made-for-television
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
starring
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...
,
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...
,
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...
and
Beah Richards
Beulah Elizabeth Richardson (July 12, 1920 – September 14, 2000), known professionally as Beah Richards and Bea Richards, was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was also a poet, playwright, author and activist.
Rich ...
, directed by
Jean-Claude Tramont
Jean-Claude Tramont (May 5, 1930 - December 27, 1996) was a Belgian writer, producer and director best known for his marriage to famous Hollywood agent Sue Mengers and the film '' All Night Long'' (1981).Winston Groom's 1980 novel of the same name about greed, bigotry and justice in late 1950s segregationist southern Louisiana. It was filmed in
Valdosta
Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the principal city of the Valdosta metropolitan statistical area, which in 2023 had a metropolitan population of 151,118, according to the US Census B ...
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
and premiered on
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
on May 18, 1986. The film was the last television film produced by HBO Premiere Films before being folded into HBO Pictures, with the next Premiere film, ''
Apology
Apology, The Apology, apologize/apologise, apologist, apologetics, or apologetic may refer to:
Common uses
* Apology (act), an expression of remorse or regret
* Apologia, a formal defense of an opinion, position, or action
Arts, entertainment ...
'', released under that banner. It was later released on
VHS
VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s.
Ma ...
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...
) is indifferent, letting his practice run itself, when the town's richest family begins a determined effort to obtain the farm of an old black woman, Elvira Backus (
Beah Richards
Beulah Elizabeth Richardson (July 12, 1920 – September 14, 2000), known professionally as Beah Richards and Bea Richards, was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was also a poet, playwright, author and activist.
Rich ...
) when it is discovered that the land might contain oil deposits. Elvira claims she was given her land by the dead family patriarch, Jonathan Holt, and finds an unlikely ally in Jonathan's aging sister, Hannah Loftin (
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...
), whose mental competence is being challenged by the Holt clan. As for Croft, his growing involvement in the case intensifies when he begins to fall in love with Hannah's high-spirited niece, Whitsey (
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...
).
Cast
*
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...
as Willie Croft
*
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...
as Whitsey Loftin
*
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...
as Hannah Loftin
* John Randolph as Augustus Tompkins
*
Beah Richards
Beulah Elizabeth Richardson (July 12, 1920 – September 14, 2000), known professionally as Beah Richards and Bea Richards, was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was also a poet, playwright, author and activist.
Rich ...
as Elvira Backus
*
Ron O'Neal
Ron O'Neal (September 1, 1937 – January 14, 2004) was an American actor, director and screenwriter, who rose to fame in his role as Youngblood Priest, a New York City cocaine dealer, in the blaxploitation film '' Super Fly'' (1972) and its ...
as Daniel Backus
*
Bruce McGill
Bruce Travis McGill (born July 11, 1950) is an American actor. He worked with director Michael Mann in the films '' The Insider'' (1999), '' Ali'' (2001), and '' Collateral'' (2004). McGill's other notable film roles include Daniel Simpson "D-D ...
as V.D. Skinner
*
Richard Venture
Richard Venture (born Richard Charles Venturella; November 12, 1923 – December 19, 2017) was an American actor. He performed in more than eighty films from 1964 to 2001. His television guest-credits include '' The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd ...
as Brevard Holt
*
John McIntire
John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novemb ...
as Judge Dudley McCormack
*
Penny Fuller
Penny Fuller is an American actress. She received two Tony Award nominations for her performances on Broadway stage: for '' Applause'' (1970), and ''The Dinner Party'' (2001). For her television performances, Fuller received six Emmy Award nomin ...
as Marci Holt
* Paul Roebling as Percy Holt
*
CCH Pounder
Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder (born December 25, 1952) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Claudette Wyms in the FX police drama series '' The Shield'' (2002–2008), Mo'at in the ''Avatar'' (2009–present) franchise, ...