Harper Valley PTA (film)

Harper Valley PTA
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Bennett
Produced by	George Edwards
Written by	George Edwards Barry Schneider
Starring	Barbara Eden Nanette Fabray Ronny Cox Louis Nye Susan Swift Pat Paulsen
Music by	Nelson Riddle
Cinematography	Willy Kurant
Edited by	Michael Economou
Distributed by	April Fools Productions
Release date	May 23, 1978 (1978-05-23) (Midwest) June 2, 1978 (1978-06-02) (Canada) August 2, 1978 (1978-08-02) (Los Angeles) January 12, 1979 (1979-01-12) (New York City)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1 million
Box office	$25 million (USA)

Harper Valley PTA is a 1978 American comedy film inspired by the popular 1968 country song "Harper Valley PTA" written by Tom T. Hall and performed by country singer Jeannie C. Riley. The film starred Barbara Eden, Nanette Fabray, Ronny Cox, Louis Nye and Susan Swift, directed by Richard Bennett, and was mainly released to drive-in theaters throughout the summer of 1978. The film has a cult following in fans of the original song.

The film's promotional tagline is: "The song was scandalous. The movie is hilarious!"

Stella Johnson is a beautiful widowed single mother who lives in the town of Harper Valley, Ohio. She sells cosmetics door-to-door for the fictitious AngelGlo Cosmetics and is not afraid to enjoy life. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Dee, is a student at Harper Valley Junior High School.

After leaving school, Dee brings her mother a letter from the school's Parent Teacher Association board, which is led by the pompous and snobbish Flora Simpson-Reilly. The letter denounces her for her not following the societal mores of the day and the community and further stating that if she does not change her ways more to the board's liking, Dee will be punished for her mother's "sins" by being expelled from school.

Infuriated by the board's supposed superiority and their glaring hypocrisy, Stella storms to the PTA meeting being held that day, and proceeds to tell most of the PTA members off by exposing their hidden skeletons for the town to see.

After her house is TP'ed (Toilet-Papered) and a rock with a vile note attached is thrown through her window in retaliation, Stella prepares to get even with those who would want her driven out of town. She teams up with her friends, beautician Alice Finley and bartender Herbie Maddox, and (along with Dee's help) wreaks hilarious and justified revenge on six of the hypocritical PTA members, with methods including: 1) tricking a married male board member who has repeatedly tried to date Stella into a disastrous rendezvous, 2) embarrassing Mrs. Simpson-Reilly at one of her grand social gatherings, 3) exposing the secret antics of a supposedly prim-and-proper female board member/teacher, and 4) sending a herd of pink-painted elephants into the bedroom of a alcoholic board member.