The Whales of August
"The Screen's Immortals... A movie you'll never forget."
Two aged sisters reflect on life and the past during a late summer day in Maine.
Top Cast
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Bette Davis
Libby Strong
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Lillian Gish
Sarah Webber
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Vincent Price
Mr. Maranov
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Ann Sothern
Tisha Doughty
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Harry Carey, Jr.
Joshua Brackett
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Margaret Ladd
Young Libby
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Mary Steenburgen
Young Sarah
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Tisha Sterling
Young Tisha
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Frank Grimes
Mr. Beckwith
Overview
Two aged sisters reflect on life and the past during a late summer day in Maine.
Rating
7.0
/ 10
79 Reviews 1 Popular
1 Reviews
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CinemaSerf7 Mar 28, 2022When I see this, I cannot help but wonder how much actual acting Bette Davis and Lilian Gish (who made her first film in 1912!) were doing, and how much of their performances were but second nature for two elderly ladies who were simply being themselves in this screen adaptation of David Berry's play. The sisters, now spinsters, spend their summers away from the heat of Pittsburgh in a small cottage on an island off the coat of Maine. Davis ("Libby") is blind and reliant on Gish ("Sarah"), her slightly more nimble, certainly more amenable sister as they live out their lives contemplating what has gone before. Vincent Price adds some delicate diversion to the dynamic, sparingly, as a local gentlemen who, having escaped from revolutionary Russia, has his own stories to tell too. It moves very much at it's own pace, evoking quite poignantly the day-to-lives of the women as one of them is clearly suffering the effects of senility tempered with odd spells of lucidity that demonstrate the fragility of life and of the aging process. You won't need a tissue, but you might want to pick up the phone to your grandmother afterwards...
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