Lily Dale (film)

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Lily Dale
Genre
Based onLily Dale
by Horton Foote
Written by Horton Foote
Directed by Peter Masterson
Starring
Music by Peter Melnick
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
  • John Thomas Lenox
  • Irwin Meyer
  • Linda Curran Wexelblatt
Producers
Cinematography Don E. FauntLeRoy
Editor Michael N. Knue
Running time98 minutes
Production companies Producers Entertainment Group
Showtime/Hallmark Entertainment
Original release
Network Showtime
ReleaseJune 9, 1996 (1996-06-09)

Lily Dale is a 1996 American drama television film directed by Peter Masterson and adapted by Horton Foote from his like-named play (the third in his 9-part Orphans' Home Cycle ), which debuted Off-Broadway in 1986. It stars Mary Stuart Masterson, Sam Shepard, Stockard Channing, and Tim Guinee, and aired on Showtime on June 9, 1996. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

Set in 1910 in Texas, [3] the story concerns 19-year-old Horace Robedaux (a character modeled on the playwright's father [4] [5] ), who, following a roughly seven-year exile, is invited by his widowed and remarried mother, Corella Davenport, to visit her and his younger sister, Lily Dale, at their home in Houston while Mr. Davenport is away on business. (As to what had brought about that 7-year separation, it had its roots in the chronic alcoholism of their Mr. Robedeaux, which led, in turn, to his and Mrs. Robedeaux's separation when Horace was just 8, to his death four years later, and, shortly thereafter, to Mrs. Robedeaux's prompt remarriage. Unfortunately for Horace, Pete Davenport had proved an only half-willing step-parent, agreeing to take on Lily but not her 12-year-old sibling, insisting instead that Horace go out and earn his own way, much as Davenport himself had allegedly done at his age.) However, Mrs. Davenport's best laid plans quickly unravel when Pete decides to drastically curtail his planned 3-week trip. [1] [6]

Cast

All credits derived from The Motion Picture Guide : 1997 Annual (The films of 1996). [7]

Production

Filming took place in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, [8] beginning in December 1995 and concluding the following month. [9] [10] According to Foote biographer Wilborn Hampton, Shepard—having himself first achieved fame as a playwright before embarking on his more lucrative onscreen career—had turned down a Showtime project paying four times as much for the opportunity to participate in this production, yet was, at the same time, utterly appalled at the network's tight-fisted funding of its ostensibly prestige production. "Who are these people? Don't they know this is Horton Foote?" [11]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews, with America's papers of record prominent among the naysayers. Both the New York and Los Angeles Times found fault with the play as well as its screen adaptation. John J. O'Connor cites Foote's best-known work, The Trip to Bountiful , and bemoans Lily's lack of any corresponding "Page-like turn to galvanize the production." [12] O'Connor's L.A. counterpart Robert Koehler calls Lily Dale a "curiously pallid work from an usually interesting writer," suffering from "weak, sepia-toned cinematography [and] the hazy, lazy nature of Foote's dramaturgy." [13] On the plus side, both O'Connor and Koehler deem Stockard Channing's portrayal of the conflicted mother one of the film's few positives. [12] [13] The Washington Post's Linton Weeks, however, attached no such qualification to his blistering critique, describing the production as "simply awful," adding that, "unlike Foote's masterpieces Tender Mercies and The Trip to Bountiful, this play is buh-leak beyond belief." [14]

By contrast, the Dallas Morning News , New York Daily News , Chicago Tribune , Hartford Courant , and Philadelphia Inquirer were all but unanimous in their praise, a common theme being the contrast between the substance and subtlety on display in Lily Dale and the redundancy, risk avoidance, and even outright pandering so prevalent in network TV programming. [15] [16] [17] [6] [18] On that note, Morning News critic Ed Bark concludes his review.

