Right of Way (TV 1983)

Miniature Dwyer is named after her mother, who was making miniature doll houses when Minnie was born. Minnie, too, has built doll houses for years, and when she learns that she is ... See full summary »

Director:

George Schaefer

Writers:

Richard Lees, Richard Lees (play)

Stars:

Bette Davis, James Stewart, Melinda Dillon

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Bette Davis	...	Mini Dwyer
James Stewart	...	Teddy Dwyer
Melinda Dillon	...	Ruda Dwyer
Priscilla Morrill	...	Mrs. Finter
John Harkins	...	G. Clayburn
Jacque Lynn Colton	...	Mrs. Belkin
Louis Schaefer	...	Kahn
Charles Walker	...	Kahn's Assistant
Ismael 'East' Carlo	...	Gardener (as East Carlo)
Edith Fields	...	Saleswoman
Michael Canavan	...	Process Server (as Michael V. Murphy)
Philip Littell	...	Cashier
Robert Jayne	...	Mrs. Belkin's Son (as Bobby Jacoby)
Jodi Hicks	...	Mrs. Belkin's Daughter
Erin Karpf	...	Mrs. Belkin's Daughter

Storyline

Miniature Dwyer is named after her mother, who was making miniature doll houses when Minnie was born. Minnie, too, has built doll houses for years, and when she learns that she is terminally ill, she and her husband Teddy begin planning their joint suicide. She makes sure that her dolls are placed with people who will appreciate and cherish them. The couple refuse to allow their grief-stricken daughter or the solicitous social worker or anyone else to forestall the death they are determined is right for them.

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Plot Keywords:

old age | based on play

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 April 1988 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Am Ende des Weges

Filming Locations:

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Premiere Films, Post-Newsweek Television, Schaefer/Karpf Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in 1982, not released until 1983.

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Quotes

Mini Dwyer: Would you like to know what it is we want to spare you from? The doctors describe it as a kind of starvation death. Except every cell in my body is a stomach. The pain will be immense. I'll lose all sense of who I am or what I am. I'll lose my insides and I'll lose my outsides. I'll be half my size and weight. Or smaller. A tiny figure lying on a rubber sheet in some hideous cinder-block building they call a hospital.

User Reviews

What about forgotten men?

Ruda is a single daughter near to reach forty that truly love her old parents. She has her own business making clay pots, as she did as a hobby when she was a child. Their parents asked her to visit them to make her know their determination to end their lives together because of an illness from the mother. Her father told that she has a blood disease whose strange name he feels unable to remember. The mother said she is allergic to her own blood. Ruda send people to their house to try to convince their parents reconsider their decision. Mr. Dwyer (Jimmy Stewart) has an original desk and his wife (Bette Davis) create lovely dolls. They feed lots of cats whose preferred ones are named Robert DeNiro, Paul Newman and Jimmy Cann... Sometimes some of the cats does an incursion into the next house neighbor woman whose children seem countless. One day a man must deliver them a package and ask Mr. Dwyer if he is Mister or Mistress Dwyer! The film has plenty of comical and tender moments. Once, Mr. Dwyer ask a man in the street about what means the sentence: "Que pasa con los hombres olvidados?" from Pablo Neruda, for who he feels a strong admiration.

I'm delighted to see working together two of the greatest stars ever in one of their last performances.