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Norwood
Norwood
Directed by	Jack Haley Jr.
Written by	Marguerite Roberts
Based on	Norwood; by Charles Portis
Produced by	Hal Wallis
Starring	Glen Campbell; Kim Darby; Joe Namath; Carol Lynley; Pat Hingle; Tisha Sterling; Dom DeLuise; Jack Haley; Cass Daley
Music by	Mac Davis, Al DeLory, Mitchell Torok, Ramona Redd
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	May 21, 1970 (Dallas, Texas);
Running time	96 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,750,000 (US/ Canada rentals)

Norwood is a 1970 American comedy film that reunites True Grit co-stars Glen Campbell and Kim Darby, also featuring Joe Namath. It was based on the novel of the same title, written by Charles Portis (who also wrote True Grit), but updated from the original 1950s setting to 1970.

The film marked the penultimate screen appearance of actor Jack Haley, the father of the director Jack Haley Jr.

Plot

Norwood Pratt has just finished his enlistment in the United States Marine Corps and is on his way home from Vietnam. As a musician, his one great ambition is to appear on the radio program Louisiana Hayride.

Along the way, Norwood meets a variety of characters, including Grady Fling, a flim-flam man; Yvonne Phillips, a hooker; Marie, a jaded would-be starlet; and his Marine buddy Joe William Reese.

However, the most important person that he meets is Rita Lee Chipman, the "right kind of girl," who is unfortunately an unwed soon-to-be mother at a time when this was uncommon and somewhat shameful. She supports him and is there when Norwood finally reaches the KWKH studio as his dream comes true.

Cast

Glen Campbell as Norwood
Kim Darby as Rita
Joe Namath as Joe
Carol Lynley as Yvonne
Pat Hingle as Grady Fring
Tisha Sterling as Marie
Dom DeLuise as Bill Bird
Leigh French as Vernell Bird
Meredith MacRae as Kay
Sammy Jackson as Wayne T.E.B. Walker
Billy Curtis as Edmund B. Ratner
Edith Atwater as Angry Bus Passenger
Jimmy Boyd as Jeeter
Virginia Capers as Ernestine
Cass Daley as Mrs. Remley
Merie Earle as Grandma Whichcoat
Jack Haley as Mr. Reese
David Huddleston as Uncle Lonnie
Gil Lamb as Mr. Remley

Release

Norwood opened on May 21, 1970, in Dallas, Texas before opening in 450 theaters on May 27.^[1]^[3]

Reception

Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote that "the picture is a showcase for the guitar-playing Campbell. And it is an entirely shapeless affair that simply bumps him around the country. A pity, too, for he is a pleasant, natural actor — 'True Grit' proved that — and he sings a clutch of guitar ballads easily and winningly."^[4] Variety called it "little more than the perpetuation of the Elvis Presley format for Glen Campbell, complete with a parade of pretty faces and uninspired countryish rhythm by Presley tunesmith Mac Davis."^[5] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1 star out of 4 and described its humor as "hokey, but harmless."^[6] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called it "an amiable, easygoing, often quite funny piece of entertainment."^[7] Richard Combs of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "At its best, Marguerite Roberts' screenplay provides some amiable regional comedy; at its worst when tidying up the novel's loose ends (complete to Norwood's final appearance on country and western radio), it suggests how the material of Midnight Cowboy might have looked if turned into a vehicle for Elvis Presley."^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b "Norwood - Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
^ "Big Rental Films of 1970", Variety, 6 January 1971 p 11
^ "Paramount's Summer Playoff Strategy: 5,000 Bookings For Eight Major Films". Variety. June 3, 1970. p. 5.
^ Thompson, Howard (November 26, 1970). "Glen Campbell and Namath in 'Norwood'". The New York Times. 57.
^ "Film Reviews: Norwood". Variety. April 29, 1970. 18.
^ Siskel, Gene (June 24, 1970). "Norwood". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 6.
^ Champlin, Charles (May 27, 1970). "Glen Campbell Makes Concert of 'Norwood'". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 1.
^ Combs, Richard (October 1971). "Norwood". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 38 (453): 201.