''Ethan Frome'' is a 1993 British-American
romantic historical drama film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...
directed by
John Madden
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pla ...
, and starring
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
,
Patricia Arquette
Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include ''True Romance'' (1993), ''Ed Wo ...
,
Joan Allen
Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress. She began her career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for ''And a Nightingale Sang'', and won the 1988 Tony Awa ...
and
Tate Donovan
Tate Buckley Donovan (born September 25, 1963) is an American actor, comedian and television director. He is known for portraying Tom Shayes in ''Damages'', Jimmy Cooper in ''The O.C.'', and the voice of the title character in the 1997 Disney ...
. It is an adaptation of the 1911 novel ''
Ethan Frome
''Ethan Frome'' is a 1911 book by American author Edith Wharton. It is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. The novel has been adapted into a '' film of the same name''.
Plot
The novel is a framed narrative. The framing sto ...
'' by
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...
.
Plot
Reverend Smith has arrived in Starkfield from Boston. He notices that Ethan Frome is isolated. Smith encourages his parishioners to be charitable.
Ethan and Zeena Pierce are distant cousins. After marrying Zeena, Ethan falls in love with Mattie Silver.
Cast
*
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
– Ethan Frome
*
Patricia Arquette
Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include ''True Romance'' (1993), ''Ed Wo ...
– Mattie Silver
*
Joan Allen
Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress. She began her career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for ''And a Nightingale Sang'', and won the 1988 Tony Awa ...
– Zenobia "Zeena" Frome
*
Tate Donovan
Tate Buckley Donovan (born September 25, 1963) is an American actor, comedian and television director. He is known for portraying Tom Shayes in ''Damages'', Jimmy Cooper in ''The O.C.'', and the voice of the title character in the 1997 Disney ...
– Reverend Smith
* Stephen Mendillo – Ned Hale
* Phil Garran – Mr. Howe
*
Virginia Smith – Mrs. Howe
* Annie Nessen – Sarah Anne Howe
*
Katharine Houghton
Katharine Houghton (born Katharine Houghton Grant; March 10, 1945) is an American actress and playwright. She portrayed Joanna "Joey" Drayton, a white woman who brings home her black fiancé to meet her parents, in the 1967 film ''Guess Who's ...
– Mrs. Hale
*
George Woodard – Troll Powell
*
Jay Goede
A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian ...
– Denis Eady
Release
Reception
''Ethan Frome'' received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds a rating of 54% from 13 reviews.
Home Media
The film was released on DVD by
Echo Bridge Entertainment
Echo Bridge Entertainment is an American independent distribution company. It acquires and distributes feature films, scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, and children’s programming for home video, digital and television in the United ...
on October 11, 2011. The film debuted on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on September 11, 2012 in a double feature with ''
Ruby Cairo
''Ruby Cairo'', also known as ''Deception'', is a 1992 drama thriller film directed by Graeme Clifford. It stars Andie MacDowell, Liam Neeson and Viggo Mortensen.
One scene features Aleister Crowley's ''The Book of the Law''.
Plot
When Bessie F ...
'' (2012). Neither film has any extras on the disc.
References
Further reading
* Tibbetts, John C., and James M. Welsh, eds. ''The Encyclopedia of Novels Into Film'' (2nd ed. 2005) pp 119–120.
External links
*
*
*
1993 films
1993 drama films
British drama films
American drama films
Films based on American novels
Films based on works by Edith Wharton
Films set in Massachusetts
Films directed by John Madden
Films scored by Rachel Portman
1993 directorial debut films
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
1990s British films
Films about disability
{{1990s-UK-film-stub