Where’s Poppa?

"The tush scene alone is worth the price of admission."

1970 1h 22m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 50

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When New York attorney Gordon Hocheiser meets Louise Callan, the girl of his dreams, he schemes to eliminate his aging, senile mother, even though he promised his late father that he'd always take care of her. He fears that his batty mom's eccentricities will shortly lead to Louise's departure.

“The tush scene alone is worth the price of admission.”

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Cast

George Segal
Gordon Hocheiser
Ruth Gordon
Mrs. Hocheiser
Ron Leibman
Sidney Hocheiser
Trish Van Devere
Louise Callan
Barnard Hughes
Colonel Hendricks
Vincent Gardenia
Coach Williams
Rae Allen
Gladys Hocheiser
Paul Sorvino
Owner of Gus & Grace's Home

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Carl Reiner
Writers: Robert Klane
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

82 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

56 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Carl Reiner, shot by Jack Priestley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jack Elliott. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Chic Ciccolini shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

George Segal and Ruth Gordon and Ron Leibman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Carl Reiner directs. Jack Priestley behind the camera. Jack Elliott scores. Chic Ciccolini cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
356 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Carl Reiner, shot by Jack Priestley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Jack Elliott. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Chic Ciccolini shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8George Segal and Ruth Gordon and Ron Leibman carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The tush scene alone is worth the price of admission.".
10IMDB entry: tt0066563 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Only 50 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
12Classified under 10 themes, including "mother", "rape", "sibling relationship", "based on novel or book".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack Priestley
Original score: Jack Elliott
Editing: Chic Ciccolini
Costume design: Albert Wolsky
Runtime: 82 min · 1h 22m
Status: Released
Budget: $1,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Where’s Poppa? (1970)

Also by

Carl Reiner

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-07-13
★ 8/10
I definitely would have tightened the slack pace of this--it seems perhaps 15 or 20 minutes too long, and really lags in spots--but it has some really excellent ideas and, in its basic underlying tenet of adult siblings trying to take care of their elderly parents, yet at the same time having fulfilling lives of their own, remains unfortunately very timely. I'm NOT a George Segal fan in the slightest (in both his previous roles in 'Ship of Fools' and 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf', he seems to think that simply by screaming at someone, that it inherently means 'range' and 'intensity'), but his work here is solid and he makes you care about his character's plight enough to actually empathize with his situation and root for him as a result. Solid work--and director Carl's son Rob is absolutely hilarious in a rare, pre-'All in the Family' performance. Good stuff here--contemporary PC-awareness notwithstanding, of course... ;)

Production companies