IMDb > The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)
The Sterile Cuckoo
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The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   810 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Alan J. Pakula
Writers:
John Nichols (novel) and
Alvin Sargent (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Sterile Cuckoo on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 October 1969 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama more
Tagline:
First love is beautiful hurt....if it happens to you once, you're lucky.
Plot:
Two students from neighboring colleges in upstate New York are swept up in a tragic romantic interlude... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations more
User Comments:
Loneliness when you're with somebody, loneliness when you're apart more (25 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Liza Minnelli ... 'Pookie' (Mary Ann) Adams

Wendell Burton ... Jerry Payne
Tim McIntire ... Charlie Schumacher
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Pookie (UK)
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Runtime:
107 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
USA:PG (re-rating) (1972) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:M (original rating)
Filming Locations:
Clinton, New York, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In the original novel, the story takes place over three years. This was shortened to a single school year for the movie. more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In Pookie's written rants against the weirdos of the world, the word is always spelled "wierdo." more
Quotes:
'Pookie' Adams: [looking at the people assembled in the dorm's common area] Boy, you sure get the cream of the CRAP here on weekends. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "L.A. Law: The Unsterile Cuckoo (#4.1)" (1989) more
Soundtrack:
Hey Liley, Liley Lo more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
34 out of 37 people found the following comment useful.
Loneliness when you're with somebody, loneliness when you're apart, 10 February 2001
9/10
Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

A friend of mine once commented that she never liked the TV series "Courtship Of Eddie's Father" because "it was such a lonely little show." I understand what she meant. It wasn't that it was underpopulated, it just exuded an atmosphere of melancholia. "The Sterile Cuckoo" is much the same way. Even though Mary Ann "Pookie" Adams has found her guy, she can't escape the loneliness within. She's desperate, clinging, and beautiful in her need--but a pain to her college boyfriend who quickly outgrows her. There are monologues by Liza Minnelli in this film that are haunting (the story of her father spraying perfume on his bed, or the one with Pookie making a recording for her father out of a love letter she swiped). Most importantly, Minnelli makes Pookie easily identifiable to us. Sure, we get angry at her, frustrated with her childish games, but she never alienates the audience (or director Alan J. Pakula, who stays right with her on the bus as the film fades out). I don't think I've ever seen a portrait of loneliness and need conveyed as well as it is done here. Liza probably deserved an Oscar for this quiet tour-de-force--hers is an amazing achievement that has not been equaled. ***1/2 from ****

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