History Film / TheWhalesOfAugust

''The Whales of August'' is a 1987 film directed by Lindsay Anderson, starring Creator/BetteDavis, Creator/LillianGish, and Creator/VincentPrice. It was adapted by screenwriter David Berry from his own [[TheFilmOfThePlay play of the same name]].

* TimeSkip: Fifty years or so between the opening scene and the story proper, which finds Sarah and Libby as old ladies.

''The Whales of August'' is a 1987 film directed by Lindsay Anderson, starring Creator/BetteDavis, Creator/LillianGish, and Creator/VincentPrice. It was adapted by screenwriter David Berry from his own play of the same name.

Few films have a cast with a longer pedigree than the cast of ''The Whales of August''. It was the final film role for Gish, who was 93 years old and had been in the movie business for '''75 years''', having made her film debut in Creator/DWGriffith's ''An Unseen Enemy'' in 1912. It probably should have been the last film for Davis, whose career dated a mere 56 years back to 1931, but she wanted to keep working and appeared in one last film, ''Wicked Stepmother'', shortly before her death in 1989. It was the last film for Ann Sothern (film debut 1927), who plays the sisters' best friend Tisha, as well as the last film of director Anderson.

''The Whales of August'' is a 1987 film directed by Lindsay Anderson, starring Creator/BetteDavis, Creator/LillianGish, and Creator/VincentPrice.

The story, set sometime in TheFifties, concerns two elderly sisters, Libby (Davis) and Sarah (Gish), who live together in their old family house on a small island off the coast of Maine. Sarah is more able-bodied and in somewhat better shape, so she takes care of her blind, frail sister Libby. While Sarah has a generally positive outlook on life, Libby has become bitter and morbid in her old age. The two sisters argue about whether or not to install a picture window in the house. The attentions of Mr. Maranov, a would-be suitor for Sarah, provide another source of conflict. While this is happening, Sarah is keeping a lookout for the arrival of the whales, whose seasonal migration has them pass by the island every August.

->''There is a story that during the filming of "The Whales of August," Anderson told Gish one day that she had just performed wonderfully in a closeup. "She should," Davis declared. "She invented them."''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/91d280e09f46e5ed2fdd50171142051a.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: 131 years of movie history!]]

Few films have a cast with a longer pedigree than the cast of ''The Whales of August''. It was the final film role for Gish, who was 93 years old and had been in the movie business for '''75 years''', having made her film debut in Creator/DWGriffith's ''An Unseen Enemy'' in 1912. It probably should have been the last film for Davis, whose career dated a mere 56 years back to 1931, but she wanted to keep working and appeared in a terrible film called ''Wicked Stepmother'' shortly before her death in 1989. It was the last film for Ann Sothern (film debut 1927), who plays the sisters' best friend Tisha, as well as the last film of director Anderson.

* ImpoverishedPatrician: Mr. Maranov is a Russian nobleman who had to flee after RedOctober. He has survived ever since on his mother's jewels and the kindness of strangers.

''The Whales of August'' is a 1987 film directed by Lindsay Anderson, starring Creator/BetteDavis, Creator/LillianGish, and Creator/VincentPrice. The story, set sometime in TheFifties, concerns two elderly sisters, Libby (Davis) and Sarah (Gish), who live together in their old family house on a small island off the coast of Maine. Sarah is more able-bodied and in somewhat better shape, so she takes care of her blind, frail sister Libby. While Sarah has a generally positive outlook on life, Libby has become bitter and morbid in her old age. The two sisters argue about whether or not to install a picture window in the house. The attentions of Mr. Maranov, a would-be suitor for Sarah, provide another source of conflict. While this is happening, Sarah is keeping a lookout for the arrival of the whales, whose seasonal migration has them pass by the island every August.

[[caption-width-right:350:131 years of movie history!]]

''The Whales of August'' is a 1987 film directed by Creator/LindsayAnderson, starring Creator/BetteDavis, Creator/LillianGish, and Creator/VincentPrice. The story, set sometime in TheFifties, concerns two elderly sisters, Libby (Davis) and Sarah (Gish), who live together in their old family house on a small island off the coast of Maine. Sarah is more able-bodied and in somewhat better shape, so she takes care of her blind, frail sister Libby. While Sarah has a generally positive outlook on life, Libby has become bitter and morbid in her old age. The two sisters argue about whether or not to install a picture window in the house. The attentions of Mr. Maranov, a would-be suitor for Sarah, provide another source of conflict. While this is happening, Sarah is keeping a lookout for the arrival of the whales, whose seasonal migration has them pass by the island every August.

Mary Steenburgen appears in the opening scene as young Sarah.

Few films have a cast with a longer pedigree than the cast of ''The Whales of August''. It was the final film role for Gish, who was 96 years old and had been in the movie business for '''75 years''', having made her film debut in Creator/DWGriffith's ''An Unseen Enemy'' in 1912. It probably should have been the last film for Davis, whose career dated a mere 56 years back to 1931, but she wanted to keep working and appeared in a terrible film called ''Wicked Stepmother'' shortly before her death in 1989. It was the last film for Ann Sothern (film debut 1927), who plays the sisters' best friend Tisha, as well as the last film of director Anderson.

[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

--> '''Libby''': [last line of the movie, as they look for the whales] Can you see them?\\
'''Sarah''': The whales have all gone.\\
'''Libby''': You can never tell. You can never tell.

* TheHandyman: Joshua, the elderly handyman who pops in every so often to take care of Libby and Sarah's house, and who offers to install the picture window.

* ImpoverishedAristocrat: Mr. Maranov is a Russian nobleman who had to flee after RedOctober. He has survived ever since on his mother's jewels and the kindness of strangers.

--> '''Libby''': [last line of the movie, as they look for the whales] Can you see them?//