The Whole Wide World:
A motion picture about Robert E. Howard
The
"Whole Wide World" is a wonderful movie about the later years of Robert
E. Howard's life. It is based on the bio-autographies "One Who Walked
Alone" and "Day of the Stranger: Further Memories of Robert E. Howard"
by Novalyne Price Ellis. The film has won numerous awards at film festivals,
and was released to the general public in December 1996. With the feel
of a small little art film, The Whole Wide World delivers with a small
budget what many mega-budget films can not... a good story.
The following movie summary was copied from the Sony Pictures Classics
web site. Below are also links to other web pages relating to the movie,
including reviews!
WINNER!
BEST PICTURE & BEST ACTOR 1996
Seattle Film Festival
BEST ACTRESS 1996
Mar De Plata Film Festival
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 1996
Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER -
Renee' Zellwedger for the "Whole Wide World" and "Jerry Maguire"
1996 -
National Board of Review
Video and
DVD News
The Whole
Wide World is now currently available for rental at most video rental
stores. There is also a "director's cut" wide screen version on
laser disc that contains two or three scenes not released on either
the VHS or DVD video versions. In 2002, a bare bones DVD containing
only the short, theatrical version of the movie
was released in Canada (Region 1).
On
July 29, 2003, a new DVD of the Whole Wide World was reseased
in the U.S. market. The new DVD is (sadly) the short version of
the movie -- running 106 minutes long, rather than the 111 minute
long version. It doesn't contain deleted scenes, but (happily) it
does include some excellent running commentary by the cast and crew
including Dan Ireland (director), Vincent D'Onofrio (producer and
star), Michael Scott Myers (screen writer), Benjamin Mouton (co-producer
and co-star), and Harry Gregson Williams (composer). One additional
special feature is an interesting interview between Dan Ireland
(director) and Renee Zellweger (star).
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The Whole Wide World is a movie that seemed to have
a very short playing time at theaters. There were some reports of the
movie starting at a local theater and only seven days later leaving
the theater and town. The cause for this short playing time seems to
have been the poor choice of release date for the movie -- December
of 1996 -- where it went up against the year's blockbuster movies. The
choice to release the movie in December was an attempt to profit from
the publicity and interest generated by actress Renee Zellwedger's performance
in "Jerry Maguire" which was relased less than one month prior
to "The Whole Wide World." It is thought that delaying the
release of the movie for a few more months, perhaps in Feburary or March
of the next year, might have allowed the public's interest in Renee
Zellwedger to mature enough to lead an audience to seek her out in "The
Whole Wide World." Although the movie was not a big budget hit
at the box office, it did receive excellent press, excellent reviews,
and many esteemed awards.
THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD
Opening: Winter 1996
Based on her acclaimed autobiographical book, THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD
tells the story of Novalyne Price, an attractive feisty West Texas schoolteacher
and her bittersweet, romantic and turbulent relationship with Robert
E. Howard, the great pulp fiction writer of the 1930's. Howard was the
creator of such classics as Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Kull the
Conqueror, Solomon Kane, etc. Price's intense desire to become a writer
initially drew her to Howard. Their brief two year relationship met
with many obstacles, including Howard's offbeat eccentric ways. But
theirs was a romance like no other; deeply passionate, intellectually
stimulating, and always challenging. This is an unforgettable love story
that ultimately changed the course of their lives. Featuring career
making performances from Renee Zellweger (Jerry Maguire, Empire) and
Vincent D'Onfrio (Full Metal Jacket, Blood Brothers, Strange Days).
CAST:Vincent D'Onofrio, Renee Zellweger, Ann Wedgeworth, Harve Presnell
and Benjamin Mouton
DIRECTOR:Dan Ireland
Copyright: Sony Pictures Classics
Whole Wide World Links
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The Official Sony Pictures Classics
Whole Wide World Website (very cool!) |
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Whole Wide World Wins at Seattle Film
Festival! |
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"The Whole Wide World"
Movie Review |
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Kushner-Locke Productions |
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Movie Review #2 |
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Listen to Director Dan Ireland |
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Movie Review #3 |
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12 Festival Internacional De
Cine De Mar Del Plata |
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Movie Review #4 |
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Mr. Showbiz - Review #5 |
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