{ "id": "ep4d3aj809", "slug": "the-end-1978-film", "title": "The End (1978 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films", "label": "Black comedy and satire films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films.yr-1939-1997", "label": "Released 1939 to 1997", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films.yr-1939-1997" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The End (1978) is an American black comedy directed by and starring Burt Reynolds as a terminally ill man whose suicide attempts keep failing; written by Jerry Belson, with Dom DeLuise and Sally Field, released by United Artists.", "snippet": "The End (1978) is an American black comedy directed by and starring Burt Reynolds as a terminally ill man whose suicide attempts keep failing; written by Jerry Belson, with Dom DeLuise and Sally Field, released by United Artists.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films.yr-1939-1997", "markdown": "# The End (1978 film)\n\n**The End** is a 1978 American black comedy directed by [Burt Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-reynolds), who also stars as Wendell \"Sonny\" Lawson, a [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california) real estate agent who learns he has a terminal blood disease and, unwilling to endure a slow decline, sets out to end his own life with the help of a delusional mental patient. The screenplay is by Jerry Belson, and the film was produced by Lawrence Gordon and released by [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_end)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / star | Burt Reynolds, his second feature as director after *Gator* (1976)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/415262/the-end-1978-the-end) |\n| Writer / producer | Jerry Belson (screenplay); Lawrence Gordon (producer)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) |\n| Release | World premiere 7 May 1978 at Filmex (closing night); Los Angeles and New York openings 10 May 1978[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) |\n| Budget / gross | $3 million budget; $44,917,151 gross in the US and Canada[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077504/) |\n| Rating / runtime | R; AFI lists 94 minutes, while IMDb and streaming listings give 100 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077504/) |\n| Critical scores | 56% Tomatometer (18 reviews) and 51% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; 6.1/10 on IMDb[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_end) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077504/) |\n| Principal cast | Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Sally Field, Strother Martin, David Steinberg, Joanne Woodward, Norman Fell, Myrna Loy, Kristy McNichol, Pat O'Brien[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nAt the doctor's office, Sonny Lawson is told he has a toxic blood disease and between three months and a year to live. His hematologist, Dr. Samuel Krugman ([Norman Fell](https://www.edgepedia.org/norman-fell)), explains treatment options such as spleen removal and bone marrow injections, but Sonny refuses them, determined to face death with dignity without telling anyone. After visiting a terminally ill ward at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and seeing patients bedridden and tethered to tubes, he resolves not to end up in the same state and tells his best friend and attorney, Marty Lieberman ([David Steinberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-steinberg)), of his plan to kill himself with sleeping pills.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END)\n\nHis attempts fail repeatedly, and the people around him offer little help: his distracted ex-wife Jessica ([Joanne Woodward](https://www.edgepedia.org/joanne-woodward)), his girlfriend Mary Ellen ([Sally Field](https://www.edgepedia.org/sally-field)), his parents ([Myrna Loy](https://www.edgepedia.org/myrna-loy) and Pat O'Brien), his business partner, the medical profession, and organized religion all fall short. After many unsuccessful attempts he lands in a mental hospital, where he meets the cheerful, deranged patient Marlon Borunki (Dom DeLuise), who is eager to help him finish the job, including schemes such as jumping from a not-tall-enough tower and squeezing his skull in a folding bed. In his final attempt Sonny swims out into the Pacific to the score of Sinatra's \"My Way,\" changes his mind, and prays for help, promising God half the profits of his business and to keep all the commandments, though he can remember only two.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_end) • [5](https://repository.stu.edu/ulma/va/3005/1978/06-30-1978.pdf)\n\n## Development and production\n\n**Origin of the script.** Screenwriter Jerry Belson came across a 1971 piece in the International Herald Tribune describing a man in a coma who had directed that he be taken off life support; although his family attempted to carry out those wishes, the medical establishment refused, and he stayed comatose for eleven years, inflicting financial and emotional strain on his wife and parents. Within a year Belson turned the tragic story into a dark comedy. After a lengthy period of rejection, he considered reworking the screenplay for television.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END)\n\nThe script had been peddled from studio to studio for more than six years without takers until Reynolds became captivated by it. According to a 1977 *New York Times* article, Reynolds said the film \"was originally written for somebody like Woody,\" and a *Los Angeles Times* piece stated Belson had written it with [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen) in mind. Reynolds and producer Lawrence Gordon still faced resistance over the subject matter; financing through United Artists came only after the success of *Smokey and the Bandit* (1977). To get the film made and to direct it, Reynolds accepted a reduced share of the profits and half his usual salary.