Film

Life on the Mississippi

1980 · 1h 55m · Music · Drama · TV Movie

Most mid-19th-century Mississippi River boys dreamed of occupying that pinnacle of power and glamour, the pilot house of a riverboat. In a riot of local color, this film tells how, unlike many, Sam's dream comes true. A callow teenager, he talks the tough but consummate Horace Bixby into making him his apprentice on the "Paul Jones," eventually following him to the much finer "Aleck Scott." Meanwhile, he is already spinning fantastic yarns to everyone from awe-struck lads ashore, to fellow "cub pilots", to young lady passengers who catch his eye. Things temporarily take a turn for the worse when Bixby must attend a meeting and leave Sam to work under Brown, a dour tyrant with a grudge against him.

Robert Lansing

David Knell

James Keane

Donald Madden

John Pankow

Bill Holliday

Luke Reilly

Marcy Walker

Don Brady

Jack Lawrence

• Peter H. HuntDirector
• Philip H. Reisman Jr.Screenplay

Release date

November 24, 1980

Status

Released

Original language

English

Runtime

1h 55m

Genres

Music, Drama, TV Movie