Scorchers

Last updated
Scorchers
ScorchersDVDCover.jpg
Redesigned Scorchers DVD cover
Directed by David Beaird
Written byDavid Beaird
Produced byMorrie Eisenman and Richard Hellman
Starring Faye Dunaway
Denholm Elliott
James Earl Jones
Emily Lloyd
Jennifer Tilly
Narrated byLeland Crooke (opening and closing monologues)
CinematographyPeter Deming
Edited byDavid Garfield
Music by Carter Burwell
Production
company
Distributed by Rank Film Distributors (United Kingdom)
Media Home Entertainment through Fox Video (United States)
Release date
  • March 1991 (1991-03)
Running time
88 minutes
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Scorchers is a 1991 ensemble drama written and directed by David Beaird with a cast of Faye Dunaway, James Earl Jones, Denholm Elliott, Leland Crooke and Emily Lloyd. The film is based on David Beaird's 1985 stage play of the same name which premiered at the Equity Waiver Theater in Los Angeles, also featuring Leland Crooke in the cast. [1]

Contents

Plot

Scorchers takes place in Cajun Louisiana on the wedding night of a young woman named Splendid (played by Emily Lloyd). Splendid is scared to death of what will happen in the bedroom with her new husband Dolan (James Wilder) and her father, Jumper (Leland Crooke), finds himself having to coax his daughter to submit to the groom.

Meanwhile, Talbot (Jennifer Tilly) comes to terms with the fact that her husband has not been satisfied at home and has been cheating on her, as the town prostitute, Thais (Faye Dunaway) shares her wisdom on the ways of men—all this takes place while the town bartender, Bear (James Earl Jones) and the town drunk, Howler (Denholm Elliott), debate the finer points of music and life.

Cast

The role of Splendid was originally going to be played by Heather Graham, but she was fired [2] and replaced by Emily Lloyd.

Soundtrack

TitleComposerPerformerMaster Provided byCourtesy of
Les Flammes D'EnferTraditionalMamouJungle Productions/Austin, Texas
Tit Galop Pour MamouDewey BalfaMamouJungle ProductionsFlat Town Music Co.
Bayou TecheNathan AbshireMamouJungle ProductionsFlat Town Music Co.
Jolie BlondeTraditionalMamouJungle Productions
La LouisianeSteve LaFleurMamouJungle ProductionsStephen LaFleur Music
Symphony No. 5 - AdagiettoGustav MahlerThe Budapest Festival OrchestraIvan FischerDelta Music, Inc.

Home media

The DVD was released by Trinity Home Entertainment in January 2005, but in full screen and without any bonus material. However, the DVD does have an opening monologue by Leland Crooke that was absent from the original VHS release.

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References

  1. Svitil, Torene (July 6, 1990). "The Little Play That Could: Film: Five years ago, 'Scorchers' was playing in a 60-seat Equity Waiver theater. Writer-director David Beaird did an end run around the studios to get his vision on the screen". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  2. Metz, Nina (April 4, 2023). "My worst moment: A director told Heather Graham she was ‘a waste of time’". Chicago Tribune.