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/415262/the-end-1978-the-end)\n\n**Filming.** Production began 11 July 1977 and wrapped in October 1977, two days ahead of schedule, using Goldwyn Studios in Los Angeles and locations in [Santa Barbara, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-barbara-california). Reynolds assembled a crew of close associates, including stunt coordinator [Hal Needham](https://www.edgepedia.org/hal-needham), composer Paul Williams, and cinematographer Bobby Byrne, who had shot *Smokey and the Bandit*. The film marked the first of many screen collaborations between Reynolds and [Dom DeLuise](https://www.edgepedia.org/dom-deluise), and it reunited Myrna Loy and Pat O'Brien, who had appeared together in *Consolation Marriage* (1931).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/415262/the-end-1978-the-end)\n\nTwo songs appear in the film without screen credit: \"Another Fine Mess,\" written by Paul H. Williams, and \"My Way,\" written by [Paul Anka](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-anka), Claude François, Jacques Revaux, and Gilles Thibaut.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END)\n\n## Reception and controversy\n\nThe reviews were generally poor. Variety called it \"a tasteless and overripe comedy that disintegrates very early into hysterical, undisciplined hamming.\" Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* wrote that the film was \"half-heartedly satiric material\" directed sometimes as broad knockabout comedy and sometimes as if meant to evoke pathos, \"which it never does,\" and criticized Reynolds's inability to direct himself. Newsweek judged that Reynolds and Belson \"get cold feet\" in the face of the risky subject, and the *Washington Post* found the one-track theme wearing. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 56% Tomatometer from 18 reviews.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-end/critic-reviews/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_end)\n\n**Polish jokes and lawsuits.** Polish-American groups criticized and protested the film's Polish jokes, delivered mainly in a monologue by DeLuise's character. About thirty-five people, including the Mayor of Amsterdam, New York, picketed the 7 November 1978 opening there, and the [Milwaukee](https://www.edgepedia.org/milwaukee) chapter of the Polish American Congress threatened to sue under Wisconsin consumer protection laws, a mandate the state's attorney general declined to impose. Leonard Jarczab of the Polish American Guardian Society filed a one million dollar lawsuit against United Artists and the production company; in 1981 a Chicago circuit court judge ruled the jokes were not libelous, and a Massachusetts appellate court dismissed a similar suit that had also claimed emotional distress.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END)\n\nNot all responses were negative: [Orson Welles](https://www.edgepedia.org/orson-welles) wrote Reynolds a five-page fan letter describing how truly impressed he was by the film.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END)\n\n## Box office and aftermath\n\nMade for a reported $3 million, the film earned $44,917,151 in the United States and Canada, a substantial return on its budget, though Turner Classic Movies notes it did not become the box office hit Reynolds's other vehicles were, and Reynolds was disappointed by the poor critical reception. He moved on quickly to *Hooper* (1978), directed by Hal Needham, which was another commercial success, followed by the well-received *Starting Over* (1979).[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077504/) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/415262/the-end-1978-the-end)\n\nRetrospective assessments have been more mixed than the original notices. A 2025 review in the Midwest Film Journal described the film as generally more sedate, subtle, and somber than its poster art suggests, while still finding too much of the back half given over to DeLuise's mugging, and noted that at release some critics had attacked it as tasteless for finding laughs in death and suicide.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_end)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The End (1978), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56331-THE-END)\n2. [The End, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_end)\n3. [The End (1978), Turner Classic Movies, by Jeff Stafford](https://www.tcm.com/articles/415262/the-end-1978-the-end)\n4. [The End (1978), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077504/)\n5. [\"The End,\" something repulsive for everyone, The Voice (Miami), 30 June 1978](https://repository.stu.edu/ulma/va/3005/1978/06-30-1978.pdf)\n6. [The End critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-end/critic-reviews/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Black comedy and satire films › Released 1939 to 1997*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-end-1978-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-end-1978-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The End (1978 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-end-1978-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The End (1978 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-end-1978-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-end-1978-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-end-1978-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The End (1978 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-end-1978-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The End is an American black comedy directed by and starring Burt Reynolds as a terminally ill man whose suicide attempts keep failing; written by Jerry Belson, with Dom DeLuise and Sally Field, released by United Artists." }