ABC THEATER: THE DOLLMAKER (TV)
Summary
One in this occasional series of dramatic programs. A drama about a strong-willed Appalachian woman and her struggle to adapt to life in the big city, starring Jane Fonda in her made-for-television-movie debut. In 1944 in the hills of Kentucky, everyone is feeling the effects of World War II. Nearly all the men in town have left to fight or work in factories, and Clovis Nevels joins the war effort as a factory worker in Detroit. His wife, Gertie, who has been saving money for years, gets ready to buy a house and some property in her husband's absence. She is pressured to give up her long-standing dream, however, and to follow Clovis to Detroit. City life is alien to the Nevels, from its public schools and union labor to the electricity, appliances, and store-bought food. The children try to adapt to city life with varying degrees of success. They are ostracized and called hillbillies, and the eldest child, Reuben, eventually runs back to Kentucky to live with his grandparents. Like him, Gertie is homesick and determined to move back and buy a farm for the family. But for the first time the "whittling" that Gertie has always done for herself and the kids is recognized as real art. The children's art teacher takes an interest in her baskets and dolls, and her neighbor commissions her to carve a crucifix.
Meanwhile, her daughter Cassie's playtime brings her into some danger in a railroad yard. Gertie becomes sick with grief at the news of Cassie’s death and goes into a period of mourning for two weeks, during which her only activity is carving a sculpture of Jesus. She emerges from her seclusion to find that the family is in financial trouble, with all savings spent on Cassie's funeral, and Clovis's union on strike. When the strike leads to violence, Clovis is forced to go into hiding, leaving Gertie to manage alone with only the money from the sale of her wooden crafts. The war's end brings little relief to the Nevels -- until the children's art teacher comes to Gertie with a business proposition, and Gertie's dying father helps her to realize her dreams. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: May 13, 1984 Sunday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 2:23:35
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T84:0284
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Handicrafts - Drama; Wood-carving - Drama; World War II, 1939-1945 - Drama; Women's Collection - Drama
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1972-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bruce Gilbert … Executive Producer
- Bill Finnegan … Producer
- Gary Daigler … Associate Producer
- Daniel Petrie … Director
- Susan Cooper … Writer
- Hume Cronyn … Writer
- Harriette Arnow … Writer, Based on the novel by
- John Rubinstein … Composer, Conductor
- Alan Mark Poul … Composer, Original song lyrics by
- Iron Mountain String Band, The … Music Group, Songs and traditional music performed by
- Jane Fonda … Cast, Gertie
- Levon Helm … Cast, Clovis
- Amanda Plummer … Cast, Mamie Childers
- Susan Kingsley … Cast, Sophronie
- Ann Hearn … Cast, May
- Bob Swan … Cast, Victor
- Geraldine Page … Cast, Mrs. Kendrick
- Jason Yearwood … Cast, Reuben
- David Brady Wilson … Cast, Enoch
- Starla Whaley … Cast, Clytie
- David Dawson … Cast, Amos
- Nikki Creswell … Cast, Cassie
- Raymond Serra … Cast, Joe
- Dan Hedaya … Cast, Skyros
- Christine Ebersole … Cast, Miss Vashinski
- Ellen Marchman … Cast, Wheateye
- Studs Terkel … Cast, the Taxi Driver
- Sheb Wooley … Cast, Mr. Kendrick
- James N. Harrell … Cast, Old John Bailey
- Alex Harvey … Cast, Whit
- Patrick Billingsley … Cast, Cooper
- Edward Sadlowski … Cast, Bender
- Billie Henson … Cast, Mrs. Nevels
- Phyllis Boyens … Cast, Mrs. Hull
- Mike Timoney … Cast, the Officer
- Bruce McKinnon … Cast, the Soldier
- Van B. Fox … Cast, the Doctor
- Fran Thornton … Cast, Nurse #1
- Phillip East … Cast, the Orderly
- Marge Kotlisky … Cast, Nurse #2
- James Lashly … Cast, the Cop
- Bob Keenan … Cast, the Desk Officer
- Les Podewell … Cast, the Eye Doctor
- Ellen J. Smith … Cast , the School Secretary
- Sheila Keenan … Cast, the Stringer
- Mary Seibel … Cast, the Woman at Train Station
- Robert McCord … Cast, the Red Cap
- Gwendolyn McGee … Cast, the Black Girl at Station
- Everett Smith … Cast, the Ice Man
- Ida Will Smith … Cast, the Red Cross Lady
- Ralph Foody … Cast, the Scrapwood Man
- Jamie Wild … Cast, Gilbert
- Jason Wild … Cast, Claude-Jean
- Matthew Freeman … Cast, Frankie Daly
- Billy Fitzgerald … Cast, Christopher Daly
- Dennis Kelly … Cast, Mr. Daly
- Diane Dorsey … Cast, Mrs. Daly
- Etel Billig … Cast, Mrs. Bommarita
- Jimmy McDermott … Cast, Mike Bommarita
- Derek Googe … Cast, the Bubble Gum Boy