The Whales of August

"Can one live beyond one's time?" ponders the 93 year old Sarah (Lillian Gish). This summarises one of the key themes in Lindsay Anderson's moving drama The Whales of August, which focuses on the relationship between sisters Sarah and Libby (Bette Davis). Spending the summer in their vacation house in Maine, the two are approaching the end of their lives. Sarah keeps herself busy doing household choirs and looking after her near-blind sister, as she awaits the yearly arrival of the whales who swim close to the shore. While Sarah is positive and open to changes, Libby is bitter, resigned to her looming death, and opposes Sarah's ideas to install a window that would allow the moonlight to shine through the home in the evening.

There is no real plot in The Whales of August, and is instead a moving character piece that allows a quartet of wonderful actors - Vincent Price and Ann Sothern as well as the aforementioned - to flex their muscles again. With about 500 features in total behind them, it's wonderful to see these powerhouses at work. Sothern received the only Oscar nomination, but this is Gish's film (Gish shrugged off her Oscar snub by saying "oh well, at least I don't have to lose to Cher". She was one of the first Hollywood superstars, and displays the same effortless likability that made her a star with the likes of Intolerance - Love's Struggle Through the Ages (1916) and Broken Blossoms, or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919). Post-stroke and looking extremely gaunt, Davis sadly fairs less well, and although I consider her to be possibly the greatest actress to ever grace the screen, her performance lacks any real emotion.

Beyond the performances, the film is contemplative and somewhat sad. Faded memories and old photographs are always something that affect me, and watching Sarah and Libby share anecdotes and knowing what these actresses must have lived through and experienced, I found it hard not to get choked up. It's a meditation on change and if there ever comes a time when you should simply let go and accept what's coming. It would be Gish's last film, and Davis' penultimate, and it's a fitting way for the both of them to go out. Going back to the question in the first line, the answer is yes. There is a time all actors will be cast aside by the studio system in favour of youth, deeming them no longer fit for purpose, but The Whales of August reminds us that cinema will never, ever forget.

www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

This 1987 film is truly remarkable in its own small way. The film centers on a beautiful and simple story about the bonds of sisters, the disappointments of life, and the waning days of one last summer on the coast of Maine.

The legendary, and I mean LEGENDARY, Lillian Gish stars here at age 93 as Sarah. Having appeared in about 120 films over an incredible span of 75 years (1912-87), Gish goes about her business of being an actress with great dignity and skill. There are several quiet scenes in which she talks to old photographs as she cleans or fixes up her hair and makeup. She's truly enchanting.

The legendary Bette Davis doesn't fare quite as well playing the harsh Libby. Davis (post- stroke) is certainly easy to believe as the flinty sister who is blind and bitter. Davis was almost 80 here and had also racked up about 120 films, dating from 1931.

As Tisha, Ann Sothern (more than 100 films) earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination as the nosy, pushy friend who hasn't quite given up on life. Sothern started as a dancer in films in 1927 as a delicate blonde beauty. Vincent Price (almost 180 films from 1938) plays the charming drifter (and foreigner) who may be looking for a new place to live. And Harry Carey, Jr. (son of Harry Carey, a cowboy star in silent films) plays the fixit man who wants to install a picture window.

There's little action here as the sisters squabble about daily routines and long-ago events in their lives. Gish is ever hopeful while Davis is always mistrusting. The 4 stars work well together although the age differences are apparent. Davis uses her usual Boston voice; Sothern tries out a pretty good "down east" accent. Price plays a Russian émigré, and Gish speaks in her own voice.

The feeling of 50s Maine is just right. The house, perched on a small cliff looking out to sea, looks right. The island (this was filmed in Casco Bay) is gorgeous and captures the simplicity of old Maine just perfectly. The atmosphere is windy and overgrown and rocky. It's the Maine of my childhood.

This marks the final film appearance of Gish and Sothern. While Sothern was the only one to win an Oscar nomination, she, along with Gish and Price, won Independent Spirit nominations. What a pity that Gish did not win Oscar recognition for this role and for her astonishing longevity in film. Gish earned only one Oscar nomination (for DUEL IN THE SUN) and an honorary award in 1971.

Gish did win the best actress award from the National Board of Review.

The Whales of August follow the events of just more than a day in the life of two sisters, Sarah (Lillian Gish) and Libby (Bette Davis). As Sarah follows her daily chores, from gardening to painting to preparing tea for visitors, you get a strong sense of rhythm and simplicity that is almost hypnotic. Libby, cantankerous and overbearing, is played adequately by Bette Davis. Lillian Gish, however, glows in her role, and makes me fall a bit in love with her! I found Vincent Price wonderfully suited to the role of Mr. Maranov, and Ann Sothern was quite convincing as the sisters' childhood friend.

Obviously, if you are looking for action or high drama, this isn't it. But as a meditation on aging and choosing life, it is exquisite. For those of gentler sensibilities, I highly recommend it. I saw it first in 1989, and luckily found an out of print copy this year...I hope other fans will have similar luck.

This is a delightful piece set on the magnificent shores of New England's Atlantic Ocean, with an absolutely unrepeatable cast. Starring not only Bette Davis and Lilian Gish, alone worth anybody's money, well advanced into the autumn of their years, but also a very welcome Vincent Price, and a magnificent Ann Sothern together with her real daughter, Tisha Sterling.

A slow sensitive story in which each one looks back on life from differing perspectives; as usual, Bette Davis is in a dominating rôle, which, despite her advanced years, carries off quite well; Lillian Gish is just superb, lending that toned-down equanimous nature of hers which pervades the whole atmosphere of the film. And as the film develops around their house and in the garden and on the cliff-tops looking out to sea in earnest attempts to see the whales making their way south, the quiet contemplativeness of the film holds you. This is a film you will cherish and savour long afterwards. Which is why it is in my video collection since 1993 and why IMDb contributors 15 years on are still commenting on this heart-warming piece, half a dozen of them only so far this year.

So as to make a contrast, I suggest that impressive classic 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' (1962), with Bette Davis playing against Joan Crawford: an intense dramatic piece.

Just a few weeks after being invited to the San Sebastián Film Festival – her last public engagement – Bette Davis died, as has Lillian Gish: unrepeatable.

few great old actors. the last film of Lilian Gish. and the poetry of images. a film like a puzzle of memories. because the story is only excuse for a special meeting. so, dialogs about small pieces of life, expectation of a magic moment, old love stories and the past as axis of present, facts who are just ash circles and visits who covers an ice time. all - touching and delicate and beautiful and , in few aspects, unique. I adore the film not for itself. but for the nostalgia who represents its base. for the shadows of roles of each actor. for the force of Bette Davies who is not a surprise. for Lilian Gish and her precious career. for the charm of Vincent Price who seems be in The Whales of August the resume of his roles. for the light, for the sky, for the small gestures, for dialogs, for the flavor of bones of youth, for a love story who is dream or memory for everyone. a film of old things. that is its great virtue. maybe, that was its original purpose.