| A Great American Tragedy | |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama |
| Written by | Caryl Ledner |
| Directed by | J. Lee Thompson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 75 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Release | 18 October 1972 |
A Great American Tragedy is a 1972 American TV movie directed by J. Lee Thompson.[1]
A middle-aged aerospace engineer is fired. He is unable to find a new job, his wife forced to go back to work and his marriage starts to break up.
The New York Times said "thought and care have gone into" the film but felt "home‐set viewers who have felt the budget pinch aren't likely to bleed for this case of unemployment... Both J. Lee Thompson's direction and Caryl Ledner's writing are best in the rather coolly dispassionate vignettes peeling down the prideful hero, as in one scene at an unemployment office. But Kennedy's moment of truth, a simple decision to buckle down and roll up his sleeves, take a long, exasperating wait that provokes curiosity, hardly sympathy."[2]
The Los Angeles Times said it "ranked among the best work that director J. Lee Thompson, in his TV movie debut, has ever done."[3]