Editing Return of the Secaucus 7

{{short description|1980 film directed by John Sayles}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Distinguish|Return of the Seven}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Return of the Secaucus 7
| image          = The Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980 poster).jpg

| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster by [[Monte Dolack]]
| director       = [[John Sayles]]
| producer       = {{plainlist|
* Jeffrey Nelson
* William Aydelott
}}
| screenplay     = John Sayles
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* Bruce MacDonald
* Maggie Renzi
* [[David Strathairn]]
* [[Adam LeFevre]]
* Maggie Cousineau
}}
| music          = [[Mason Daring]]
| cinematography = Austin De Besche
| editing        = John Sayles
| studio         = Salsipuedes Productions
| distributor    = [[Ben Barenholtz|Libra Films]]
| released       = {{Film date|1980|9|5|United States}}
| runtime        = 110 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $60,000 (estimated)<ref name="sayles">Gerry Molyneaux, ''John Sayles'', Renaissance Books, 2000 p 37</ref>
| gross          = $2 million<ref name="sayles"/>
}}
'''''Return of the Secaucus 7''''' is a 1980 American [[independent film|independent]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] written and directed by [[John Sayles]] and starring Bruce MacDonald, [[Maggie Renzi]], [[David Strathairn]], [[Adam LeFevre]], Maggie Cousineau, [[Gordon Clapp]], and [[Jean Passanante]], and others.<ref>{{AFI film|id=56494|title=Return of the Secaucus 7}}.</ref><ref name="Return of the Secaucus 7">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/88084/return-of-the-secaucus-seven#credits|title=Return of the Secaucus 7|work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|publisher=[[Turner Broadcasting System]] ([[Time Warner]])|location=[[Atlanta]]|access-date=August 3, 2017}}</ref> The film tells the story of seven friends who spend a weekend together in [[New Hampshire]].  The weekend is marred by the break-up of a relationship between two of the friends.  This causes a ripple effect among the group and brings up old desires and problems.

The picture was thought to have inspired ''[[The Big Chill (film)|The Big Chill]]'' (1983), which is a more widely known film with a similar storyline.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2010/08/take-two-3-return-of-the-secaucus-7-1980-and-the-big-chill-1983/|title=Take Two-3: Return of the Secaucus 7|last=Lingan|first=John]|magazine=[[Slant Magazine]]|publisher=Slant Magazine, LLC|location=[[Brooklyn]]|date=August 30, 2010|access-date=August 18, 2013}}</ref> However, writer-director [[Lawrence Kasdan]] has denied having seen ''Return of the Secaucus 7'' before working on ''The Big Chill''.<ref>''Big Chill'' screening, the Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 20, 2006.</ref> In 1997, the film was added to the [[National Film Registry]] of the [[Library of Congress]] for its historic merits.

== Plot ==
Teachers Mike Donnelly (MacDonald) and Katie Sipriano (Renzi) prepare to host a gathering of their old college activist friends at their rural [[New Hampshire]] home. Frances (Cousineau), now in medical school, drives in with her old boyfriend, wannabe folk singer J.T. (LeFevre), who she found hitchhiking to the gathering. Irene (Passanante), a speechwriter for a  Democratic U.S. senator, arrives with her conservative boyfriend, Chip (Clapp), who did not attend college with the others. Maura (Trott) says that she and Jeff (Arnott) are no longer a couple, which shocks the others and causes a somewhat uneasy first evening. Maura and J.T. are mutually attracted and have sex that night while Frances is nearby. The group attends a play that their old friend, Lacey, is acting in. Katie heckles Lacey, annoying Mike.

Jeff arrives and is apparently unaware that Maura has ended their relationship. This further strains the group's cohesion, especially when J.T. tells Jeff  he had sex with Maura, believing she was single. Jeff acknowledges being angry at J.T., but it does not end their friendship. After playing basketball and skinny-dipping with Mike's high school friends, Ron (Strathairn) and Howie (Sayles), the group goes to a bar. Jeff and Maura get into a loud argument and Ron makes a pass at Frances, who is upset that J.T. and Maura were intimate. Ron and Frances leave for a local hotel, while Maura leaves by herself, and the rest of the group drives separately. Out on the road, the group come upon a deer carcass. An undercover cop arrests them on suspicion of illegal game hunting. While sitting in lock-up, the group recounts their various arrests during their college years and the formation of their nickname, the "Secaucus 7". A local drunk confesses to hitting the deer, and everyone is released. The following day, the group leaves one-by-one, and J.T. insists on hitchhiking to Boston, refusing money from Maura for a bus ticket. Jeff is left alone, and angrily chops wood on Mike's property. The film ends with Mike and Katie finding a farewell note from Jeff reading, "I'm sorry. --Jeff".

