Why Would I Lie?

This is one of my mom's favorite movies - it is very sad that it was never released! I did see it in the past year on a cable network station like TBS or WGN - so someone has the rights to run it. Bit of trivia: the boy who played Jeorge now goes by Gabriele Macht. I have seen him on a few things like the movie "The Recruit" and Sex and the City - recognized him immediately. Haven't found a site that says why he dropped Swann. IMDb doesn't have "Why Would I Lie" in his credits either - not quite sure why he and Treat Williams won't admit to appearing in this funny movie! I do remember the movie quite well if someone wants a more thorough synopsis. I might even be able to find a copy of what I taped off of cable, too. I didn't get it from the very beginning, but pretty close to it.

Here is Macht's IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0532683/

From the first time I saw the movie on HBO I had to find out about this new actor on the scene,Treat Williams. Reading every video guide for the past 10 years and nowhere was this movie listed. Mr. Williams did a wonderful job with the story and made you almost believe that lying wasn't such a bad thing after all. A great romance movie for a rainy afternoon but just our luck it isn't available. Too bad VHS and DVD movies weren't sold back in 1980. A bundle could have been made from Treat fans alone and just think of the royalties. Is there some reason this movie wasn't released to network television after it's run on HBO? Not even as a rental and I recall asking the guy at Blockbuster to check for all Treat Williams movies and this one was never listed as one of his credits.

Treat Williams plays a guy who gets hit in the head with a rock during a protest and develops this urge to make things more interesting in life. When anyone thinks his story is a bit too unusual, he says "Why would I lie about a thing like that?" As I remember, a girl (Lisa Eichorn) and her son enter his life and his lies are believed and cause confusion and problems for others. After almost losing those who have become important in his life, he finally learns his lesson.

I had this movie on tape and loaned it to someone and, of course, never got it back. No big deal for most movies, but this one never made it to re-runs, commercial tape, or DVD. Why, I don't know. I remember it as better than many, if not most, in this genre.

This played for maybe a week on a showcase run in my area and I vaguely remember being the on only one in the theater when I saw it back in 1980...maybe 1979, I can't imagine it was 1980, like the IMDb says... Anyway, the little kid in the movie is Gabriel Macht, who was quite good, as I remember and is now an adult actor...he was excellent recently in A Love Song For Bobby Long, with John Travolta. How weird is it to see an actor you knew as a child suddenly, like 30? Lisa Eichorn was also excellent in this, and it never plays on TV or cable anymore, so let's hope that it will turn up as a budget DVD at some point. Even the people who sell never-released films as bootlegs don't have this one, and they've looked for it! Weird, huh?

I loved this movie when I saw it in the movie theater, I've never seen it since then either on TV or on video, and I would love to have a copy of it! Please contact me if you have one.

Thanks, ARNIE PERLSTEIN