Hambone and Hillie (1983) - feat. Lillian Gish, Timothy Bottoms, O. J. Simpson & Nicole Eggert

Sweet little old Hillie (legendary silent film actress Lillian Gish) is a 90-year-old grandmother returning to Los Angeles from her stay in New York. At the airport, in order to board the plane she must put her spunky little dog, Hambone, in a cage, so that he can be transported separately. Unfortunately a young girl opens the cage and allows the mangy loyal pooch to escape, but only after the plane carrying his owner has already taken off.
Hambone then treks a long, arduous and perilous cross-country journey, from New York City to Los Angeles, to be reunited with his owner, Hillie.
En route the raggedy hound has many adventures in-between, meets an assortment of characters, helping along the way, and has numerous misadventures with dognapers, burglars, and even a motorcyclist.
There's the sheriff's pregnant wife who needs help when a psychotic intruder shows up. The two children (Marc Bentley, Nicole Eggert) take in the dog for a while. A handicapped girl (Sidney Greenbush) puts a cross around the neck of a dog that was traveling with Hambone and tells this dog that the cross will help protect her, and the girl’s grandfather (Alan Hale Jr.) reads from the Bible. Robert Walker, Jr. typecast as his usual aimless hippie wanderer. And an OJ Simpson cameo. He's just one of the characters, little lost Hambone meets on his ultimate quest, to be reunited with his one true soul mate. Hillie's grandson is played by Timothy Bottoms.
Most dogs that are abandoned from their owners become strays and live on the streets, in rescue shelters or are taken in by a new owner, but they are definitely not homing pigeons that can somehow smell their owners scent from thousands of miles away. But, Hillie can read maps, road signs, and even tell direction. Having a supernatural sense of direction but no map, Hambone crosses Illinois and Monument Valley on the way to the Sunshine State.
At the picture's heart-wrenching conclusion the rumpled rover and his old biddy owner cross paths again.
A 1984 American comedy-drama film directed by Roy Watts, produced by Sandy Howard, written by Sandra K. Bailey, Michael Murphey and Joel Soisson, story by Ken Barnett, cinematography by Jon R. Kranhouse, starring Lillian Gish, Timothy Bottoms, Candy Clark, O. J. Simpson, Robert Walker Jr., Jack Carter, Alan Hale Jr., Anne Lockhart, Sidney Robin Greenbush, William Jordan, Paul Koslo, Arnie Moore, Nancy Morgan, and Nicole Eggert.
The dog shown on the movie’s promotional poster is not the same one that was used in the film.
Jay Kamen was the original director on the film. The first scenes to be shot were the "on location" scenes. The small crew started in New York City, and traveled across the country. Prior to the commencement of principal photography in Los Angeles, Kamen was replaced by the credited director by order of producer Sandy Howard.
Roy Watts was born in 1942 in Islington, London, England. He is an editor and producer, known for "Stargate" (1994), "Pumpkinhead" (1988) and "Beowulf"(1999). Watts edited Ray Harryhausen's "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" (1973) & "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" (1977).
Producer Sandy Howard worked with composer Georges Garvarentz on both this film and "Triumphs of a Man Called Horse" (1983). Howard would trade music publishing income rights in exchange for an original score, at no cost.
Georges Diran Garvarentz (1932-1993) was an Armenian-French composer, noted for his music for films and Charles Aznavour's songs. Born in Athens, Greece, to a family of Armenian immigrants. His father, literature professor and poet Kevork Garvarentz, was the author of the Armenian military anthem. n 1942 Garvarentz's family moved to Paris, France, where Georges attended Conservatoire de Paris. In 1956 Georges met Charles Aznavour and started writing music for his songs. Together they wrote over a hundred songs, including "Prends garde à toi" (1956), "Et pourtant" (1962), "Il faut saisir sa chance" (1962), "Retiens la nuit" (1962), "La plus belle pour aller danser" (1964), "Hier encore" (1964), "Paris au mois d'août" ("Paris in August", 1966), "Désormais" (1969), and "Une vie d'amour" (1980). The period from the latter half of the 1980s until Garvarentz’s death in 1993 represented one of the most productive and enduring periods of his collaboration with Aznavour. Their final new works of the era were on Aznavour’s 1994 album Toi et moi (released in 1995 in the anglophone world as You and Me); Garvarentz’s last collaboration with Aznavour, the song "Ton doux visage", was released on this album. In 1965, Georges married Charles Aznavour's sister, Aida Aznavourian. Garvarentz also composed over one hundred fifty film scores. Garvarentz is the author of the musical comedy "Deux anges sont venus" and an operetta "Douchka."
This schmaltzy family feature is aimed at a family audience. A cute kiddie farce, but nothing at all great. It's easy to see why this one has fallen off the map. It just isn't worth rediscovering.

[@Harmthuria]

I’ll have to disagree with you there, Donald P. Borchers. This movie is a gem of my childhood and is absolutely worth rediscovering for future generations. Not all movies will be as noteworthy as say… the Good the Bad and the Ugly, the Grapes of Wrath, the Thing, the Godfather, Star Wars, Death Wish or Die Hard, to name a few. But this is one of those movies that will forever be remembered by those who are simply cinephiles.

[@Graham-ce2yk]

That film was inflight 'entertainment' going to and from the UK in the 80s. The collective groan from all the passengers on the return flight when they realised it was the inflight movie was something to behold.

[@robertmier2217]

I’ll ‘like’ it for your description, and maybe Lillian Gish, I won’t bother watching it.

[@Harmthuria]

You should. The last time I saw this movie was on t.v. in the early 1990’s. Some months ago, I actually got a colleague from work to record this in French on VHS for me, ‘cause I never saw it in English. The dialogue would not be what I remember. This movie is a great family movie. Hambone and Hillie Le Voyage de Charlemagne