On the Right Track is a 1981 American romantic comedy film with the feature film debut of Gary Coleman. It was directed by Lee Philips, produced by Ronald Jacobs, and released to theaters by 20th Century Fox in Spring 1981. Production After his first introduction of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes in November 1978, Gary Coleman quickly gained popularity. Zephyr Productions was created to promote Coleman's star potential, and the year's On the Right Track was the first film developed from that initiative. It was filmed in 1980, primarily in Chicago. New York Loves Lester was an early working title for the project, when the film was going to be set in New York City, but moved to Chicago. The subsequent working title was A Guy Could Get Killed Out There. Plot A young, homeless shoeshine black boy named Lester is living in a locker at Union Station, Chicago. Already a beloved figure among the staff at the station who look after him, and avoiding attempts to move him to an orphanage, he finds great popularity after it is revealed that he has an amazing talent for picking winning horses at the racetrack. Cast Gary Coleman as Lester Maureen Stapleton as Mary the Bag Lady Norman Fell as the Mayor Michael Lembeck as Frank Biscardi Lisa Eilbacher as Jill Klein Bill Russell as Robert Herb Edelman as Sam Nathan Davis as Mario Fern Persons as Flower Lady Mike Genovese as Louis Harry Gorsuch as Harry Page Hannah as Sally Jami Gertz as Big Girl Chelcie Ross as Customer Reception Though it received a number of reviews concluding that it was overly sappy or simply capitalizing on Coleman's TV following, Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, and Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times gave it somewhat more positive reviews. Gary Coleman earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actor for his performance in the film, but lost to Klinton Spilsbury for The Legend of the Lone Ranger. The film was released on VHS in the 1980s, but it has never seen an official release on DVD. The movie has not received much attention in latter years, though a short article in Entertainment Weekly in 2004 compared the film to the then newly released Tom Hanks film The Terminal, where Hanks' character lives for months in an airport terminal. References External links 1981 films 1981