"Lily Dale" resonates without being cloying or obvious. It's a heartbreaker on its own terms. Showtime should be commended for providing it with a home – albeit a home away from most homes. The bottom line? Increasingly bottom-feeding commercial networks should consider what they're missing by shunning movies such as "Lily Dale." More to the point, they should consider what we're missing. [15]

Variety's Tony Scott stakes out something of a middle ground, stating at the outset that the source work is "not a great play" (upon which he later expands by dubbing it a "morose two-act-er," albeit one which director Masterson and assorted crew members have "coaxed into a comfortable flow"), but immediately adds, much like Dallas critic Bark, that "it's absorbing, uninterrupted theater — something PBS and the commercial nets have too much laid aside." He also notes that Guinee's "self-contained, uncomplaining, repressed Horace glows" and that Jean Stapleton's two appearances as the "well-meaning Mrs. Coons"—in the bookending scenes of Horace's train journeys to and from the film's principal setting—are "beautifully realized." [19]

Accolades

Jean-Pierre Dorléac received an Emmy nomination—as Jean-Pierre Dorleac—for "Costume Design, Miniseries or Special." [20]

References

  1. 1 2 Roberts, Jerry (2003). The Great American Playwrights on the Screen . New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema. p. 169. ISBN   1-55783-512-8. "In 1910 Texas, 19-year-old Horace Robedaux is asked by his mother to visit her and his little sister, Lily Dale, in Houston. His father died of alcoholism when he was 12, and his mother remarried a railroader who agreed to raise Lily Dale, but not him. This is the third play in The Orphan’s Home Cycle and was first performed Off Broadway in 1986."
  2. ↑ Watson, Charles S. (2003). Horton Foote: A Literary Biography . Austin, TX: The University of Texas Press. p. 170. ISBN   0-292-79160-7. "Lily Dale is one of the Cycle plays that has been filmed. It appeared on Showtime on June 9, 1996, sponsored by Hallmark Entertainment. "
  3. ↑ Marill, Alvin (2005). Movies Made for Television, 1964-2004, Vol. 3: 1990-1999 . Scarecrow Press. p. 304. ISBN   9780810851740.
  4. ↑ Killian, Michael (June 9, 1996). "A Poignant elegy on the pressures that strain familial ties; Horton Foote's 'Lily Dale' a tribute to his father". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 7, p. 7.
  5. ↑ Nemy, Enid, New York Times Service (August 18, 1986). "Horton Foote's 'Lily Dale' Mounted for Broadway". Austin American-Statesman. p. D8. "The character of Horace Robedaux, inspired by Horton's father, 'pops up,' the author said, in every play. The title of the cycle comes from the idea that 'Horace thinks of himself as an orphan who needs to establish a home.'"
  6. 1 2 Nicewonger, Kirk (June 9, 1996). "Foote's 'Lily Dale' on Showtime; realizing a dream in '4 Points'". The Hartford Courant. p. E8. "With the talent it boasts both in front of and behind the camera, "Lily Dale" (Sunday, Showtime at 10) doesn't disappoint. [...] Set in 1910, it begins as Horace Robedaux (Guinee) prepares to visit his mother, Corella (Channing), and sister, Lily Dale (Masterson) in Houston after a long absence. After Horace and Lily Dale's alcoholic father died, Corella married Pete Davenport (Shepard), who agreed to take in Lily Dale, but sent Horace away, believing that boys should support themselves. Now, with Pete gone on an extended trip, Corella has asked Horace to visit for a week, although her husband would be displeased if he knew. The spoiled, self-centered Lily Dale disapproves of the visit, which is quickly cut short when the cold and somewhat tyrannical Pete returns home early."
  7. ↑ Grant, Edmond, editor (1997). The Motion Picture Guide : 1997 Annual (The Films of 1996) . New York: CineBooks. p. 210. ISBN   0-933997-39-6.
