Places in the Heart (1984)

Director:

Robert Benton

Writer:

Robert Benton (written by)

Release Date:

21 September 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The story of a woman fighting for her children, for her land, for the greatest dream there is...the future.

Plot:

In 1930's Southern US, a widow and her family try to run their cotton farm with the help of a disparate group of friends.

Plot Keywords:

Cotton | Farm | Sheriff | 1930s | Cotton Farm

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Sally Field	...	Edna Spalding
Lindsay Crouse	...	Margaret Lomax
Ed Harris	...	Wayne Lomax
Amy Madigan	...	Viola Kelsey
John Malkovich	...	Mr. Will
Danny Glover	...	Moze
Yankton Hatten	...	Frank Spalding
Gennie James	...	Possum Spalding
Lane Smith	...	Albert Denby
Terry O'Quinn	...	Buddy Kelsey
Bert Remsen	...	Tee Tot Hightower
Ray Baker	...	Sheriff Royce Spalding
Jay Patterson	...	W.E. Simmons
Toni Hudson	...	Ermine
De'voreaux White	...	Wylie (as Devoreaux White)
Jerry Haynes	...	Deputy Jack Driscoll
Lou Hancock	...	Dispossessed Lady Living in Car
Shelby Brammer	...	Ruby
Norma Young	...	Beauty Shop Customer
Bill Thurman	...	Homer
Jim Gough	...	Leroy
Cliff Bruner	...	Otis
Arthur Pugh	...	Dove Haslip
Matthew Posey	...	Eugene
Shanna Shrum	...	Rosalie Lomax
Gregg Brazzel	...	KKK Man #1 (as Greg Brazzell)
Lynn Covey	...	KKK Man #2
Randy Fife	...	KKK Man #3
Vernon Grote	...	KKK Man #4
Ned Dowd	...	KKK Man #5
Paul Nuckles	...	KKK Man #6
Lynn D. Lasswell Jr.	...	Preacher
J.C. Quinn	...	Texas Voice #1 (voice)
Robert Schenkkan	...	Texas Voice #2 (voice)
Trey Wilson	...	Texas Voice #3 (voice)
Bascom Newman	...	Farmhouse Dance Voice (voice)
Paul Goodwin	...	Mr. Cheeves
Connie Grandell	...	Mrs. Cheeves
William J. Welch	...	Narrator, 'Trent's Last Case'

Directed by
Robert Benton

Writing credits
Robert Benton		(written by)

Produced by
Arlene Donovan	....	producer
Michael Hausman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Kander

Cinematography by
Néstor Almendros

Film Editing by
Carol Littleton

Casting by
Howard Feuer
Jeremy Ritzer

Production Design by
Gene Callahan

Art Direction by
Sydney Z. Litwack		(as Sydney Z. Litwak)

Set Decoration by
Derek R. Hill		(as Derek Hill)
Lee Poll

Costume Design by
Ann Roth

Makeup Department
Paul LeBlanc	....	hair stylist
Bob Mills	....	makeup artist
Yolanda Toussieng	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Richard Brick	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Dreyfuss	....	second assistant director
Joel Tuber	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jack Eberhart	....	property master
Roger Irvin	....	construction coordinator
Peter McGuire	....	assistant to property master
Bill Iiams	....	general foreman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Clint Althouse	....	boom operator
Louis Cerborino	....	sound editor (as Lou Cerborino)
Richard P. Cirincione	....	supervising sound editor (as Richard Cirincione)
Randall Coleman	....	assistant sound editor
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Jay Dranch	....	adr editor
Tom Fleischman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Richard Friedlander	....	apprentice sound editor
Lindsey Hicks	....	apprentice sound editor
Michael Jacobi	....	supervising adr editor
Bruce Kitzmeyer	....	assistant sound editor
Bitty O'Sullivan-Smith	....	assistant sound editor
Peter Odabashian	....	sound editor
James Pilcher	....	production sound mixer
Fred Rosenberg	....	assistant sound editor
Maurice Schell	....	sound editor
Jeffrey Stern	....	assistant sound editor
Harry Peck Bolles	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Calvin Joe Acord	....	special effects (as Cal Acord)

Visual Effects by
Bran Ferren	....	special visual effects
Mitch Wilson	....	optical effects

