HARRY AND TONTO (1974)

At the Academy Awards in 1975, Art Carney won the Oscar for Best Actor, beating out Albert Finney, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974); Dustin Hoffman, LENNY (1974); Jack Nicholson, CHINATOWN (1974); and Al Pacino, GODFATHER II (1974).

Carney won for his charming performance as Harry Coombes in HARRY AND TONTO (1974), released on this day 47 years ago. Retired teacher and widower Harry Coombes is forced to move from his apartment. His son wants him to move in but he decides to go on a cross country odyssey with Tonto, his pet cat. Tonto is played by Tonto, who won a PATSY (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) award for best animal performance in a feature film. The first recipient of the award was Molly (aka Francis the Talking Mule) for FRANCIS (1950).

In additional to Carney’s original and quirky performance, there is an interesting ensemble starting with Ellen Burstyn who plays his daughter as well as Larry Hagman and Chief Dan George. Even good road movie embraces the sense of adventure and agency. Director and writer Paul Mazursky wanted to make a film to showcase that elderly people do not have to be invisible on the cinema landscape. He wanted to make a film that was bucking the trend of older folks frames as senile or bizarre. He wanted Harry to be funny, real, still cranky, but at the end of the day, he is still his 25-year-old self, just a bit slower and he has a faithful companion with purrs of encouragment. Mazursky was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay.