Angel City (1980) (TV)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Philip Leacock

Writers:

James Lee Barrett (writer)
Patrick Smith (book)

Release Date:

12 November 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

They lied to him. Cheated him. Beat him. Then they kidnapped his daughter-and that was their last mistake! An ispiring story about the power of a family's love!

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Florida | Migrant Camp | Migrant

Cast

Ralph Waite	...	Jared Teeter
Paul Winfield	...	Cy
Jennifer Warren	...	Cloma Teeter
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Kristy Teeter
Mitch Ryan	...	Silas Creedy
Robert MacNaughton	...	Bennie Teeter
Red West	...	Sud
Bob Minor	...	Jabbo
Ken Renard	...	The Cook
Paulene Myers	...	Bertha
John David Allen	...	Jeff
Joe Dorsey	...	Tom
Wallace Wilkinson	...	Cyrus
Sandra Dorsey	...	1st Woman
Bob Hannah	...	Fred

Also Known As:

Field of Tears

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Florida, USA

Company:

Factor/Newland Productions

I love how it ended

Ralph Waite is best known for his role as the father on The Waltons tv series. He plays a similar character here, a good decent man with simple values of love and family (watch the scene where his family and him pray over their dogs grave). He is a good decent salt of the earth type who unwittingly stumbles into hell! Mitchell Ryan plays the plantation owner who is a real wolf in sheep clothing. He offers him a job and then he and his family are held prisoner in a virtual concentration camp. Paul Winfield gives a fine performance as a fellow inmate and this was one of Jennifer Jason Leigh's first roles as well. I remember the scene where they were picking cotton in the fields and started singing a spiritual, it reminded me a lot of Gone With The Wind. Waite and his family are such wonderful people that you feel so angry and sad at their terrible prediciment. The ending of the film is what I enjoyed the most where they revolted against Ryan. I loved the scene where Waite beat the *$#@ out of him with that pistol and was going to shoot him! It was as if this good man was pushed to the brink and finally backed down. I hated Ryan's character so much that I wanted him to shoot the son of a bitch, after all he had raped his daughter and kidnapped his baby! He sort of reminded me of Jim Jones. Maybe this is a parable about the importance of family love and staying together against all odds, and about the importance of freedom and what would happen if it were suddenly taken from us. Angel City is a first class tv film and it has got a great and satisfying ending that leaves you feeling wonderful. When it comes down to it, what more could you ask of a film!