True Women

Last updated

True Women
True Women.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Written by Janice Woods Windle
Christopher Lofton
Directed by Karen Arthur
Starring Dana Delany
Annabeth Gish
Angelina Jolie
Julie Carmen
Rachael Leigh Cook
Music by Bruce Broughton
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerCraig Anderson
ProducersTerence A. Donnelly
Christopher Lofton
Lynn Raynor
CinematographyTom Neuwirth
Editor Corky Ehlers
Running time170 minutes
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseMay 18 (1997-05-18) 
May 20, 1997 (1997-05-20)

True Women is a 1997 American Western CBS TV miniseries based on the 1993 novel by Janice Woods Windle directed by Karen Arthur, starring Dana Delany, Annabeth Gish, Angelina Jolie, Julie Carmen, Tina Majorino and Rachael Leigh Cook. It was filmed in Austin, San Antonio, and McDade, Texas. The series covers five decades, from the Texas Revolution through Native American uprisings and the Civil War to the early stages of the women's suffrage movement. [1] This miniseries was first aired on the CBS television network over two nights during May 1997. [2]

Contents

The miniseries marks the debut of sisters Duff, Hilary and Haylie Duff, who were uncredited. [3]

Plot summary

The story starts with young Euphemia Texas Ashby (Tina Majorino) and her older sister Sara McClure (Dana Delany). When Euphemia gets back to the house from picking flowers she finds out that Sam Houston is coming to the house. Santa Anna is on his way so they must head east in the Runaway Scrape. While they attempt to cross a river Sara suffers from a miscarriage while her young son Little Johnnie dies in Euphemia's arms. Many other young and old Texans die and Euphemia is almost lost in a sea of graves. After a month and a week, Sam Houston defeats Santa Anna's army and Texas is reborn as the Republic of Texas. They now live in a new home with their horses. Their sisters Fannie and Jane Isabella come to live with them after their father dies at sea. They are very different from Sara and Phemie (Annabeth Gish) and must adapt to their new brutal life.

One year later, Sarah survives an encounter with Tarantula (Michael Greyeyes), a Comanche warrior, and his band of Comanches. Later, Euphemia's close friend Matilda "Maddie" Lockhart (Anne Tremko) is abducted by the Comanches and only later released. When given back, the Texans discover that she was brutally tortured, with the right side of her face disfigured by burn scars; the Comanche repeatedly awakened her by placing burning coals on her face. Maddie is bloody and shows signs of beating everywhere. She never fully recovers from her time with the Native Americans.

Euphemia is now sixteen and almost gets attacked by a panther when William King (Matthew Glave), a boy who she dreams about frequently, saves her. They continue to talk every day for the next five years and then get married. Sara's own husband dies in battle, and she gets remarried to a musician. Euphemia has a few children with William while they live happily together with the slave Tildy (Khadijah Karriem). They have a few horses, including one called Dancer. Euphemia meets Tarantula once again at a show (he is one of the actors) and since he is walking far for an old man, she gives him Dancer, her best horse. He gives her the name "Brave Squaw Child". This is the end of Euphemia's life in the book.

Cherokee (Julie Carmen) and Lewis (Michael York) want to leave Georgia because Cherokee is half Creek and they are being driven out. They wanted to leave before they were forced to.

Georgia Lawshe Woods (Angelina Jolie) falls in love at the age of fifteen at Swann Lake when two dogs frighten her and make her fall and Colonial Doctor Peter Woods (Jeffrey Nordling) tends to her wounds. She finds herself falling in love with this man and they get married the same year. They have four children a few years later and head to Texas. Along the way Georgia has doubts but Peter wants to keep going. They live in Texas for a while but find out the river water is contaminated, which leads to many deaths from cholera. They move again, and Georgia and Euphemia meet when Sam Houston keeps them together. The story then switches to Bettie Moss.

Cast

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Voight</span> American actor (born 1938)

Jonathan Vincent Voight is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Films in which Voight has appeared have grossed more than $5.2 billion worldwide.

The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ is a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in Lawton, Oklahoma.

<i>The Searchers</i> 1956 film by John Ford

The Searchers is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War veteran who spends years looking for his abducted niece, accompanied by his adopted nephew. It was shot in VistaVision on Eastmancolor negative with processing and prints by Technicolor.

<i>Lonesome Dove</i> 1985 novel by Larry McMurtry

Lonesome Dove is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the Lonesome Dove series and the third installment in the series chronologically. It was a bestseller and won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 1989, it was adapted as a TV miniseries starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, which won both critical and popular acclaim. McMurtry went on to write a sequel, Streets of Laredo (1993), and two prequels, Dead Man's Walk (1995) and Comanche Moon (1997), all of which were also adapted as TV series.

