Themes: Battling Illness, Star-Crossed Lovers, Class Differences
Main Cast: William Converse-Roberts, Hallie Foote, Rochelle Oliver, Matthew Broderick, Jeanne McCarthy, Horton Foote
Release Year: 1985
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
Plot
Adapted by Horton Foote from his own play, 1918 focuses on a small Texas town beset by a major flue epidemic during World War I. In this slow-paced, melancholy story of internecine family strife, Horace Robedaux (William Converse-Roberts) comes from the poor side of the town's citizenry, but he married into the landed gentry when he wed Elizabeth (Hallie Foote), a change that bothers him constantly. His father-in-law is a rigid though well-intentioned patriarch, and his mother-in-law is often at odds with Elizabeth -- the seeds of that friction undoubtedly lie in the family's opposition to Elizabeth marrying Horace. Besides, these wealthy parents treat Elizabeth and Horace as though they were still children -- and they are now the proud parents of a baby boy. Changes occur when Horace makes a sudden decision to go off to war, after assurances from his father-in-law that he will care for Elizabeth in the meantime -- and the flu epidemic strikes much closer to the family than anyone would have imagined. The film was later telecast as part of a Horton Foote trilogy on PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Bill McGhee - Sam; L.T. Felty - Mr. Thatcher; Tom Murrel - Stanley; Phil Smith - Bill; Norma Allen - Mrs. Gregory; Margaret Spaulding - Mrs. Cunningham; Carol Goodheart - Ruth Amos; Buffy Carrol - Gladys Maud; Betty Murphy - Verna; Frost O. Myers - Man; Peggy Feury - Mrs. Boone; Belinda Jackson - Irma Sue; Janice Woodson - Country Woman; Nick Jordon - Jerry; Jerry Biggs - Clyde; Cynthia Rogers - Mrs. Drayton; Anna Harrison - Mary Beth; Lisa Howard - Constance; Nancy Harrison - Aunt Inez; Allan Alexander - Straggler; Gil Glasgow - Davis; Michael Higgins - Mr. Vaughn; Erin McLemore - Jenny; Randy Moore - Dr. White
Credit
Becky Block - Art Director, Michael O'Sullivan - Art Director, Walker Stuart - Co-producer, Van Broughton Ramsey - Costume Designer, Van Ransey - Costume Designer, Ken Harrison - Director, Leon Seith - Editor, Carla Palmer Rulien - Makeup, George Tirl - Cinematographer, Lillian Foote - Producer, Ross Milloy - Producer, Peter Newman - Producer, Lewis M. Allen - Producer, Becky Block - Set Designer, Horton Foote - Screenwriter, Horton Foote - Play Author
