Themes: Unlikely Friendships, Servants and Employers, Haunted By the Past
Main Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Ontkean, Kathleen Quinlan, Neil Patrick Harris, Spalding Gray
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 115 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
In this sentimental coming-of-age drama, directed by Richard Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird) and written by Mark Medoff (Children of a Lesser God), Whoopi Goldberg plays Clara Mayfield, whom Leona Hart (Kathleen Quinlan) meets up with in Jamaica, where Leona retreats to mourn the death of her baby daughter. Leona comes from a rich Maryland family and she leaves her husband, Bill (Michael Ontkean), and her young son, David (Neil Patrick Harris), back in the States in order to achieve some personal healing. She tells Clara she is in mourning and Clara responds knowingly, "I knew the fact, but not the substance." Hearing this kind of cryptic Charlie Chan-like aphorism, Leona can't resist Clara and hires her as her maid, taking her back with her, like a pet, to Maryland. "Come meet the most wonderful person," she tells her husband, and, to be sure, Clara is out-of-this-world wonderful, and since David's self-absorbed parents are neglecting him for their own private flirtations and obsessions, Clara takes up the slack and becomes, in effect, David's family. Clara dispenses worldly advice and has him spend weekends with her in the inner-city Jamaican community, where David learns how the other half lives. But just as David is letting his guard down and permitting Clara to become his 30-year-old buddy, Clara reveals a chilling past life that includes rape, incest, and suicide. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Beverly Todd - Dora; Hattie Winston - Blanche Loudon; Wanda Christine - Lydia; Maryce Carter - Bobs; Angel Harper - Rita; Mark Medoff - Dr. Stevens; Dorothy Cunningham - Buxom Woman; Kathryn Dowling - Deena; Tania Gauthier - Jessica; Tatum Adaire Gauthier - Ashley Lafferty; Randy Meeks - Ching; Fred Strother - Bundy; Forry Buckingham - Coach Stillson; Kevin Colborn - Swim Team Member; Joy Green - Duty Nurse; Dan Griffith - Swim Team Member; Alaine Laughton - Little Girl; Jason Schuyler - Swim Team Member; Maria Broom - Felicia
Credit
Stephen Walker - Art Director, Albert J. Salzer - Associate Producer, David McGiffert - Associate Producer, Daniel Franklin - Associate Producer, Kenneth A. Carlson - Casting, Claire A. Nelson - Consultant/advisor, Bambi Breakstone - Costume Designer, David McGiffert - First Assistant Director, Robert Mulligan - Director, Sid Levin - Editor, Marianne Moloney - Executive Producer, Dave Grusin - Composer (Music Score), Eric B. - Songwriter, Luther Barnes - Songwriter, Michelle Cole - Songwriter, Michael Daly - Songwriter, Toots Hibbert - Songwriter, Isaiah Jones, Jr. - Songwriter, Stephen Samuels - Songwriter, Elon Wizzart - Songwriter, Medusah - Makeup, Jeffrey Howard - Production Designer, Freddie Francis - Cinematographer, Albert J. Salzer - Production Manager, Daniel Franklin - Production Manager, Martin Elfand - Producer, Anne H. Ahrens - Set Designer, Bill Nelson - Sound/Sound Designer, Mark Medoff - Screenwriter, Bob Marley - Featured Music, Joseph Olshan - Book Author
Clara's Heart is a 1988 movie starring Kathleen Quinlan and Whoopi Goldberg, based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Joseph Olshan. The movie tells the story of a family in crisis. The mother, Leona (Quinlan), escapes to Jamaica to grieve the loss of her baby daughter. While there she meets kindly housekeeper Clara Mayfield (played by Goldberg). Clara pulls Leona out of her depression with a blunt, no-nonsense style. Leona is so taken with her that she brings Clara back to the States, Baltimore to be exact, to be housekeeper and nanny to young son David, played by Neil Patrick Harris. At first he is resistant and sees her as an intruder. But as the parents are completely wrapped up in their own grief and dissolving marriage, David comes to trust Clara and to depend on her. Clara harbors her own dark secret, which when revealed, serves to firm the bond between these two very different, but loving, characters.
Reference in Other Media
In the movie "Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay", Neil Patrick Harris (as himself) makes a comedic reference to movie "Clara's Heart" about having sexual relations with a ficticous stand-in of Whoopi Goldberg.
