Main Cast: Alan Bates, Richard Harris, Dermot Mulroney, River Phoenix, Sheila Tousey, Tantoo Cardinal
Release Year: 1994
Country: FR/US
Run Time: 98 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Playwright Sam Shepard wrote and directed this bizarre combination of western film revisionism and Greek tragedy. Silent Tongue (Tantoo Cardinal) is a mute Kiowa who is raped by Eamon McCree (Alan Bates), the owner of the Kickapoo Traveling Medicine Show. Eamon attempts to make up for his crime by marrying her, hoping for forgiveness. Instead, Silent Tongue enacts a bitter retribution through her two daughters, Awbonnie (Sheila Tousey) and Velada (Jeri Arredondo). Awbonnie, as the film begins, has already died, but her grieving husband Talbot (River Phoenix) refuses to let her go, dragging around her corpse. To assuage Talbot, his father Prescott (Richard Harris) sets out to purchase Velada from Eamon, thinking that only Awbonnie's sister can replace her in Talbot's eyes. But Velada's half-brother Reeves (Dermot Mulroney) protests the attempted transaction. As a result, Prescott kidnaps Velada and flees, with not only Reeves and Eamon chasing him, but also Awbonnie's ghost. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Jeri Arredondo - Velada McCree; David Shiner - Straight Man; Billy Beck - Petrified Man; Arturo Gil - Little Person Acrobat #1; Fred Maio - Owner; Timothy Scott - The Lone Man; Red Clay Ramblers; Joseph S. Griffo - Little Person Acrobat #2; William Irwin - Comic; Tommy Thompson - Medicine Show Band Performer; Jack Herrick - Medicine Show Band Performer; Lynn Davis - Prairie Girl
Credit
Sully Sullivan - Art Director, Catherine Scheinman - Associate Producer, Alberto Aquino - Boom Operator, Sally Jane Jackson - Casting, Van Broughton Ramsey - Costume Designer, James Echerd - Costume Designer, Matthew J. Clark - First Assistant Director, Sam Shepard - Director, Bill Yahraus - Second Unit Director, Bill Yahraus - Editor, Joani Yarbrough - Hair Styles, Barbara Simpson - Location Manager, Patrick O'Hearn - Composer (Music Score), David Atherton - Makeup, Chris Hayes - Camera Operator, Dan Turrett - Camera Operator, Roberto "Tito" Blasini - Camera Operator, Jeffrey P. Greeley - Camera Operator, Stefanie Rosen - Camera Operator, John Frick - Production Designer, Cary White - Production Designer, Michael Sullivan - Production Designer, Jack Conroy - Cinematographer, Ludi Boeken - Producer, Jacques Fansten - Producer, Shep Gordon - Producer, Carolyn Pfeiffer - Producer, Bill Yahraus - Producer, Gene Rosow - Producer, Susumu Tokunow - Production Sound, John Stirber - Special Effects, Duncan Burns - Sound Editor, John Joseph Thomas - Sound Editor, John Edwards-Younger - Sound Editor, Jerelyn J. Harding - Sound Editor, Lauren Palmer - Sound Editor, Rodger Pardee - Sound Editor, Mark Harris - Sound Recordist, Micki Dahn Akard - Stunts, James "Scotty" Augare - Stunts, Pat Judge Hall - Stunts, Shelly Bird Matthews - Stunts, Dutch Lunak - Stunts Coordinator, Michael Bennett - Unit Production Manager, Sam Shepard - Screenwriter, Kristofer Lindquist - Production Assistant, David K. Sanchèz - Production Assistant, Adam C. Taylor - Production Assistant, Jason S. Turner - Production Assistant, Rachel Aberly - Unit Publicist, Dale Myrand - First Assistant Camera, Richard Mosier - First Assistant Camera, Rick A. West - Gaffer, Thomas Crawford - Grip, Paul Grindrod - Grip, Matthew T. Moles - Grip, Paul Paguyo - Grip, Michael Warren - Grip, Richard Mall - Key Grip, Michael J. Harker - Post Production Supervisor, Gina Fortunato - Production Coordinator, Cheri Paul - Properties Master, Gary Gegan - Re-Recording Mixer, Barbara Tuss - Script Supervisor, Robert Lorenz - Second Assistant Director, Wayne Elliott - Special Effects Assistant, Tom Knott - Special Effects Assistant, Bob Gorelick - Steadicam Operator, Gary Farr - Still Photographer, John A. Larsen - Supervising Sound Editor, Charleen Richards - ADR Mixer, Greg Steele - ADR Recordist, Jeaneen Muckerman - Assistant Hair, Patty Androff - Assistant Makeup, Susannah McCarthy - Assistant Production Coordinator, David O'Shaugnessy - Assistant Production Coordinator, Stanford Gilbert - Assistant Properties, Elizabeth Shull - Casting Associate, Ben Zeller - Construction Coordinator, Rochelle Amrein - Costumes Assistant, Taneia Lednicky - Costumes Supervisor, Milo Durben - Dolly Grip, Stephen Mullen - Electrician, Chris Browne - Electrician, Gail Compeau - First Assistant Accountant, Lee Fonvielle - First Assistant Editor, Marty Rubin - First Assistant Editor, Gary A. Hecker - Foley Artist, Dan O'Connell - Foley Artist, Jeffrey Schwan - Leadman, Tal Meirson - Production Accountant, Celine Bertrand - Production Accountant, Jacobus Rose - Production Executive, Ed Vega - Scenic Artist, Kim Aeby - Scenic Artist, Patricia Frazier - Second Second Assistant Director, Shane Patrick - Set Dresser, Jimmy Jones - Transportation Coordinator, Barbara Haberecht - Set Decorator, R. Dale Tsosie - Cable Person, David Best - Construction Foreman, Randy K. Singer - Foley Mixer, Gary Burritt - Negative Cutter, Holly Gent - Swing Gang, Joe Self - Swing Gang, Christopher Windisch - Carpenter, Robin Blagg - Carpenter
The film is about a young man named Talbot Roe (Phoenix), who's gone insane over the death of his wife. Talbot's father, Presscott Roe (Harris) feels his son's pain and wants to find him a new wife. He goes back to the place where he bought Talbot's first wife, from Earmon McCree (Bates). He finds the dead wife's sister (Tousey), who is a champion horse rider and Mr. McCree's daughter, which makes her only half-Indian. Roe asks McCree if he could have his last daughter for his son, but McCree refuses. Then, Roe kidnaps her and tries to get her to help him, and she takes the deal for gold and four horses. But Talbot isn't taking any chances for her-- he's too afraid that she'll try to take his wife's corpse from him. And for the last few nights, he sees the ghost of his dead wife, who wants him to destroy her corpse, but he won't.
This film was the last film to be released featuring a performance by River Phoenix, who died in 1993 from drug overdose. (Note: The film's release was delayed, and Phoenix continued to work on The Thing Called Love - the film he had just completed when he died - which was released before Silent Tongue).
