Sams Son

A 1950s father (Eli Wallach) stands by his son (Timothy Patrick Murphy), a javelin thrower with uncommonly long hair.

Sams Son is a film written and directed by Michael Landon and released theatrically in the fall of 1984 (his only big-screen movie as a writer/director). Like Landons TV film The Loneliest Runner it is loosely based on Landons early life, and follows the coming-of-age story of a young man who, embarrassed by his large ears, grows his hair long (covering them), later coming to believe that this gives him athletic prowess as a javelin thrower (much like Samson of the Old Testament).

The film stars Timothy Patrick Murphy, Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Hallie Todd, James Karen who has previously worked for Landon in the made for television film Little House: The Last Farewell and William Bassett. Landon also appears at the beginning and end of the film, playing the main character as an adult.

Michael Landon's semi-autobiographical sketch of his earlier life. It's the story of Gene Orowitz, a high school student struggling with his identity, who finds success as a javelin thrower on the track team.