Simon (1980 film)


Simon is a 1980 American comedy film written and directed by Marshall Brickman and starring Alan Arkin.

Plot summary

The Institute for Advanced Concepts, a group of scientists with an unlimited budget and a propensity for elaborate pranks, brainwash a psychology professor named Simon Mendelssohn who was abandoned at birth and manage to convince him, and the rest of the world, that he is of extraterrestrial origin. Simon escapes and attempts to reform American culture by overriding TV signals with a high-powered TV transmitter, becoming a national celebrity in the process.

Cast

Alan Arkin was nominated for Best Actor in the 1981 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

Home video availability

In 1981 and 1990, the film was released on VHS format by Warner Home Video and is now out of print. A remastered copy of the film was released via Warner Archives' Made To Order DVD-R service in 2011 in its original full-frame 16x9 format.