''The Stars Fell on Henrietta'' is a 1995 American

drama film 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 ...

from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, directed by

James Keach James Keach (born December 7, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the younger brother of actor Stacy Keach Jr. and son of actor Stacy Keach Sr. Early life and education Keach was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Mary Cain ( ...

and produced by Clint Eastwood. The film is based on a short story written by Winifred Sanford titled "Luck". The script for the film was penned by Philip Railsback, who is Sanford's grandson.

Plot

The setting is early America during the oil boom. An elderly, down on his luck 'oil man', Mr. Cox (

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

) finds himself in the town of Henrietta. Using unconventional methods, he convinces himself and local Don Day (

Aidan Quinn Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an American actor who made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), ''Stakeout'' (1987), ''Aval ...

) that there is oil on Day's land. The financially strapped Day puts everything into finding oil...but at what cost?

Cast

as Mr. Cox *

as Don Day *

Frances Fisher Frances Louise Fisher (born May 11, 1952) is a British-born American actress. She began her career in theatre and later starred as record executive Suzette 'Red' Saxon in the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Guiding Light'' (1985). In film, she is ...

as Cora Day *

Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in ...

as Big Dave McDermot *

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker and musician. He had his first break when he co-wrote and starred in the 1992 thriller ''One False Move'', and received international attention after writing, directing, a ...

as Roy *

Lexi Randall Lexi Randall (born January 1, 1980) is a former child actor in films and television. She appeared in the film ''The Long Walk Home'' and ''The War'' with Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood. Randall starred in the three television movies made from the ...

as Beatric Day *Kaytlyn Knowles as Pauline Day *

Francesca Eastwood Francesca Ruth Fisher-Eastwood (born August 7, 1993) is an American television personality, socialite and actress. She starred with her family in '' Mrs. Eastwood & Company'', a reality series broadcast on E!. She is also known for her appearan ...

as Mary Day (as Francesca Ruth Eastwood) *Joe Stevens as Big Dave's Driver * Victor Wong as Henry Nakai *Paul Lazar as Seymour *

Spencer Garrett Spencer Garrett (born September 19, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Air Force One'' (1997), '' 21'' (2008), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''All the Way'' (2016), and '' The Front Runner'' (2018). He is th ...

as Delbert Tims *

Park Overall Park Overall (born March 15, 1957) is an American actress, environmental and women's rights activist, and former U.S. Senate candidate, known for her trademark heavy Southern accent. Her best-known role was as nurse Laverne Todd in the sitcom ...

as Shirl *

Zach Grenier Zach Grenier is an American character actor of film, television and stage. He is best known for his roles in films such as '' Fight Club'', ''Tommy Boy'', and '' Twister'' and for his roles in television such as David Lee in '' The Good Wife'' a ...

as Larry Ligstow * Wayne Dehart as Robert *Woody Watson as Jack Sterling * Rodger Boyce as P.G. Pratt *George Haynes as Stratmeyer * Robert Westenberg as Mr. Rumsfelk *Landon Peterson as Raymond Rumsfelk *

Richard Lineback Richard D. Lineback (born February 4, 1952) is an American actor who appeared in the films ''Speed'', ''Twister'' and '' Varsity Blues''. He played Deputy Dodd in '' Friday the 13th: A New Beginning''. Lineback has appeared in many roles on the ...

as Les Furrows *

Dylan Baker Dylan Baker (born October 7, 1959) is an American actor. He gained recognition for his roles in the films such as '' Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' (1987), ''Happiness'' (1998), '' Thirteen Days'' (2000), '' Road to Perdition'' (2002), '' Spide ...

as Alex Wilde *Cliff Stephens as Arnold Humphries * Rob Campbell as Kid *

Tom Aldredge Thomas Ernest Aldredge (February 28, 1928 – July 22, 2011) was an American television, film and stage actor. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for playing the role of Shakespeare in ''Henry Winkler Meets William Shakespeare'' (1978). His Broadway ...

as Grizzled Old Man *

Jerry Haynes Jerome Martin "Jerry" Haynes (January 31, 1927 – September 26, 2011) was an American actor from Dallas, Texas. He is most well known as Mr. Peppermint, a role he played for 30 years as the host of one of the longest-running local children's show ...

as Farmer #2 * Robert A. Burns as Farmer #3 * Blue Deckert as Farmer #4

Production

Filming took place in Abilene,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and Bartlett, Texas on a budget of $13,000,000.

Reception

The film received mostly mixed reviews, holding only a 50% 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 ...

, though

's performance was widely praised. Roger Ebert of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' wrote, "The movie may be worth seeing for (Robert Duvall's) performance, but the story itself is disappointing; it seems to travel around the same track once too often, and when the payoff comes, it seems short-circuited." Kenneth Turan 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 U ...

'' wrote, "Duvall's performance, however, is frankly on a different level than anything else in the film...With his innate ability to create people whole, to make his familiar mannerisms and gestures work effectively in every situation, Duvall is an actor to wonder at. Although it is not within his power to save the picture."

References

External links

* * * 1995 films 1995 drama films Films set in Texas Films shot in Texas Malpaso Productions films American drama films Films directed by James Keach Films set in 1935 Films produced by Clint Eastwood Films produced by David Valdes Films based on short fiction 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-drama-film-stub