The Whole Wide World (1996)

In Texas in the 1930s, young schoolteacher Novalyne Price meets a handsome, eccentric, interesting young man named Robert Howard. He's a successful writer - of the pulp stories of 'Conan ... See full summary »

Director:

Dan Ireland

Writers:

Novalyne Price Ellis (memoir One Who Walked Alone), Michael Scott Myers (screenplay)

Stars:

Vincent D'Onofrio, Renée Zellweger, Ann Wedgeworth

6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Robert E. Howard
Renée Zellweger	...	Novalyne Price
Ann Wedgeworth	...	Mrs. Howard
Harve Presnell	...	Dr. Howard
Benjamin Mouton	...	Clyde Smith
Helen Cates	...	Enid
Leslie Buesing	...	Ethel (as Leslie Berger)
Chris Shearer	...	Truett
Sandy Walper	...	Mammy
Marion Eaton	...	Woman on Bus
Dell Aldrich	...	Mrs. Hemphill (as Dell F. Aldrich)
Libby Villari	...	Etna Reed Price
Michael Corbett	...	Booth Adams
Antonia Bogdanovich	...	Teacher
Elizabeth D'Onofrio	...	Mrs. Smith

Storyline

In Texas in the 1930s, young schoolteacher Novalyne Price meets a handsome, eccentric, interesting young man named Robert Howard. He's a successful writer - of the pulp stories of 'Conan the Barbarian'; she's an aspiring one. A friendship develops into a sort of courtship. Based on a memoir by Novalyne Price.

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Plot Keywords:

corn stalk | courtship | friendship | writer | 1930s | 

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Taglines:

A true story about the true love of the greatest pulp fiction writer of all time.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for a substantial amount of mild language and mature thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 December 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alle Liebe dieser Welt

Filming Locations:

Paramount Theatre - 713 Congress, Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,318, 22 December 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$136,933, 5 January 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cineville,The Kushner-Locke Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The budget for this movie was set at $1.3 million. Due to their shortened time frame and lack of money, actor 'Vincent D'Onofrio (I)' had to convince the Bond companies to let them shoot certain scenes.

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Goofs

When the school principal welcomes the teachers for the new school year, the U.S. flag in the background has 50 stars, whereas in the 1930s the flag would have only had 48 stars.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Novalyne Price: I met Bob Howard today. My old sweetheart, Clyde, brought him over.

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Crazy Credits

During her interview on "Inside the Actor's Studio", Renee Zellweger revealed that the end credit for Woofgang Zellweger was an inside reference to her dog, "Woof."

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Dante's Peak/SubUrbia/The Beautician and the Beast/Rosewood/The Whole Wide World (1997)

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Soundtracks

Boy Meets Girl
Composed by Tony Kinsey (as T. Kinsey)

User Reviews

Definitely a Keeper!

I love listening to the audio commentaries after I've watched a film. It shows me how much the actors or crew members felt making the film. There is a big difference between a film and a movie. A film holds you to your seat because of the quality of the writing and acting. A movie is usually exciting, but it may or may not have persons who can or cannot act in it's line-up. I consider "The Whole Wide World" in the former category. I can't say enough about this film.

The story is simple enough. Vincent D'Onofrio plays Robert E. Howard, arguably the greatest pulp magazine writer of all time. He is the creator of the Conan series of magazine and movie fame. Howard falls in love with Novalyn Price, a woman who wants to be an author, but has no talent. She is played by Renn' Zellweger, who brings fire to this "mousey" character. Price realizes her destiny lays in teaching and pursues that course in her life. Zellweger's performance is exceptional as her 5'5" frame faces down the 6'4" frame of D'Onofrio.

D'Onofrio's performance in this film is beyond exceptional. He kept me emotionally attached to the character of Howard through out the film. I cried at the end.

As one of the producers of this film, D'Onofrio was able to keep the film on track. But something tells me that he believed so much in the film that he took on the problems himself and protected the project. I loved the Greyhound bus, by the way. It was one of his additions.

This film was Dan Ireland's first major film and he did exceptionally well. He knew the caliber of actors he was working with and let them do their job. The actors also let him do his job as well. Surprisingly in the commentary I could tell that he watched his stars and learned from them

Like I said, I can't say enough about this film. I rented it from Netflix and have watched it several times. It is definitely a keeper and my order on Amazon is already in the works.