Not Coming to a Theater Near You

The Whales of August / USA / 1987

Lindsay Anderson’s The Whales of August is a daunting and forgotten milestone in American cinema. It marks the last film appearances of both Lillian Gish and Ann Sothern, and the last great performance of Bette Davis’s career (she would die two years later, after rightly abandoning the infamous Wicked Stepmother); the film’s fourth star, Vincent Price, would follow Davis in 1993. For the casual moviegoer, the film’s appeal is minimal, at best: Libby and Sarah, two elderly sisters, spend their final summer together at their oceanfront home in Maine, where they await the yearly arrival of whales. A gossipy neighbor checks in on them occasionally, as does a spry Russian fisherman named Maranov, but they’re almost always alone.

Anderson’s film is nostalgic and somber. As the sisters recall the better years, when the autumn whales would swim close to the shore, we find ourselves in a deep yearning for the past. In the back of our minds is the knowledge that, slowly but elegantly, these women are dying; Libby is now blind, and Sarah worries for her. This is also the curtain call of an entire motion picture generation; by 1987, American cinema was dominated by John Hughes and Freddy Krueger. There was no longer room for gifted relics like Gish or Davis, who are starkly unrecognizable; even Price, who would soon recapture fame in cartoons and Tim Burton films, would never find the same loyal audience. It’s the curse of Hollywood—fame in one Golden Age means obscurity in the next. The Whales of August is more than a depiction of four old people; this is the final, graceful goodbye of a grand era.

by Adam Balz | Source: DVD
21 Mar 2006 3:24 PM | Comments (1)

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1. Holly Pitkin O’Brien / 8 April 2006 / 9:37 PM

   Thank you Adam – you said it better than I’ve seen yet. I worked on The Whales of August and you are right – it was the end of an era. I am amazed that some one your age pin pointed the “true” meaning of that movie – even the cast, crew and producers knew when they were making it that it was capturing history more than making movie making. Sharp guy – thanks for sharing your thoughts. Sincerely, Holly Pitkin O’Brien P. S., E-mail me some time & we’ll chat further on the making of Whales of August: holly@keyway.net