HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: A PAINTED HOUSE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramatic specials presented by Hallmark. In this coming-of-age drama based on the best-selling novel by John Grisham, 10-year-old Luke Chandler recalls the events on his family's Arkansas cotton farm during the tumultuous harvest season of 1952. Luke and his grandfather "Pappy" hire "Hill People" -- the Spruill family -- as well as Mexican migrant workers to harvest their cotton. But the eldest Spruill brother, Hank, causes trouble, beating up several men in a fight, leaving one dead, and bullying Luke into lying when Sheriff Stick Peters questions him about it. Tensions escalate when during a baseball game, one of the Mexican laborers, Cowboy, strikes out Hank, and the two men nearly fight. In the meantime, Luke develops a crush on Tally Spruill, Hank's 17-year-old sister, but he is taken aback when he sees Cowboy and Tally flirting. The family discuss Hank's troublemaking and decide that he must leave the farm. On the day of Hank's departure, Luke sees Tally and Cowboy kissing, but they are interrupted by Hank, who begins a fight with Cowboy. During the fight, Cowboy stabs Hank; he then throws Hank's body into the river and flees. Cowboy finds Luke in the woods and threatens to kill Luke's mother Kathleen if Luke talks about the stabbing. Cowboy and Tally run off to Chicago. The rain arrives and the rivers swell. Unable to harvest, the other Spruills leave. But before he goes, the youngest, Trot Spruill, who had befriended Luke and was secretly painting the Chandler house, gives Luke the house paint and brushes. With nothing else to do, the remaining workers help the Chandlers paint the house. Luke tells Pappy that Cowboy killed Hank, and Pappy decides to keep it a secret. The fields flood, prematurely ending the harvest. Neighbors are flooded out and stay in the Chandler's barn. Deep in debt, Luke's parents, Kathleen and Jesse, decide to move north for work. As they leave the farm, Luke realizes that his adventure has just begun. 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 have been titled "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 The Marc Haas Foundation, 2002/2003.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: April 27, 2003 Sunday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:55:21
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:76112
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Literature - Adaptations; Families
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 2003
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Hallmark Cards
- TV - Promos - "CBS Monday Night: 'The King of Queens,' 'Yes Dear,' 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' 'Still Standing'
- TV - Promos - "Judging Amy"
- TV - Promos - "Lucy"
- TV - Promos - "Star Search"
- TV - Promos - "Survivor: The Amazon"
- TV - Promos - "The Late Show with David Letterman"
CREDITS
- Richard Welsh … Executive Producer
- Brent Shields … Co-Executive Producer
- Cameron Johann … Associate Producer
- Alfonso Arau … Director
- Xavier Perez Grobet … Direction (Misc.), Director of Photography
- Patrick Sheane Duncan … Writer
- John Grisham … Based on the novel by
- Ruy Folguera … Music by
- Audrey Marie Anderson … Cast, Tally Spruill
- Arija Bareikis … Cast, Kathleen
- Richard Crowe … Cast, Mr. Latcher
- Diane Delano … Cast, Mrs. Spruill
- Melinda Dillon … Cast, Gran
- Luke Eberl … Cast, Trot Spruill
- Luis Esteban Garcia … Cast, Cowboy
- Scott Glenn … Cast, Pappy
- Neva Howell … Cast, Mrs. Darla Latcher
- Robert Sean Leonard … Cast, Jesse
- Logan Lerman … Cast, Luke Chandler
- Geoffrey Lewis … Cast, Mr. Spruill
- Silas Weir Mitchell … Cast, Jimmy Dale
- Liz Nyler … Cast, Libby Latcher
- Pablo Schreiber … Cast, Hank Spruill
- Keirsten Warren … Cast, Stacey Dale
- Michael Shamus Wiles … Cast, Stick Peters