Heart of Dixie (1989)

Three young sorority women try to find love with potential men, while worrying about changes in their way of life when integration begins at their college in 1957 segregated Alabama.

Director:

Martin Davidson

Writers:

Anne Rivers Siddons (novel), Tom McCown (screenplay)

Stars:

Ally Sheedy, Virginia Madsen, Phoebe Cates

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ally Sheedy	...	Maggie DeLoach
Virginia Madsen	...	Delia June Curry
Phoebe Cates	...	Aiken Reed
Treat Williams	...	Hoyt Cunningham
Don Michael Paul	...	Boots Claibourne
Kyle Secor	...	Charles Payton 'Tuck' Tucker
Francesca P. Roberts	...	Keefi (as Francesca Roberts)
Peter Berg	...	Jenks
Jenny Robertson	...	Sister
Lisa Zane	...	M.A.
Ashley Gardner	...	Jean
Kurtwood Smith	...	Professor Flournoy
Richard Bradford	...	Judge Claibourne
Barbara Babcock	...	Coralee Claibourne
Hazen Gifford	...	Dean Howard

Storyline

Alabama, 1957. Pampered Souther belle Maggie DeLoach and her fellow sorority sisters Delia June, Keefi, and chapter president M.A., at Randolph College have lived the cosseted good life, free from worry and the strife that's starting to affect the rest of the Deep South during the Civil Rights movement. But when Maggie meets a liberal and dashing young photographer named Hoyt Cunningham who talks about the impending changes in the South, as well the radical talk from her outgoing classmate Aiken, Maggie knows her life will soon change too.

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Plot Keywords:

college | alabama | civil rights | southern u.s. | racism | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brennender Hass

Filming Locations:

Arkansas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$367,091, 27 August 1989

Gross USA:

$1,097,333

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,097,333

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jason Bruce Robertson utilized his 1968 Chevy Camaro SS, as requested due to the need for "older" vehicles. However, it was cut from the film due to continuity issues, with the film supposedly set in the 1950's and not the late 1960's.

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Goofs

In the final scene with the national guard posted outside the administration building, the air conditioners which are placed prominently in two front windows are certainly not the type or size of air conditioners in 1957.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Black Rain/Heavy Petting/In Country/A Dry White Season/Heart of Dixie (1989)

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Soundtracks

My Theta Pi Lambda Queen (Pinning Song)
Written by Kenny Vance and Phillip Namanworth

User Reviews

I Remember Life Like This

This review deals with accuracy, not political correctness. I was an idealistic 11 year old girl living 90 minutes from Oxford, MS, and Ole Miss in 1957--the year and setting for this film. I can confirm several things:

(1) For anyone interested, the wardrobe for the female cast is so dead-on accurate to the times, it's almost scary. When (early on) a coed flounces into the room modeling her new sweater--exact replicas of that sweater were gracing the halls in my school. The other fashions were spot on and had me reliving those years.

(2) This is totally accurate sorority-girl-college-life in this era. It is based more on Ole Miss than a fictitious Alabama school. Bit of TRIVIA--two sorority sisters who lived in the same house at Ole Miss went on to become Miss America 1958 and Miss American 1959: Mary Ann Mobley (58) and Lynda Lee Meade (59). If you'd like a glimpse into what it was like to live in a sorority house on a southern campus--this is it.

(3)Through the turbulent 60's, often Southern schools were oddly separate from the war protests and flag-burnings occurring on other campuses. I was in college in Mississippi from 1964-1968, and our campus was as peaceful as a Sunday School picnic.

(4) Lastly, re: the interaction between Maggie and the two African American cooks in the sorority house kitchen. It's more politically correct to argue today that black-white friendship, love and cordiality didn't exist--that it was never this way--but I lived it. I both witnessed and experienced scenes like that of genuine affection, laughter--and yes, even scolding--from older women to these younger pampered girls more times than I can count.

SUMMARY: For fashion accuracy, setting accuracy, and a couple of scenes depicting interracial relationships, it's accurate. I lived it. As for the acting and direction--I can't speak to that.