<i>Pirates</i> (2005 film) 2005 US pornographic action-adventure film

Pirates is a 2005 American pornographic action-adventure film written, produced, and directed by Joone, and produced by Digital Playground and Adam & Eve. The film, starring Jesse Jane, Carmen Luvana, Janine Lindemulder, Devon, Jenaveve Jolie, Teagan Presley, and Evan Stone, features many references to the mainstream Hollywood film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

<i>Playing by Heart</i> 1998 film by Willard Carroll

Playing by Heart is a 1998 American comedy-drama film which tells the story of several seemingly unconnected characters. It was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. It stars Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Connery, Anthony Edwards, Angelina Jolie, Jay Mohr, Ryan Phillippe, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, Jon Stewart and Madeleine Stowe. Playing by Heart is an ensemble work that explores the path of love in its characters’ lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Delany</span> American actress (born 1956)

Dana Delany is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television drama China Beach (1988–1991), for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1989 and 1992. She received further recognition for her appearances in the films Light Sleeper (1992), Tombstone (1993), Exit to Eden (1994), The Margaret Sanger Story (1995), Fly Away Home (1996), True Women (1997), and Wide Awake (1998). Delany also provided the voice of Lois Lane in Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annabeth Gish</span> American actress (born 1971)

Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish is an American actress. She played roles in the films Shag, Hiding Out, Mystic Pizza, SLC Punk!, The Last Supper and Double Jeopardy. On television, she played Special Agent Monica Reyes on The X-Files, Elizabeth Bartlet Westin on The West Wing, Diane Gould on Halt and Catch Fire, Eileen Caffee on Brotherhood, Charlotte Millwright on The Bridge and Sheriff Althea Jarry on the seventh and final season of Sons of Anarchy.

Buffalo Hump was a War Chief of the Penateka band of the Comanches. He came to prominence after the Council House Fight when he led the Comanches on the Great Raid of 1840.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monte Blue</span> American actor (1887–1963)

Gerard Montgomery Blue was an American film actor who began his career as a romantic lead in the silent era; and for decades after the advent of sound, he continued to perform as a supporting player in a wide range of motion pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelina Jolie</span> American actress (born 1975)

Angelina Jolie is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award and three Golden Globe Awards, she has been named Hollywood's highest-paid actress multiple times.

Janice Woods Windle is an author of historical novels. She grew up in Seguin, Texas and lives in El Paso, Texas with her husband and family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reed Hadley</span> American actor (1911–1974)

Reed Hadley was an American film, television and radio actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nestor Paiva</span> American actor (1905–66)

Nestor Caetano Paiva was an American stage, radio, film and television actor of Portuguese descent. He performed in over 400 motion pictures either as an extra, a bit player, or as a significant supporting character. He also appears in such roles in a variety of television series produced during the 1950s and early 1960s. Among his notable screen appearances is his recurring role as the innkeeper Teo Gonzales in Walt Disney's late 1950s televised Spanish Western series Zorro, as well as in its adapted theatrical release The Sign of Zorro (1958). Paiva also appears as the boat captain Lucas in the Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and in that horror film's sequel Revenge of the Creature (1955).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council House Fight</span> 1840 battle of the Texas–Indian wars

The Council House Fight, often referred to as the Council House Massacre, was a fight between soldiers and officials of the Republic of Texas and a delegation of Comanche chiefs during a peace conference in San Antonio on March 19, 1840. About 35 Comanche men and women under chief, Mukwooru represented just a fraction of the Penateka band of the southern portion of the Comanche tribe. He knew he had no authority to speak for the Southern tribes as a whole and thus, any discussions of peace would be simply a farce. However, if Mukwooru could re-establish a lucrative trade with the San Antonian's perhaps a peace, by proxy, could be established. Just as the Comanche had done had been done for centuries in San Antonio, Santa Fe and along the Rio Grande River. They would rob one settlement and then sell to the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Little Robe Creek</span>

The Battle of Little Robe Creek, also known as the Battle of Antelope Hills and the Battle of the South Canadian, took place on May 12, 1858. It was a series of three distinct encounters that took place on a single day, between the Comanches, with Texas Rangers, militia, and allied Tonkawas attacking them. The military action was undertaken against the laws of the United States at the time, which strictly forbade such an incursion into the Indian Territories of Oklahoma, and marked a significant escalation of the Indian Wars. It also marked the first time American or Texas Ranger forces had penetrated the Comancheria as far as the Wichita Mountains and Canadian River, and it marked a decisive defeat for the Comanche.

McKaley Nicole Miller is an American actress. She is known for her recurring teenager roles as Dana Monohan on the ABC series The Gates in 2010 and as Rose Hattenbarger on The CW series Hart of Dixie from 2011 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 United States presidential election in Texas</span>

The 1976 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 2, 1976, as part of the 1976 United States presidential election. Texas was won by former governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia with 51.14% of the vote, giving him 26 electoral votes. This result made Texas about 1% more Democratic than the nation-at-large. He also beat the incumbent President Gerald Ford in the general election. To date, this remains the last time that a Democratic presidential candidate won Texas, and the last time Texas voted more Democratic than the nation-at-large.

Silent Cries is a 1993 television film adaptation, directed by Anthony Page, of Guests of the Emperor by Janice Young Brooks.

References

  1. "True Women".
  2. "True Women". TV Tango.
  3. HilaryDuffLatinoA (July 22, 2015). Hilary Duff - True Woman (Movie) 1997 - HD . Retrieved June 29, 2024 via YouTube.
  4. "Awards for True Women". imdb.com.