CBS SPECIAL PRESENTATION: HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: WILLIAM FAULKNER'S "OLD MAN" (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramatic specials presented by Hallmark. This presentation is a production of Horton Foote's adaptation of William Faulkner's novel, "The Wild Palms," set in Mississippi and Louisiana during the great flood of 1927. As the drama begins, driving storms are causing the Mississippi River ("the old man") to overflow its banks, resulting in massive floods. A group of Mississippi convicts are put to work building up the levee, and prisoner J.J. Taylor -- a man who has never even been on boat -- finds himself sent out on a skiff to rescue a woman trapped up a tree and a man clinging to a cotton house. After a terrifying night during which J.J. is thrown from the boat in the violent waters and somehow fights his way back on board, he amazingly finds the woman in the branches of a half-submerged tree in the morning. Her name is Addie, she is very pregnant, and she is as talkative as J.J. is laconic. J.J., who is somewhat slow, but determined and honorable, insists that they look for the man on the cotton house, though they are soon clearly lost on the swollen river. As the days go on, Addie -- who was recently deserted by her husband -- begins suffering labor pains, and gives birth to a son on a muddy riverbank with J.J.'s help. They are later picked up by a rescue boat and mistakenly taken to Louisiana, and during this trip, J.J. confides in Addie that he is serving a twenty-year sentence for a robbery he attempted when he was only nineteen. Though the circumstances are ripe for the convict to escape, J.J. is determined to follow orders and return Addie home, and complete his jail sentence. He and Addie form a profound bond of respect, mutual duty, and perhaps love, while being exposed for the first time to a larger world together far outside their limited experiences. Their voyage later takes them to the floating house of a Cajun alligator hunter (where J.J. displays a remarkable talent) and eventually to a Red Cross camp in New Orleans, where J.J. sees an opportunity to make enough money to get them back to Mississippi. Their return, however, is bittersweet. This program is closed-captioned.
("Hallmark Hall of Fame" aired on NBC from 1952 to 1978; network affiliation varies after 1978.)
(Beginning with the live telecast of the opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" on December 24, 1951, Hallmark has sponsored a series of dramatic specials which, since 1952, has aired under the title "Hallmark Hall of Fame." From 1952 to 1955 Hallmark also presented "Hallmark Hall of Fame," a weekly half-hour dramatic anthology series hosted by Sarah Churchill. The first program, "Dr. Serocold," was televised in January 1952 under the title "Hallmark Television Theatre." This series also ran under the title "Hallmark Summer Theatre" in July and August 1952.)
Cataloging of this program was made possible by Hallmark Cards, 1997.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: February 9, 1997 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:56:26
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:47437
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1997
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "Hallmark Hall of Fame" video sales and rentals
- TV - Commercials - Hallmark Valentine's Day cards
- TV - Commercials - Hallmark birthday cards
- TV - Commercials - Hallmark greeting cards
- TV - Commercials - Hallmark retirement cards
- TV - Promos - "39th Grammy Awards"
- TV - Promos - "Cosby"
- TV - Promos - "Cybill"
- TV - Promos - "Dave" (telecast of feature film)
- TV - Promos - "Hallmark Hall of Fame: Rose Hill"
- TV - Promos - "Ink"
- TV - Promos - "Murphy Brown"
- TV - Promos - "Stranger in My Home"
CREDITS
- Richard Welsh … Executive Producer
- Cleve Landsberg … Supervising Producer
- Brent Shields … Producer
- John Kent Harrison … Director
- Horton Foote … Writer
- William Faulkner … Based on the short story by
- Lawrence Shragge … Music by
- Jeanne Tripplehorn … Cast, Addie Rebecca Brice
- Arliss Howard … Cast, J.J. Taylor
- Leo Burmester … Cast, the Plump Convict
- Daro Latiolais … Cast, the Cajun Man
- Ray McKinnon … Cast, the Shanty Man with Gun
- Jerry Leggio … Cast, the Warden
- Horace Trahan … Cast, the Accordion Player
- Ritchie Montgomery … Cast, the Deputy
- Edward Grady … Cast, the Boat Doctor
- Dan Kamin … Cast, the Boat Captain
- Stephanie Astalos-Jones … Cast, the Shanty Woman
- Randall Jordan … Cast, a Convict
- Valdean Dykes … Cast, the Old Convict