Stunts
Paul Nuckles	....	stunt coordinator
Bobby Porter	....	stunt double
Sharon Schaffer	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Connors	....	best boy
Bob Hall	....	second assistant camera
Robert Horne	....	first assistant camera (as Bob Horne)
Dan Lerner	....	camera operator
Philip C. Pfeiffer	....	director of photography: second unit
Robert T. Prate	....	best boy (as Robert Prate)
Tom Prate	....	key grip
Richard Quinlan	....	gaffer
Don Reddy	....	photographer: second unit
Zade Rosenthal	....	still photographer
Stephen J. Shiekman	....	video playback operator
Arthur Krauss	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Brian H. Reynolds	....	grip (uncredited)
Kerry Rike	....	grip (uncredited)

Casting Department
Mary Anna Austin	....	casting: Texas
Barbara Blanchette	....	extras casting coordinator
Rody Kent	....	casting: Texas

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mary Malin	....	assistant to costume designer
Silvio Scarano	....	costumer
Mort Schwartz	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Norman Buckley	....	assistant editor
Rachel Cline	....	post-production coordinator
Bruce Pearson	....	color timer
Jill Savitt	....	first assistant editor
Barbara Tulliver	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Howard Shore	....	additional music producer

Transportation Department
Al Milligan	....	transportation captain

Other crew
John Brittain	....	production assistant
Lynn Covey	....	location coordinator
Brian Cowden	....	period car coordinator
Walter Crespo	....	film layout
Dick Dubuque	....	production auditor
David Evans-Lombe	....	production assistant
Rebecca Hilliard	....	assistant production office coordinator (as Beccie Hillard)
Ingrid Johanson	....	production office coordinator
Sondra Lee	....	consultant to Mr. Benton
Lois Lipfield	....	assistant: Mr. Benton
James R. Maceo	....	production assistant (as James Maceo)
Lee R. Mayes	....	location manager (as Lee Mayes)
Roy McBride	....	wind effects
James Pullen	....	period car coordinator
Anne Rapp	....	script supervisor
Ken Rinker	....	dance coordinator
Mark Schotte	....	location coordinator
Henry Wolf	....	title designer
Rebecca Wood	....	assistant production office coordinator
Mark Buesnel	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Bundy Chanock	....	set medic (uncredited)
Kurt Wehrs	....	location scout (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Delphi II Productions
• TriStar Pictures

Distributors

• TriStar Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1987) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1985) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1984) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Filmverleih (1985) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (2001) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2001) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing  vintage clothing rentals
• Optical House, The  opticals

Also Known As:

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG (No. 27296) | Canada:PG | Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (f) | Canada:14+ | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:12 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Ellis County, Texas, USA

Company:

Delphi II Productions

Trivia:

The director and screenwriter, Robert Benton, set the film in his birthplace of Waxahachie, Texas in 1935, three years after he was born there.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: A scene in the kitchen shows iron skillets and other cookware. It's all gray. Only new iron cookware is gray. After it's been used, if only for a month or two, it turns black.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Edna Spalding:[seeing her daughter's doll at the dinner table] Possum, put that up now.
Royce Spalding:Our Heavenly Father, bless this meal and all those who are about to receive it. Make us thankful for Your generous bounty, and Your unceasing love. Please remind us, in these hard times, to be grateful for what we have been given, and not to ask for what we can not have. And make us mindful of those less fortunate among us, as we sit at this table with all of Thy bounty. Amen.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Soundtrack:

In The Garden

Depression-Era Drama That Never Gets Old

"Places in the Heart" is one of the more under-rated films of the 1980s. Somewhat based on director Robert Benton's experiences as a youth in Waxahachie, Texas, the film deals with one woman's (Sally Field in her second Oscar-winning performance) struggle to keep her land, house, and children after her husband is killed in a freak accident. She decides that the only way to keep her life is to grow and harvest cotton (not the easiest thing in the world to do, especially during the Depression). Drifter Danny Glover is the catalyst who can bring everything together and the blind John Malkovich (Oscar-nominated) also proves to be an asset. However, racists threaten to stop Field by eliminating Glover. On the other side of town Field's sister (Lindsay Crouse, in her Oscar-nominated role) is having troubles with her husband (Ed Harris). He is having an affair with a local school-teacher (Amy Madigan) and this development could ruin her life just as quickly as Field's life has changed. "Places in the Heart" benefits from great performances, but the direction and screenplay are also second-to-none. An excellent film that was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 1984. 5 stars out of 5.