The Happening (1967 film)

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The Happening
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Elliot Silverstein
Produced by	Jud Kinberg
Written by	Frank R. Pierson James O. Buchanan Ronald Austin.
Starring	Anthony Quinn Michael Parks Faye Dunaway Robert Walker Jr.
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	March 1967
Running time	101 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	N/A
IMDb profile

The Happening is a 1967 comedy film starring Anthony Quinn, Michael Parks, Faye Dunaway, Robert Walker Jr. and released in March 1967 by Columbia Pictures. The film, produced by Jud Kinberg and directed by Elliot Silverstein, is about four hippies who kidnap a retired Mafia mob boss named Roc Delmonico (Quinn) and hold him for ransom. When none of his friends or family members will pay the ransom, Delmonico takes charge of his own kidnapping. Attempting to blackmail his relatives and associates, he raises his own ransom to three million dollars and demands that it be paid.

The movie is an anti-establishment film which questions the values of Middle America and the older generation. In this story, an important, influential, and rich man is stunned to learn no one will help him out of trouble, so his life is essentially worthless.

[edit] Title Song

Main article: The Happening (song)

Only a minor success as a film, The Happening is most notable today both as one of Faye Dunaway's earliest films and for its dixieland-influenced self-titled theme song. Recorded by The Supremes with Diana Ross on lead vocal, "The Happening" became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single on the Motown label. Another music piece, The Fuzz was used by several local area TV news programs in the United States and Canada in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and is still used by Brazil's Rede Globo national newscast Jornal Nacional.