The Lathe of Heaven (1980) (TV)

Directors:

Fred Barzyk
David R. Loxton

Writers:

Diane English (writer)
Ursula K. Le Guin (novel)

Release Date:

9 January 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

George Orr, a man whose dreams can change waking reality, tries to suppress this unpredictable gift with drugs...

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Psychiatrist | Alternative Reality | Interracial Relationship | Fantasy Becomes Reality

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Bruce Davison	...	George Orr
Peyton E. Park	...	Mannie Ahrens (as Peyton Park)
Niki Flacks	...	Penny Crouch
Kevin Conway	...	Dr. William Haber
Vandi Clark	...	Aunt Ethel
Bernadette Whitehead	...	George's Mother
Jo Livingston	...	George's Father
Jane Roberts	...	Grandmother
Tom Matts	...	Grandfather
Frank Miller	...	Parole Officer
Joye Nash	...	Woman on Subway
Gena Sleete	...	Woman on Subway
Margaret Avery	...	Heather LeLache
Ben McKinley III	...	Orderlie
R.A. Mihailoff	...	Orderlie

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Agate Beach, Oregon, USA

Company:

Taurus Film

Trivia:

Unseen for twenty years because of a copyright issue: in one scene, George Orr plays a record of The Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." The film was finally allowed to be rebroadcast when The Beatles' version of the song was replaced with one sung by a different vocalist.

Quotes:

Dr. Haber: Progress, George. Progress. We have made more progress in six weeks than humanity has made in the past six thousand years.
George Orr: Well, do you think with all of this progress you could help me to find Heather?
Dr. Haber: Who?
George Orr: [Irritated] Heather Lelache, the lawyer from HEW.
Dr. Haber: Oh, yes. What happened to her?
George Orr: I don't know, she's gone.
Dr. Haber: Oh, she's out there somewhere.
George Orr: I doubt it. She was brown, not gray.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Free Enterprise (1998)

One of a kind...

I remember when this one aired on PBS and the euphoria we the faithful felt at the time. We thought that science fiction had finally really arrived. No more rip-offs of rip-offs of old movie serials: we were finally going to see "real" science fiction on television again (for the first time since the '60's); not the compromise of commercial television but the kind of SF that could only come from Public Television. And what a wonder it was. To see a book like THE LATHE OF HEAVEN, by none other than Ursula K. LeGuin, as fully realized as was humanly possible at that time... yes, it was a wonder to behold. Nor was it going to end there. We were told that wonder would follow on wonder, that an entire series of these thought-provoking programs were in the works. The road ahead looked smooth, the future bright.

Sigh. 20/20 hindsight, and all that; but it was a great idea then and it's still a great idea. If not PBS, then some other producing entity. The material is still out there(if you'll pardon the play on words), and the market is arguably stronger than ever. All the genre needs right now is somebody willing to mine all that gold.