14 September 2006

Straight Story (1999)

a collection of unusual screenshots taken from










































Also Known As:
Une histoire vraie

Directed by
David Lynch

Plot summary:
The Straight Story is based on a real event in the life of a real person. Veteran actor Richard Farnsworth plays Alvin Straight, a 73 year-old man living in Laurens, Iowa with his daughter, Rose (Sissy Spacek). Alvin is not in the best of health - he has a bad hip that requires him to use two canes while walking and he has trouble with his vision. One day, Alvin receives a phone call from a family member informing him that his brother, Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton), whom he has not spoken to in 10 years, has suffered a stroke. Alvin decides that he must make the 320-mile trek to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin, and the only means of transportation available to him is his lawnmower. "I've got to go see Lyle, and I've got to make the trip on my own," he remarks. So, hitching a home-made trailer to a John Deere, he begins one of the most unusual road trips ever committed to celluloid.

The cross-state journey, which takes six weeks during the late summer and early fall, is chronicled episodically. Early in his trip, Alvin encounters a female hitchhiker who spends some time around a campfire with him. She has run away from home, but he gives her the following advice: "A warm bed in a house sounds a mite better than eating a hot dog on a stick with an old geezer traveling on a lawn mower." On another occasion, he encounters a woman who has just struck and killed a deer - her thirteenth such accident in the past seven weeks. And, while his transport is being repaired after a breakdown, he spends time reminiscing about World War Two horrors with another veteran. [source: reelviews.net]

Cast:
Sissy Spacek.... Rose 'Rosie' Straight
Jane Galloway Heitz.... Dorothy, Straight's Next-Door Neighbor (as Jane Galloway Heitz)
Joseph A. Carpenter.... Bud
Donald Wiegert.... Sig
Richard Farnsworth.... Alvin Straight
Tracey Maloney.... Nurse
Dan Flannery.... Doctor Gibbons
Jennifer Edwards-Hughes.... Brenda, the Grocery Clerk
Ed Grennan.... Pete
Jack Walsh.... Apple
Max the Wonder Dog.... Farm Dog
Gil Pearson.... Sun Ray Tours Bus Driver
Barbara June Patterson.... Woman on Bus
Everett McGill.... Tom the John Deere Dealer
Anastasia Webb.... Crystal
Matt Guidry.... Steve
Bill McCallum.... Rat
Barbara E. Robertson.... Deer Woman (as Barbara Robertson)
James Cada.... Danny Riordan, Clermont Resident
Sally Wingert.... Darla Riordan, Clermont Resident
Barbara Kingsley.... Janet Johnson, Clermont Resident
Jim Haun.... Johnny Johnson, Clermont Resident
Wiley Harker.... Verlyn Heller
Randy Wiedenhoff.... Fireman #1
Jerry E. Anderson.... Fireman #2
Kevin P. Farley.... Harald Olsen, Tractor Mechanic (as Kevin Farley)
John Farley.... Thorvald Olsen, Tractor Mechanic
John Lordan.... Priest
Garrett Sweeney.... Boy in Truck
Peter Sweeney.... Boy in Truck
Tommy Fahey.... Boy in Truck
Matt Fahey.... Boy in Truck
Dan Fahey.... Boy in Truck
Russ Reed.... Mt. Zion Bartender
Leroy Swadley.... Bar Patron
Ralph Feldhacker.... Farmer on Tractor
Harry Dean Stanton.... Lyle Straight, Alvin's Brother
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stephen Cinabro.... Policeman (uncredited)
Gary D'Amico.... Cyclist #1 (uncredited)
George A. Farr.... Wendell (uncredited)
Jeremy Kent Jackson.... Andy (uncredited)
Lana Schwab.... Old Lady #1 (uncredited)