From the 1990s: The Grass Harp

1995 Comedy Drama

From Fine Line Features

Directed by Charlie Matthau

Starring

Piper Laurie

Sissy Spacek

Walter Matthau

Edward Furlong

Mary Steenburgen

Roddy McDowall

Nell Carter

Sean Patrick Flanery

Charles Durning

Joe Don Baker

Scott Wilson

Bonnie Bartlett

Jack Lemmon

In a small Alabama town in 1935 a young boy, Collin, becomes orphaned and moves into the stately home of its richest residents, Dolly and Verena Talbo, his dad's eccentric, spinster cousins.  Verena (Sissy Spacek) pays him little mind but Dolly (Piper Laurie) and her best friend Catherine (Nell Carter), also the longtime family maid, include him at the core of their special friendship.

To say that everyone is a little bit odd in this story is an understatement but, in general, it is their quirks and oddities that make the film a special treat, straight from the hearts of the filmmakers to yours.  I adored this little gem from the moment I first saw it and nothing has changed to this day.

Verena, the younger of the two sisters, is hard to take.  Stern, remote, controlling and annoyingly efficient, she runs the household with an iron hand.  She owns the town's hotel and several other businesses.  Romance has never been a part of her life and never will be.  She doesn't have time for such foolishness.  Nobody particularly likes her but all yield to her power.

Dolly, on the other hand, is sweet, gentle and shy.  She is without guile, uncomplicated, wrapped up in her life of child-like simplicity and her devotion to Catherine and Collin.  She loves her sister but tends to stay out of her way.  She flutters about in her pink garments of many layers and combinations.  

Piper Laurie as Dolly

When Collin first arrives at the Talbo household, he is played by Grayson Fricke but as the story progresses and the character becomes a teenager, Edward Furlong assumes the role.  He is more shy and quiet than Dolly and there is no question as to why he stays under her wing rather than risk trouble with Verena.  And Dolly sees herself in Collin and in setting out to guide him, she begins to free herself from the tight rein her younger sister holds over her.

Dolly is devoted to ongoing preparations for her herbal medicines which she takes for real (edema?) or imagined maladies.  Along with Catherine, Dolly frequently gathers her magical ingredients from the grasses in nearby woods.  She claims the grasses play a type of music and that she hears voices when they blow in the wind.  

Prissy Sissy

A con man (Jack Lemmon) comes to town and conspires with Verena to make some money off Dolly's magic potion.  Dolly smells a rat, or rather two of them, and heads out to her home away from home, a treehouse in the same woods with those favorite grasses.  Collin and Catherine provide moral support with their presence in the treehouse.

A rift develops between the sisters.  It's not so much due to the proposed exploitation of Dolly's medicine but because she developed some backbone and suddenly chose not to be so compliant toward Verena.  The townfolks get wind of the sisters' disagreement and they line up behind one or the other.

Just who are these people?

Walter Matthau plays a retired, widowed judge, a modest man who moves about town on foot talking with whomever crosses his path, a habit that keeps him pretty much in the know.  More importantly he is in love with Dolly and wants her to marry him.  He has promised her she can bring Catherine and Collin along.

Laurie & Matthau

Roddy McDowall is the town's gay barber, who, like all good hairdressers, passes along all the gossip.  He calls everyone Honey.

Sean Patrick Flanery, the handsome teen lothario beloved by the town's prettiest girls, takes a shine to Collin, Catherine and Dolly and joins them at or in the treehouse.  The story doesn't explain why he does that but I was glad.

Mary Steenburgen is Sister Ida, a traveling, pot-smoking, never-married evangelist who travels with her 15 children.  The least of her problems is that her vehicle is without gas and she has no money.  She hopes to erect a tent and get some donations but the sheriff won't permit that.

He is Joe Don Baker who seems to think he's J. Edgar Hoover.

Then there's the blustery preacher Charles Durning, quick with a verse and an outstretched hand and frequently out of line.  He is married to Bonnie Bartlett who takes after him in a competitive way.

After Dolly's rebellion, Verena sics the law on her sister.  The busybody residents fill the woods in droves with most of them on Verena's side.  Everyone is frenzied but the ruckus draws to a close when someone is shot.  Shortly thereafter a proposal of marriage is offered.  The sisters reunite.  And someone dies.

The Grass Harp is based on a 1951 novella of the same name by Truman Capote.  The screenplay by Stirling Silliphant (his last) and Kirk Ellis appears to basically honor Capote's work.  It is based on his youth when he went to live with his mother's relatives.  Collin, of course, is based on the author Capote himself.

This was just the third directorial effort of Charlie Matthau, son of Walter.  Several of his actors were apparently concerned whether he had what it took to steer this ensemble cast with its myriad stories into something of merit.  He had already gone on record with saying he wanted to make movies that illuminated humanity, heart and humor.  All apparently agreed he pulled it off.

Laurie said in her autobiography, Learning to Live Out Loud, that she was shocked to be offered the lead.  Although she'd been making movies since 1950, it had been quite some time since she had a leading role.  In the 20 years before this film she did excellent work in featured roles in a number of films.  Nineteen years earlier she and Spacek played mother and daughter in Carrie, each receiving good notices for the horror film.  They have been friends ever since and loved costarring again here.  Laurie is the heart of the story and brought an earthy transparency to the part that I found so touching.

Next up for acting honors is Matthau.  An actor who made his name on landing somewhere between curmudgeony to downright unpleasant is none of that here.  Donning a white wig (against studio dictates), he has perhaps never been so pleasant, charming and lovable.  What a nice surprise.

Spacek nails her part... a rare turn, indeed, as an unlikeable  character. Carter's buddy role is very likeable... the actress always cracked me up with her wise but flip comments.  Flanery is fun but hard to understand why his character would take any interest in Collin.    

Carter and Laurie

 

McDowall, Durning, Baker and Bartlett are all on the mark and helped create the atmospheric feel of this film.  Lemmon didn't register for me one way or the other.  His part boils down to a few brief scenes.  It was his 7th of 10 pairings with his bff Matthau.

Now then.  While Steenburgen can't be faulted for her acting, the part is jarring and wholly unnecessary.

Worst of all is the somnambulistic Furlong.  He turns in his usual mute performance and seems emotionally vacant.  I've never understood the appeal in hiring him.  His presence takes the film down a notch on the applause meter.

Most critics seemed to give the film high marks but it didn't do so well at the box office.  In her book Laurie commented that the studio didn't back the film at all... there was little comment or publicity.  She said there were bad feelings between Matthau and the movie company.  He told a newspaper columnist that he was critical of the money people and their cheapness and inappropriate pressure on his son.  She surmised the company was so furious about the public nature of Matthau's complaint that it may have elected to ignore the film.

I have always adored Laurie and seen most everything she has done on the big and small screen so I went into this film with high hopes and it didn't disappoint.  Part of its charm, as I see it, is its homey feeling and leisurely pace.  Nobody's in much of a hurry and it would work out better for viewers if they weren't either.  I've always loved little, quirky ensemble pieces with lots of heart. 

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