia Pictures Television Creative Projects |
| Distributor |
NBC Columbia TriStar Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | October 11, 1981 |
Family Reunion is a 1981 four-hour American made-for-television drama film directed by Fielder Cook. The teleplay by Allan Sloane was based on the Good Housekeeping article How America Lives by Joe Sparton. It was produced by Columbia Pictures Television for NBC, which aired it in two parts on October 11 and 12, 1981.
At its core is feisty matriarch Elizabeth Winfield, a New England teacher recently retired after a fifty-year career. She uses an unlimited bus ticket received as a gift to visit the distant members of her long-estranged family. During her absence, her small hometown, which bears her family's name, falls prey to dishonest relatives colluding with corrupt shopping mall developers. She returns in an effort to halt construction on the project and, armed with the moral integrity she has instilled in her students for the past five decades, she manages to resolve the situation in time for the annual Founder's Day festivities.
Cast
- Bette Davis as Elizabeth Winfield
- J. Ashley Hyman as Richard Cooper
- David Huddleston as Chester Winfield
- John Shea as James Cookman
- Roy Dotrice as Lester Frye
- Roberts Blossom as Phil King
- Kathryn Walker as Louisa King
- David Rounds as Grover Winfield
- Roberta Wallach as Jessica Winfield
- Jeff McCracken as Max Winfield
- Beth Ehlers as Janice Lyman
- Paul Rudd as Lane Lyman