{"id":3904,"date":"2011-12-07T13:44:15","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T18:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3904"},"modified":"2011-12-07T13:44:15","modified_gmt":"2011-12-07T18:44:15","slug":"dvd-gathering-the-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3904","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Gathering, The (1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>G<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Film: Very Good\/ DVD Transfer: Very Good\/ DVD Extras: \u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Label: Warner Home Video\/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: October 25, 2011<\/p>\n

Genre: Drama \/ Christmas Special \/ TV<\/p>\n

Synopsis: A small town corporate chieftan attempts a reconciliation with his estranged family at what will be his final Christmas gathering.<\/p>\n

Special Features: \u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

Emmy Winner: Outstanding Special \u2013 Drama or Comedy<\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a specific generation who recall this classic, Emmy Award-winning drama that transcends the usual seasonal tripe concocted for TV movies as well as TV series. The tone is designed to be non-controversial, a bit genteel, and the drama follows the predictable path where the estranged components of a fractured family somehow reassemble for one momentous Christmas dinner, rekindling a sense of fidelity to the concept of Family: always there for each other, and able to command strength when faced with serious events.<\/p>\n

Written by James Poe and directed by then-newcomer Randal Kleiser (a year before he struck gold with Grease<\/strong>), The Gathering<\/strong> begins on a grim note: emotionally burly patriarch Adam Thornton (Ed Asner) is told he has 30-90 days max before a serious disease claims his life, so without any hesitation, he sets his affairs in order, and plans to make Xmas his one chance to right a series of wrongs, all stemming from his pivotal decision to leave wife Kate (Maureen Stapleton), and ignore virtually all of his four kids \u2013 daughters Julie (Rebecca Balding) and Peggy (Gail Strickland), and sons Bud Jr. (Gregory Harrison) and Tom (Lawrence Pressman ) for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

After Adam explains to Kate of his eventually demise, the two make telephone overtures to the kids, and the narrative intercuts each child\u2019s reaction as they either contemplate or reject Kate\u2019s offer for a family get-together; some also suspect the sudden dinner invite signals a reunion between their still legally separated parents. Naturally, \u00be\u2019s of the kids come home with their spouses and kids, and Adam\u2019s first priority is to make peace with Tom, whom he feels is headed for the same path towards misery and regret \u2013 a nice touch by writer Poe in evoking Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts without directly referencing Charles Dickens.<\/p>\n

The lone no-show \u2013 draft-dodger Bud, living under an alias in Manitoba (!) \u2013 eventually makes it home, and makes peace with his father while adding a new daughter-in-law and son to the Thornton family before the end credits roll. Poe doesn\u2019t give Adam any miraculous remission, but dad will leave the family more intact, and filled with resolve.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s melodramatic, manipulative, predictable \u2013 Bud\u2019s last-minute appearance is hardly a shock \u2013 and dripping with schmaltz, but Poe\u2019s prose, and his decision to keep the drama revolving around Adam are what prevents the teleplay from being wholly generic. We\u2019re always shown Adam\u2019s reactions \u2013 upset, disappointment, regret, humility, glee \u2013 and Asner is surrounded by a great cast of veteran actors – namely Stapleton, John Randolph (Seconds<\/a><\/strong>), James Karen (Poltergiest<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>]) – and newcomers (see Postscript).<\/p>\n

Director Kleiser also adopted a pastel, candy colour scheme reminiscent of old Technicolor family dramas, and Dennis Dalzell\u2019s cinematography is unusually rich for a TV production. Warner Home Video\u2019s transfer betters the old VHS tape, and with minimal digital noise reduction, the DVD presents a fairly clean transfer \u2013 quite rare when most TV productions aren\u2019t just grainy, but survive as older, worn and often soft-focus prints.<\/p>\n

The lone flaw is John Barry\u2019s score, or rather the use of his music cues, which tends to revolve around slight variations of his monothematic theme. His instrumental combinations are often quite effective (particularly harpsichord and solo violin), but the maniacal repetition of the same cues weakens scenes and montages, and makes anything original rather clich\u00e9d.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there are no extras on the DVD, but it\u2019s a welcome surprise to see WHV giving the film a straight DVD release when its prior appearance was under the MOD Warner Archive brand, coupled with the teleplay\u2019s sequel, The Gathering, Part II <\/strong>(1979), of which neither Kleiser, Poe, nor Barry had any connection.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Postscript<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even a cursory examination of the cast shows what became a who\u2019s who of classic eighties TV, making The Gathering<\/strong> noteworthy for capturing talent shortly before they broke.<\/p>\n

Although she plays a benevolent daughter, Balding had already shown a nasty side as corrupt cop Parker in The Bionic Woman<\/strong>, but is best known for her extensive TV work (three years on Soap<\/strong>) and two classic slasher films: Silent Scream<\/strong> (1980) and The Boogens<\/strong> (1981).<\/p>\n

Veronica Hamel soon achieved her own stardom on the long-running Hill Street Blues <\/strong>(1981-1987), whereas Bruce Davison (X-Men<\/strong>) had appeared in Kleiser\u2019s directorial debut, the short film Peege<\/strong> (1973). Stephanie Zimbalist\u2019s small role predates her career high in Remington Steele <\/strong>(1982-1987), not to mention Harrison, who played screen husband Bud prior to a starring role on Logan\u2019s Run<\/strong> (1977-1978) and Trapper John, M.D.<\/strong> (1979-1986).<\/p>\n

Poe\u2019s background includes adapting a pair of Tennessee Williams plays for film – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof<\/strong> (1958), Summer and Smoke<\/strong> (1961) \u2013 and Clifford Odets\u2019 The Big Knife <\/strong>(1955), the travelogue pastry Around the World in 80 Days<\/strong> (1956), and William E. Barrett\u2019s Lilies in the Field <\/strong>(1963). His final credits include Riot<\/strong> (1969), They Shoot Horses, Don\u2019t They?<\/strong> (1969), and co-writing The Nightman<\/strong> (1992), an underrated TV adaptation of Lucille Fletcher\u2019s noir radio play.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0G<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ G . Film: Very Good\/ DVD Transfer: Very Good\/ DVD Extras: \u00a0n\/a Label: Warner Home Video\/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: October 25, 2011 Genre: Drama \/ Christmas Special \/ TV Synopsis: A small town corporate chieftan attempts a reconciliation with his estranged family at what will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[924,922,923,283],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-10Y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3904"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3907,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904\/revisions\/3907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}