  8. ↑ Smith, Julia Null; ed. (1996). Texas Production Manual : A Source Book for the Motion Picture, Television, and Video Industries, Vol. XVII . Austin, TX: Texas Film Commission, Film, Music & Multimedia Division, Office of the Governor. p. 261. OCLC   35645567.
  9. ↑ "TV Production (Boxed = New Listing; ★ = Change in Listing)". The Hollywood Reporter. December 5, 1973. p. 51. ProQuest   2467895891. Lily Dale (Showtime) TV Movie (in assn w/Showtime Networks Inc.) Cast: Mary Stuart Masterson, Sam Shepard, Stockard Channing, Tim Guinee, Jean Stapleton, John Slattery; ExPrd., Irwin Meyer, Linda Wexelblatt, Peter Crane; CoExPrd., Hallie Foote; Dir., Peter Masterson; Wrtr., Horton Foote
  10. ↑ "TV Production (Boxed = New Listing; ★ = Change in Listing)". The Hollywood Reporter. January 16, 1996. p. 114. ProQuest   2467902435. Lily Dale (Showtime) TV Movie (in assn w/Showtime Networks Inc.) Cast: Mary Stuart Masterson, Sam Shepard, Stockard Channing, Tim Guinee, Jean Stapleton, John Slattery; ExPrd., Irwin Meyer, Linda Wexelblatt, Peter Crane; CoExPrd., Hallie Foote; Dir., Peter Masterson; Wrtr., Horton Foote
  11. ↑ Hampton, Wilborn (2009). Horton Foote: America's Storyteller . New York: Free Press. p. 237. ISBN   978-1-4165-6691-5.
  12. 1 2 O'Connor, John J., New York Times News Service (June 8, 1996). "Sunday's 'Lily Dale' is not the best Foote". Portland Press Herald. p. 17.
  13. 1 2 Koehler, Robert (June 8, 1996). "'Lily Dale' Withers in Face of Conflict". The Los Angeles Times. p. F10. "Everything in Peter Masterson's film version of Horton Foote's play 'Lily Dale' on Showtime is saturated in an unrelieving, dull brownness—from Don Fauntleroy's weak, sepia-toned cinematography to the hazy, lazy nature of Foote's dramaturgy. Just as it did onstage, this curiously pallid work from an usually interesting writer just sits there, raising the mystery of why it's here at all. [...] None of this is good for the actors, who fail to meld into an ensemble. Masterson suggests a wallflower who's been cooped up too long but misses the air of sadness Foote seems to be aiming at. Guinee, all manic-depressive angst, and Shepard, who's never been more sternly taciturn, are acting in two different films. Only Channing finds moments of irony and honest reflection here, willing some glimpses of color into this dusty, brown story."
  14. ↑ Weeks, Linton (June 9, 1996). "A Pale 'Lily Dale'". The Washington Post. p. 110. ProQuest   1034004768.
  15. 1 2 Bark, Ed; Dallas Morning News (June 8, 1996). "First-rate 'Lily Dale' belongs on network". The Oregonian
  16. ↑ Gardella, Kay (June 8, 1996). "A Golden opportunity: Consider 'Lily'". New York Daily News. p. 55.
  17. ↑ Kilian, Michael (June 9, 1996). "A Poignant elegy on the pressures that strain familial ties". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 7, p. 7.
  18. ↑ Winfrey, Lee (June 9, 1996). "Lee Winfrey on Television: Original drama is one to savor". The Philadelphia Inquirer TV Week. p. 4.
  19. ↑ Scott, Tony (June 3, 1996). "TV Reviews: Lily Dale". Variety. p. 114. ProQuest   1286157866. Lily Dale (Showtime) TV Movie (in assn w/Showtime Networks Inc.) Cast: Mary Stuart Masterson, Sam Shepard, Stockard Channing, Tim Guinee, Jean Stapleton, John Slattery; ExPrd., Irwin Meyer, Linda Wexelblatt, Peter Crane; CoExPrd., Hallie Foote; Dir., Peter Masterson; Wrtr., Horton Foote
  20. ↑ "Emmy Award Nominations 1996: And the Emmy Nominees Are...". The Los Angeles Times. July 19, 1996. p. F22. ProQuest   2044330647. Costume deign, miniseries or special: Mary Routh, 'Andersonville,' TNT; Shirley Russell, 'Gulliver's Travels,' NBC; Jean-Pierre Dorleac, 'Lily Dale,' Showtime; Dinah Colin, 'Pride & Prejudice,' A&E; Natasha Landau, "Rasputin,' HBO.
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