==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* Bruce MacDonald as Mike Donnelly
* [[Maggie Renzi]] as Katie Sipriano
* [[Adam LeFevre]] as J.T.
* Maggie Cousineau as Frances Carlson
* [[Gordon Clapp]] as Chip Hollister
* [[Jean Passanante]] as Irene Rosenblum
* Karen Trott as Maura Tolliver
* [[Mark Arnott]] as Jeff Andrews
* [[David Strathairn]] as Ron Desjardins
* [[John Sayles]] as Howie
* Marisa Smith as Carol
* Amy Schewel as Lacey Summers
* Carolyn Brooks as Meg
* Eric Forsythe as Captain
* Nancy Mette as Lee

{{div col end}}

==Production==
John Sayles had established a strong reputation as a screenwriter in exploitation films for Roger Corman, his credits including ''[[Piranha (1978 film)|Piranha]]'', ''[[The Lady in Red (1979 film)|The Lady in Red]]'' and ''[[Battle Beyond the Stars]]''. Sayles wanted to direct and used his script fees to finance ''Secaucus Seven''. Roger Corman offered to assist Sayles with finance but the writer-director refused. "I actually didn’t need a producer to come in at that point,” said Sayles, adding, “It was very generous of him."<ref>{{cite book|first=Beverly|last=Gray|page=265|url=https://archive.org/details/rogercormanblood0000gray/page/264/mode/2up?|year=2004|title=Roger Corman : blood-sucking vampires, flesh-eating cockroaches, and driller killers}}</ref>

Sayles had written the script in the late seventies. He said the story was not autobiographical but "about people that I met after I was out of college who were in some ways more politically involved than I was or more politically aware than I was who were trying to keep their idealism together. They were trying to stay optimistic. But it was a community, even though they didn’t live together anymore."<ref>Sayles p 56</ref> He said he was partly motivated to write the script to demonstrate that some people still tried to live up to the ideals of the sixties.<ref>Sayles p 58</ref>

The movie was shot over 25 days starring people with whom Sayles had worked in summer stock theatre as an actor and director.

==Reception==
===Critical response===
[[Film criticism|Film critic]] Emanuel Levy liked the film and wrote, "The movie became influential, launching a cycle of "reunion" films, which included ''[[The Big Chill (film)|The Big Chill]]'' and the TV series ''[[Thirtysomething]]''. As a portrait of disenchantment, ''Return'' was more authentic and honest than Lawrence Kasdan's star-studded ''Big Chill''...A rueful movie about unexceptional lives that have prematurely grown stale, ''Secaucus'' is a bit commonplace, lacking genuine drama. But Sayles uses effectively a discursive, episodic format; he constructs strong scenes with resonant dialogue. The characters are complex and individually distinguished by speech, gesture, and manner."<ref>[http://emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=2363 Levy, Emanuel]. ''Emanuel Levy Film Reviews,'' 2004–2008. Accessed: February 25, 2008.</ref>

Critic Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat wrote, "Here's a nice little movie about the baby boom generation...Novelist John Sayles wrote, directed, and edited this movie. It is a labor of love. We watch these laidback individuals share their stories and reminisce about the past...But these baby boomers can't handle tension; the rift between Jeff and Maura sends tremors through the weekend. And although they put up a front of having a good time, one senses that things haven't turned out well for them — either in terms of meaningful relationships or in terms of personal fulfillment. ''Return of the Secaucus Seven'' leaves one with a rueful feeling about this generation."<ref>[http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=7652 Brussat, Frederic and Mary Ann]. ''Spirituality & Practice,'' film review, 1970–2007.  Accessed: February 25, 2008.</ref>

The review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 81% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on sixteen reviews.<ref name="RT">{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/return_of_the_secaucus_seven/|title=Return of the Secaucus 7|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|location=United States|access-date=February 25, 2008}}</ref>

