Second-Hand Hearts

{{Short description|1981 film by Hal Ashby}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Second-Hand Hearts | image = Second-Hand Hearts.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Hal Ashby]] | producer = [[James William Guercio]]<br />[[Charles Mulvehill]] | writer = [[Charles K. Eastman|Charles Eastman]] | starring = [[Robert Blake (actor)|Robert Blake]]<br />[[Barbara Harris (actress)|Barbara Harris]]<br />[[Bert Remsen]] | music = [[Willis Alan Ramsey]] | cinematography = [[Haskell Wexler]] | editing = [[Amy Holden Jones]] | production_companies = [[Lorimar Television|Lorimar]] | distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]] | released = {{Film date|1981|05|08}} | runtime = 102 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $7 million<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56692-SECOND-HAND-HEARTS | title=AFI|Catalog }}</ref> | gross = $19,450<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=secondhandhearts.htm | title=Unknown}}{{Dead link | date=January 2025 | fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> }}

'''''Second-Hand Hearts''''' is a 1981 American [[comedy film]] directed by [[Hal Ashby]] from a screenplay by [[Charles K. Eastman|Charles Eastman]]. A shorter version of this screenplay, under its original intended title ''The Hamster of Happiness'', was written by Eastman for the unconventional [[National Broadcasting Company|NBC]] anthology series ''[[NBC Experiment in Television]]'', which was broadcast in 1968 with [[Mildred Dunnock]] and [[Susan Tyrrell]] in the cast. It was the second of three films Ashby directed which were produced by [[Lorimar Television|Lorimar]] Productions.

==Plot== {{more plot|date=May 2026}} Dinette Dusty, a manic, mercurial widow separated from her three children, and Loyal Muke, an insecure loner who inadvertently marries her after the two of them go on a drunken bender. After losing his job soon after their marriage, she badgers him into taking her to recover her children, currently in the custody of her less-than-accommodating in-laws, and taking them all to California in the hope of a better life for them all. The film follows the unusual incidents that occur along the road trip.

==Cast== *[[Robert Blake (actor)|Robert Blake]] as Loyal Muke *[[Barbara Harris (actress)|Barbara Harris]] as Dinette Dusty *[[Bert Remsen]] as Voyd *Collin Boone as Human Dusty *Amber Rose Gold as Iota *Jessica & Erica Stansbury as Sandra Dee *[[Shirley Stoler]] as Maxy *[[Woodrow Chambliss]] as Deaf Attendant

==Production and release== The filming was plagued by trouble throughout production, much stemming from the erratic behavior of Ashby and writer Eastman. Although it was filmed in 1979, it was not released until 1981, and [[Paramount Pictures]], at the time serving as Lorimar's theatrical distributor, chose to only open the film in New York and Los Angeles. This prompted Robert Blake, during one of his frequent guest appearances on ''The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'', to publicly complain about this decision; he presented a clip and tried to increase interest in the film. However, the New York/Los Angeles release received mostly negative reviews, and Paramount stood by its decision to not expand it to other cities. It briefly played cable television a year later, then virtually disappeared from circulation. The film was produced by James William Guercio (billed as James Guercio), who previously had directed Blake in the film ''[[Electra Glide in Blue]]''.

==Home media== ''Second-Hand Hearts'', together with another Ashby film made for Lorimar, ''[[Lookin' to Get Out]]'', got a British video release through Guild Home Video in the early 1980s, but never received a domestic home video release until 2013, when it was released on Manufacture-on-Demand DVD by [[Warner Archive]].

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title | id=0083041 | title=Second-Hand Hearts}} *{{rotten-tomatoes|second_hand_hearts}} *{{Mojo title|second-handhearts}}

[[Category:1981 films]] [[Category:1981 comedy films]] [[Category:American comedy films]] [[Category:American independent films]] [[Category:Films directed by Hal Ashby]] [[Category:1981 English-language films]] [[Category:1981 American films]] [[Category:English-language comedy films]]