Sam's Son

Sam's Son (1984)

At 17, you think you can conquer the world. At 18, you know you can. His wildest dream is about to come true.

Michael Landon's semi-autobiographical sketch of his earlier life. It's the story of Gene Orowitz, a high school student struggling with his identity, who finds success as a javelin thrower on the track team.

Date of release
1984-08-17
TMDB
6.5 / 10 (5)
Runtime
1h 44m
Genres
Drama
Director
Michael Landon

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: California

Sam's Son is a 1984 American semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Michael Landon loosely based on his early life and is also the only feature film made by him. The film stars Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Timothy Patrick Murphy, Hallie Todd, Jonna Lee, James Karen, and Landon in a cameo. The film was produced independently by Landon and released by Utah-based distributor Invictus Entertainment.

Production

Michael Landon originally wrote the film's script in the summer of 1982 while his television series Little House on the Prairie was taking a break for the next season. He pitched the idea to NBC, which was interested to have it as a television movie, but Landon had wanted it to be a feature film.

Production began in the summer of 1983 in Southern California, substituting it for New Jersey. Timothy Patrick Murphy was cast as Eugene Orowitz because Landon thought he looked exactly like he did when he was younger and had seen him on Dallas as Charlene Tilton's boyfriend Mickey Trotter. Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson were cast as Eugene's parents because Landon knew their real-life marriage would blend in with their characters.

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