''Bitter Harvest'' is a 1993
thriller drama
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
film directed by
Duane Clark
Duane Bradley Clark (born July 16, 1963) is an American–Canadian television director, producer and screenwriter. He is the son of television personality Dick Clark and his second wife, Loretta Martin.
He attended the film program at UCLA, wh ...
and starring
Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome'' (1994), ''The Usual Suspects'' (19 ...
,
Patsy Kensit
Patricia Jude Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and was the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder in the 1980s.
Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Bird ...
and
Jennifer Rubin. The film was released on November 3, 1993, and was filmed at Greenfield Ranch in
Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...
.
Background
The film stars Stephen Baldwin as Travis, Patsy Kensit as Jolene and Jennifer Rubin as Kelly Ann. Others in the film include
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in '' Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, as well as in the television series ''Firefly
The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 ...
as Bobby,
M. Emmet Walsh
Michael Emmet Walsh (born March 22, 1935) is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 films and television series, including small but important supporting roles in dozens of major studio features of the 1970s and 1980s. He starred in ''Bl ...
as Sheriff Bob,
James Crittenden as Lester,
Art Evans as Earl Yates, Joanna Jackson as Lutie Yates,
Ed Morgan as Judge Henry McGrath and
David Powledge as Andrew Taylor.
The film was originally released on VHS in America where it now remains out-of-print, unavailable in the country on DVD. An all-region Australian import DVD was later released,
as well as a Spanish import DVD, and a Dutch import DVD.
The film's tagline reads "A triangle of innocence, sin ... and murder."
Plot
Travis Graham is a lonely and rather feeble minded uneducated young man whose abusive father recently died, but who left all of his money to a TV preacher but left Travis his valuable coin collection and his large farm in Texas. One day, a young woman, named Kelly Ann Welsh, walks into his life. At the same time, another attractive blonde claiming to be from England, named Jolene, starts taking an interest in Travis after supposedly wanting to buy the farm. Both women are secretly after something, but impressionable Travis, in need of emotional aid and comfort after the death of his father, finds himself the object of the girls' attentions. Even when he realizes he is being played for a fool he does not have the inclination to escape the ladies' clutches and things begin to take a sinister turn when both Kelly Ann and Jolene persuade Travis to partake in bank robberies with them around town and Travis is too gullible to refuse. When their actions attract the suspicions of the local deputy, both women will resort to murder to keep their game in play.
The climatic twist of the film comes when both Kelly Ann and Jolene are revealed to be sisters (Jolene is also not from England, but from Alabama) who have been plotting this whole scam to steal Travis father's money along with keeping their stolen bank cash for themselves. Travis realizes this only after learning that they murdered Deputy Bobby, and in the struggle he shoots and wounds Jolene, but is wounded in return by Kelly Ann who does away him. Both women dispose of Travis' body in a furnace and having completed their goal, leave the farm in Travis' convertible automobile for places unknown to find, scam and murder their next unsuspecting victim.
Cast
*
Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome'' (1994), ''The Usual Suspects'' (19 ...
as Travis
*
Patsy Kensit
Patricia Jude Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and was the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder in the 1980s.
Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Bird ...
as Jolene
*
Jennifer Rubin as Kelly Ann
*
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in '' Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, as well as in the television series ''Firefly
The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 ...
as Bobby
*
M. Emmet Walsh
Michael Emmet Walsh (born March 22, 1935) is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 films and television series, including small but important supporting roles in dozens of major studio features of the 1970s and 1980s. He starred in ''Bl ...
as Sheriff Bob
*
James Crittenden as Lester
*
Art Evans as Earl Yates
* Joanna Jackson as Lutie Yates
*
Ed Morgan as Judge Henry McGrath
*
David Powledge as Andrew Taylor
*
Jim Lovelett as Rip
*
William Dennis Hurley as Two Pines Bank Teller
* Bonnie Paul as Astonville Bank Teller
*
Kandra King
Kandra is a census town in the Adityapur CD block in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Saraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Geography
Location
Kandra is located at . It has an average elevation of 226 me ...
as Hurley Bank Teller
*
Jeff Yesko as Two Pines Bank Guard
*
Wally Rose as Hurley Bank Guard
*
Michael R. Long as Police Officer
*
Gary Robertson as Travis' Father
*
Clayton E. Robertson as Young Travis
*
Eric M. Breiman as the Rancher (uncredited)
Reception
Hal Erickson of Allmovie gave the film three out of five stars, stating ''"When the call went out for a Baldwin, Stephen answered and was cast in the lead of Bitter Harvest. Patsy Kensit and Jennifer Rubin costar as a pair of oversexed young ladies who get their jollies by victimizing their male lovers. Wide-eyed Baldwin, in need of emotional aid and comfort after the death of his father, finds himself the object of the girls' attentions. Even when he realizes he's being played for a chump, Baldwin hasn't got the inclination to escape the ladies' clutches. And then things take a sinister turn."''
Chris Parry of EFilmCritic gave the film one and a half stars out of five, stating ''"Sure, Stephen Baldwin isn't generally a name you associate with movies that make a lot of sense (Usual Suspects notwithstanding), but this thing is so totally boring and unrealistic that it's really hard to watch. If not for the nudity of the gals (which, granted, is very nice and very prevalent), there'd honestly be nothing else to watch here but Baldwin's mullet. The direction, by TV hack Duane Clark, manages to introduce tons of sub-plots (such as flashbacks to a mysterious robed figure) then completely ignore them for the remainder of the film. The continual staring of Baldwin's character at a badly painted portrait of a stern old dude would be far less funny if they weren't accompanied by 'mysterious music' that leaves you wondering when the painting's eyes are going to move. They never do, though yours will. They'll roll back into your head if you sit through this dreck."''
Scoopy gave an unfavorable review and wrote ''"Bitter Harvest is a bad erotic thriller. There was a time I lost all interest in where the plot was going, and the nudity was over by then as well."''
For the ''DVD & Video Guide 2005'', authors Mick Martin and Marsha Porter gave a rating of two stars out of five and wrote ''"Baldwin is good, but excessive subplots lessen the film's impact."''
The book
VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
MusicHound (sometimes stylized as musicHound) was a compiler of genre-specific music guides published in the United States by Visible Ink Press between 1996 and 2002. After publishing eleven album guides, the MusicHound series was sold to London-b ...
gave a rating of two out of five stars.
References
External links
*
* {{rotten-tomatoes, 1043853_bitter_harvest
1993 films
1990s thriller drama films
Films scored by Michael Tavera
1993 drama films
1990s English-language films
Films directed by Duane Clark
American thriller drama films