Harry and Tonto

source: Harry and Tonto

Art Carney took home the Academy Award for Best Actor not only for his work in this movie, but for his entire career. The movie is about a man living his final years. His best friend and partner is his side kick cat Tonto. Together they travel from New York City to the far ends of the west coast. On the way, they bump into one situation and conversation to the next. The final scene shows Carney meeting another face along the path of life as he makes his final goodbye to the audience. In a way, Carney's character has to make this journey in order to say goodbye to the world. A heart gripping scene, Carney must say goodbye to his best of friends as Tonto get old himself. This is in a way not a coming of age story but a coming of life story. This is a terrific movie that has a moral that needs to be learned.

ART CARNEY and his orange tabby take a cross-country odyssey when he loses his lodgings in a rundown NYC building being converted to a garage. He leaves his friendly, somewhat eccentric friends in his neighborhood, makes a brief stab at living with impossible relatives and then heads for the open road again. He's independent in every way except one--he won't live without his cat Tonto either at his side or in tow. The situations are a little extreme. He disembarks from his bus ride so that the cat can relieve itself and then can't find Tonto when the cat runs off. He does find his cat and they continue their journey, meeting up with a few other kookie characters on the way. 56 year-old Carney, in age make-up, does a remarkable job of holding audience interest while he spends much of the time addressing his remarks to Tonto. Geraldine Fitzgerald has a nice bit as an old flame, now in an old age home. Nothing deep here. His most philospophical comment is: "Did you know that the strangest thing about being old is, all your friends are dead." There's also a priceless moment when his nephew, Norman, who never says much, responds to ELLYN BURSTYN, "I love you too, Aunt Shirley, but you're a such a bitch." Some editing would have trimmed the last half of the movie to a more suitable length. Two hours is a bit much for this kind of slight tale. Considering some of the great male performances that were up for Oscars that year, Carney's win is surprising. It's a rather one-note, one dimensional role--although he makes the most of it. Good, but too many rough edges--not quite as heart-warming as I expected it to be.

Art Carney gives us all a top caliber performance is this highly acclaimed movie drama.Here he plays a put upon retired school teacher.Who is forced to move from his West Side Apartment with his pet cat:"Tonto"and move in with his patronizing and complaining son and daughter in law.Unable to tolerate their difficult attitudes."Harry Coombes"(Carney)takes a trek accross country.Where he meets up with a teenage runaway:"Ginger"(Melenie Mayron),A Connving Vitamin Salesman(Athur Hunnicut),A Native American Medicine Man:"Sam Two Feathers"(Chief Dan George),A prositute(Rhonda Flemming)and his former girlfriend:"Jessie"(Geraldine Fitzgerald).He also spends some time with his oppionated daughter:"Shirley"(Ellen Burstyn)and His irresponsible son:"Eddie"(Larry Hagman).The film is filled with pogient moments and with some laughs.As well as some tradgety:"Harry's"old Friend:"Jacob"(Played here with some acerbic insight by the late Herbert Burghoff).Who dies and Poor "Harry"(Carney)has to indentify his friend's body at the morgue and the death of "Tonto".Art Carney won an Oscar for his portrayal of "Harry Coombes" in this picture.But most of all.He has won our admiration for his talents as an actor.Thanks Art!

I can only agree with the preceding praise of this wonderful movie. Art Carney was outstanding and deserved the Oscar. This is a story that relies on realism, fine dialogue, and excellent acting. There is no need for forced sentimentality here... the film's natural progression and true to life experiences provide the heart felt warmth, poignancy, and humor of this classic. I am going to purchase this film. It a movie that of which I never tire. It is sad that they do not produce films of this quality today. Kudos to all associated with it and a 10+ out of 10 rating. Art La Cues

I saw the movie for the first time on AMC and enjoyed it a lot. You don't see movies of this type anymore and when you see one like this you can't forget it. I thought Art Carney did a tremendous job acting as Harry. It also tended to remind people that they get old and lose their friends due to death and search for new companions.

"Harry and Tonto" is one of those films that surprises you. It seems very simplistic with an old man traveling with his trusty cat, however; there is more to the film than that. Harry(Art Carney) is a 72 year-old man displaced from his apartment building in New York that is scheduled for demolition. This is when his journey begins taking him from his son's home and comes across various people along the way including Ginger, a 16 year-old hitchhiker, a former lover with a shaky memory (Geraldine Fitzgerald), his bookstore owner daughter, Shirley(Ellen Burnstyn) in Chicago, a vitamin salesman, a Las Vegas hooker and an Indian Chief. Harry is an intelligent man in his twilight years prone to fussing over his aging cat. The film is good natured and at the same time sad. It plays as a slice of life movie but one thinks of the old saying, "It is not the destination but the journey that matters." Art Carney gives a very real, complex performance while being understated and I am not surprised that he won an Oscar for this film. I am glad that I finally came across this film and certainly appreciate it more as an adult than I did as a kid.

Road movies always make for interesting stories, including "Harry and Tonto". In a role that won him Best Actor, Art Carney plays retired New Yorker Harry Coombes, who decides to go on a cross-country tour with his cat Tonto. Harry not only visits his son and daughter (Larry Hagman and Ellen Burstyn, respectively), but also manages to live life to its fullest, come what may. Among other things, this movie shows that regardless of what we may assume, old folks still have it even at their age. I guess that when I'm as old as Harry, I'll have to go on a cross-country tour. Who knows what there is out there.

I've seen this movie 3 times and look forward to seeing again and again. It's on my holiday wish list in DVD. Paul Mazursky's tale was surely written well, but nobody could have done it better than Carney. He truly separated himself from a possible type cast situation from his days as Ed Norton. And in the end who doesn't cry when Tonto passes? But, I've always been a fan of Art Carney and this movie is one of the main reasons why. I highly recommend it and give a giant thumbs up.

After being evicted from his New York City apartment, a retired gent and his aging feline go on a cross country trip searching for a new life. They cross paths with many interesting folks and suffer their share of difficulties along the way. Harry was a philosophical old boy who managed to weather the upsets well; a solid man and totally likeable character. Excellent film, well written and played out. 5 stars.