The Whales of August (1987) on Netflix
Widowed sisters Libby and Sarah pass the summer at their house on the Maine coast. Libby holds her sister at a distance, while a Russian expatriate and an old friend visit.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb7.1/105,886 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes64%
Trailer
Plot summary
Every summer the widowed sisters Libby and Sarah return to their house on the coast of Maine, a place that recalls their years as young women and the summers they spent there. The misunderstandings and bitterness of a lifetime have grown between them. Libby, the more infirm, has turned harsh, and Sarah, gentler and more patient, cares for her sister and keeps trying to reach her; Libby's resentment answers each attempt, and Sarah draws back. Nicholas Maranov, a Russian expatriate who has lately lost the friend he lived with, arrives to visit, and Tisha, a friend of long standing, brings talk and laughter into the house.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Whales of August (1987)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Bette Davis and Lillian Gish did not get along while making the film. Davis demanded top billing; Gish said she didn't care about the glory. Davis got leftmost billing, with Gish's name placed slightly higher.
- Lillian Gish could hear her cues perfectly well but pretended she couldn't, as payback for Bette Davis's mistreatment of her. When she protested she couldn't hear a line, director Lindsay Anderson would repeat it in a ringing voice and Gish would instantly resume the scene.
- Many older screen stars were approached for roles but declined because of infirmities, among them Shirley Booth, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred Astaire and Paul Henreid. Others, including Joel McCrea, Frances Dee, Katharine Hepburn and John Gielgud, turned the producers down for other reasons.
- John Gielgud accepted a role and even attended early rehearsals but was replaced by Vincent Price before filming began. Bette Davis and Lillian Gish each turned down their parts more than once before being persuaded to star.
- Screenwriter David Berry, director Lindsay Anderson, the cinematographer, a location scout and producer Mike Kaplan traveled by water taxi among islands in Casco Bay hunting for the right ocean vistas. The film was shot on Cliff Island, near Berry's family cottage on Peaks Island, where the story was drawn from.
- The film was the last screen role for Lillian Gish, whose film career had begun 75 years earlier, in 1912; she was 93 during filming and died in 1993 at 99. It was also Ann Sothern's final acting role.
- The film reunited Bette Davis and Vincent Price on screen after 48 years; they had last appeared together in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex in 1939.
- It was widely tipped that Bette Davis or Lillian Gish would get an Academy Award nomination, but neither was nominated. The film's only nomination went to Ann Sothern, her first and only in a lengthy career.
