''Long Road Home'' is a 1991 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

John Korty John Korty (June 22, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American film director and animator, best known for the television film '' The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' and the documentary '' Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen ...

, based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Ronald B. Taylor. The film stars

Mark Harmon Thomas Mark Harmon (born September 2, 1951) is an American actor. He is most famous for playing the lead role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in '' NCIS''. He also appeared in a wide variety of roles since the early 1970s. After spending the majority of ...

Lee Purcell Lee Purcell (born Lee Jeune Williams; June 15, 1947) is an American actress who worked primarily in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Purcell was born Lee Jeune Williams at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point (North Carolina), the elder daug ...

Morgan Weisser Morgan Weisser (born May 12, 1971) is an American former actor. He is best known for his role in the television series '' Space: Above and Beyond'' (1995–1996). Filmography Film Television Awards and nominations References External li ...

Leon Russom Leon Russom (born December 6, 1941) is an American actor who appeared in numerous television series, particularly soap operas. He portrayed Admiral Toddman (in the '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode " The Die is Cast") and the Starfleet Co ...

, and Timothy Owen Waldrip. It revolves around a

migrant farm worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

who struggles to keep his family alive during the Depression of the 1930s. The film received two

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nominations for the performances of Purcell and Russom.

Cast

as Ertie Robertson *

as Bessie Robertson *

as Jake Robertson *

as Titus Wardlow * Timothy Owen Waldrip as James Earl *

Vinessa Shaw Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born July 19, 1976) is an American film actress and model. She began her career as a child actor, and had her breakout role in Disney's 1993 Halloween comedy-fantasy film '' Hocus Pocus''. Shaw also appeared in ''Ladybu ...

as Clara Tarpin * Bianca Rose as Susie Robertson *

Kathryn Morris Kathryn Morris is an American actress, best known for her lead role as Detective Lilly Rush in the CBS series ''Cold Case''. Career Morris's first role was a minor one in the 1991 tele-movie ''Long Road Home''. Several other small parts follo ...

as Billy Jo Robertson * Sarah Lundy as Mary Ellen Robertson * Ronnie Dee Blaire as Elijah Parsons *

Sydney Walker Sydney Walker (May 5, 1921 – September 30, 1994) was an American character actor of stage and screen and voice artist, with a career that spanned over five decades. Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Walker developed an interest in ...

as Kleindecker * Edward Ivory as Barkham * Morgan Upton as Bull * Jim Zubiena as Cletus Sharp * Donald A. Mercier as Windy *

Rider Strong Rider King Strong (born December 11, 1979) is an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter. He is best known for starring as Shawn Hunter on the ABC sitcom ''Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000), which he reprised in its sequel series ''Girl ...

as Benjy Robertson * Paul Henri as Will Henry * Don West as Alf Young * Ron Kaell as Checker * Cab Covay as Hammer

Reception

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' television critic

Ken Tucker Kenneth Tucker is an American arts, music and television critic, magazine editor, and non-fiction book writer. Early life and education Tucker was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. He earned a ...

wrote that "director John Korty has made a limp, self-pitying little TV movie here, and the script by Jane-Howard Hammerstein is so full of vague grandiloquence that even some of the characters don't understand what's being said." Wilborn Hampton of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the film as "a fairy-tale view not only of the Great Depression, but of the labor movement it spawned and the way its victims survived." Ray Loynd of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called it the "Best Production Based on a Novel" among 1991 drama television films which he saw.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{John Korty 1991 films 1991 drama films 1991 television films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films American drama television films NBC network original films Great Depression films Films about families Films about farmers Films based on American novels Films directed by John Korty Films scored by Craig Safan Films set in 1937 Films set in 1938 Films set in California Films shot in California Television films based on books Works about internal migrations in the United States