
At the same time, leading man Paul Newman broke his ankle, and the production shut down on July 29. Five weeks after principal photography began, Colla left the project due to "artistic differences over photographic concept", as well as a required throat operation. Colla was signed to direct the film in May 1970. Melissa Newman as Lissy Stamper (uncredited) Īlthough both Sam Peckinpah and Budd Boetticher had expressed interest in bringing Ken Kesey's novel to the screen, Richard A.Henry's severed arm is attached to the boat, giving the middle finger to all who watch. Lining up along the riverbank, the Stampers' rivals look forward to seeing them fail, but the brothers are successful. Ultimately, he decides to deliver the logs, alone if necessary, but Lee joins him. Hank returns to an empty home and appears for a while to have given up. At the hospital, Henry dies after finally expressing his approval of Lee, who informs Hank that Viv has left him. Hank's desperate rescue attempts fail as the tide rises, drowning Joe Ben. Lee takes his father to the hospital, while Joe Ben laughs at his own predicament until the tree trunk rolls atop him, pinning him down. After aiding their adversaries when their lives are in peril, the Stampers are handed two calamities at once, a falling tree that severs Henry's arm, and a trunk that crushes Joe Ben in shallow water. He urges the neglected Viv to leave.ĭespite the fact that he is uncomfortable living with a family he barely knows, Lee joins forces with them when they are forced to battle both the locals, who have burned their equipment, and the elements, which threaten their efforts to transport their logs downriver. A heavy drinker, Lee eventually reveals he attempted suicide after his mother killed herself and has been suffering from deep depression ever since. Also complicating matters is Leland "Lee" Stamper, Henry's youngest son and Hank's half-brother, who returns home with a college education and experience in urban living. Hank struggles to keep the small family business alive and consequently widens the rift between himself and his complacent wife Viv, who wants him to put an end to the territorial struggle but is resigned to his doing things as he sees fit. All of the Stampers live in one compound, including Henry's good-natured nephew Joe Ben. When independent logger Hank Stamper and his father Henry are urged to support the strikers, they refuse, and the townspeople consider them traitors. The economic stability of fictional Wakonda, Oregon, is threatened when the local logging union calls a strike against a large lumber conglomerate. Filmed in western Oregon during the summer of 1970, it was released over a year later in December 1971. The screenplay by John Gay is based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey, the first of his books to be adapted for the screen.

The cast also includes Richard Jaeckel in an Academy Award-nominated performance. Sometimes a Great Notion (also known as Never Give A Inch) is a 1971 American drama film directed by Paul Newman and starring Newman, Henry Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, and Lee Remick.