Film critic [[Aljean Harmetz]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote in her review: "For a movie that cost $60,000, ''The Return of the Secaucus Seven'' is traveling in heady company. Most $60,000 movies play at two film festivals, then end up on a 16-millimeter projector in their director's living room. ''The Return of the Secaucus Seven,'' about seven antiwar activists who spend a weekend together 10 years later, was the surprise hit of last spring's [[Los Angeles]] [[Filmex|Filmex festival]]. The movie was also selected as one of the 10 best films of 1980 by [[The Boston Globe]], [[Los Angeles Times|The Los Angeles Times]] and [[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]], and last week it was nominated by the [[Writers Guild of America|Writers Guild]] as best comedy written directly for the screen. When it opened an unsuccessful commercial run in New York last September, [[Vincent Canby]], although expressing some reservations, praised the film as ''sweet and engaging'' and ''an honest, fully realized movie.'' Today it will try again, opening at the [[Quad Cinema|Quad]] in [[Greenwich Village]] this time."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE6DF1338E732A25752C1A9629C94619FD6CF|title=Film: 'Return of the Secaucus Seven; In the Byways of History|first=Vincent|last=Canby|author-link=Vincent Canby|work=[[The New York Times]]|location=[[New York City]]|date=April 11, 1980|access-date=August 3, 2017|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/06/movies/heady-journey-of-a-director-and-his-secaucus-seven.html|title=HEADY JOURNEY OF A DIRECTOR AND HIS 'SECAUCUS SEVEN'|first=Aljean|last=Harmetz|author-link=Aljean Harmetz|work=[[The New York Times]]|location=[[New York City]]|date=March 6, 1981|access-date=August 3, 2017}}</ref>

===Release===
''Return of the Secaucus 7'' was released in United States theatres on September 5, 1980.<ref name="RT"/>

The film was first released for home entertainment by RCA/Columbia (VHS) and Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment (Betamax) in 1982.

It was released on [[DVD]] by [[MGM Home Entertainment]] on September 16, 2003.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.amazon.com/Return-Secaucus-7-Bruce-MacDonald/dp/B00009Y3N3|title=Return of the Secaucus 7|medium=[[DVD]]|work=[[MGM Home Entertainment]]|publisher=[[MGM Holdings|MGM Holdings, Inc.]]|location=[[Beverly Hills, California]]|date=September 16, 2003|access-date=August 3, 2017|asin=B00009Y3N3}}</ref>

===Accolades===
'''Wins'''
* [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]]: LAFCA Award; Best Screenplay, John Sayles; 1980.
* [[Boston Society of Film Critics Awards]]: BSFC Award; Best Independent Film; 1981.

'''Nominations'''
* [[Writers Guild of America, East]]: WGA Award (Screen); Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen, John Sayles; 1981.

'''Other distinctions'''
* In 1997, the film  was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{cite web|title=Librarian of Congress Names 25 New Films to National Film Registry|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/1997/97-200.html|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref>

==''The Big Chill''==
The film was followed by the 1983 movie ''The Big Chill'' which had some story similarities with ''Return of the Secaucus 7''. Sayles recalled his film's title:
<blockquote>Has some idea of rebirth or comeback. ''The Big Chill'' was called ''The Big Chill'' because it’s about people who have lost their idealism or never had it in the first place, and that’s a cold realization. The people in ''The Big Chill'' tend to be more upper-middle class rather than middle class or working class, and they’re all upwardly mobile—whereas the people in ''Secaucus Seven'', the men especially, are consciously downwardly mobile. If the women are upwardly mobile, they’re probably having a career that their mothers didn’t. Even though the form of the two movies and the plot in some ways are very close, they’re really about very different people, which is why I never felt like it was a rip-off.<ref>Sayles p 56</ref></blockquote>
==Notes==
*{{cite book|title= Sayles on Sayles|last=Sayles|first= John|publisher=Faber and Faber|year=1998}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0081420|title=Return of the Secaucus 7}}
* {{AFI film|id=56494|title=Return of the Secaucus 7}}

{{John Sayles}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Return Of The Secaucus 7}}
[[Category:1980 films]]
[[Category:1980 drama films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:American political drama films]]
[[Category:Films about activists]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Sayles]]
[[Category:Films scored by Mason Daring]]
[[Category:Films set in New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by John Sayles]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:1980 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:1980 independent films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]