THE STARS FELL ON HENRIETTA: Blu-ray (Warner Bros./Malpaso, 1995) Warner Archive

I do not recall ever seeing director, James Keach’s The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995) grace a movie marquee at my local cinema. There is probably good reason for this. As, although the picture was produced by Clint Eastwood’s indie label, Malpaso, for Warner Bros., and sports an exquisitely nuanced performance by its star, Robert Duvall, a killer supporting cast to include Aidan Quinn (as Don Day), Frances Fisher (his wife, Cora), Brian Dennehy (as the ruthless Big Dave McDermot), Billy Bob Thornton (Roy) and Victor Wong (Henry Nakai), not to mention stellar production design by Henry Bumstead, and, excellent cinematography by Bruce Sertees, it all somehow fails to come together and weave its inspirational tale of the underdog makes good into pure movie magic. Even at 109 minutes, The Stars Fell on Henrietta just seems to outlast its welcome by at least half that meager runtime. There are some wonderful scenes in it, as when Duvall’s hard-on-his-luck, though ever-optimistic Mr. Cox gets the Day’s youngest daughter, Pauline (Kaytlyn Knowles) to believe you can actually ‘hear’ oil coursing beneath the ground by laying her ear to the earth. And the set pieces, like the exploding rig, bursting into hellish flames on the Day’s newly constructed site, provide for some light action sequences to break up the tedium in these quieter moments of drama.

The fault here is mostly with Philip Railsback’s turgid screenplay. This aims for the sort of compelling ‘Grapes of Wrath’ texturing and distinction, to crystalize the hardships endured during the Great Depression – also, to honor Railsback’s late grandmother, Winifred Sanford, on whose short story – ‘Luck’ – The Stars Fell on Henrietta is based. Yet, one is immediately struck by how disconnected the vignettes in it remain. We are introduced to memorable faces like Wong, Dylan Baker (as college-grad, Alex Wilde), and the irrepressible Park Overall (as Shirl’, the waitress), only to be cast aside as easily as they have entered the frame. The first act is meant to establish Cox as a card-carrying loser at life – a failure by any barometer. And yet, Cox possesses a nose for finding oil. For this intuition, he is ridiculed by the more established oil men working the nearby territory; also, the Days – the family he befriends on a whim of kindness. Don and Cora’s primary interests here are in keeping the dream of their decimated farmland alive, at least, long enough to sustain their burgeoning family and not be taken over by the bank. Too bad, it’s the Depression and the Dust Bowl. So, Cox’s initial query for the Day’s to come up with $5,000 to get his enterprise off the ground might just as well be $5 million.

Thus, the desperate search for backers to finance this long-shot gamble begins. Cox runs afoul of the unscrupulous McDermot, who threatens to take away everything he has worked so hard to will into existence. Cox’s checkered past does not exactly instill a vote of confidence from Don or Cora either. And although oil is eventually struck right proper on the Day’s land, after narrowly surviving his own ‘near death’ experience, Cox surmises the life-long tug-o-war to be a successful oil man is just not worth the epic risk to life and limb. So, we conclude with Cox, momentarily flush from his sale of his stake in the Day’s gusher, departing in his new automobile. Pauline’s voiceover, derived from an epoch in the future we are never privy to, is wed to the introspective and penetrating stare of Pauline as a child, observing as Cox marks his heroic departure from the farm. We learn Cox, though fiscally sound when he left Henrietta, lost virtually all his money in a real estate scheme in California. However, the adult Pauline wisely takes Cox’s more noble advice to heart: always, to affix one’s star to the hope and promise of the unbound future, forever for the asking of the stouthearted daydreamer. Pauline concurs this to be Cox’s greatest legacy to the world.

The Stars Fell on Henrietta cost $13 million at a time when the average movie could not be made for less than four times as much. So, was it a passion project? Perhaps. Though one with all the blood, sweat and tears left on the cutting room floor. Yet, even under these shoestring budgetary restrictions, the picture looks much bigger than it actually is – thanks to a series of matte paintings and process plates. Alas, the movie miserably failed to make barely $99,318 during its theatrical run, earmarking it as a colossal misfire. Profits are not the best barometer by which to measure artistic greatness. Yet, even with its fiscal bellyflop set aside, The Stars Fell on Henrietta struggles for something to hold our attention. It’s maddening too, because we can ‘sort of’ see where Keach hoped to take his audience, on this inspirational ride of the underdog. But the narrative is never propelled forward, rather like the spokes of a wheel, constantly drawn into Robert Duvall’s wily Mr. Cox as its axis.  Railsback’s screenplay and Keach’s direction are contented to keep their focus on Duvall’s inner radiance as a performer. And, without question, he is a formidable spellbinder. There is not an ounce of nuance spared in Duvall’s intricately constructed and telescopically focused portrait of this weather-beaten/hard-luck vagabond/daydreamer. Duvall’s Cox boasts a quiet rectitude wed to intuitive cleverness.  In these attributes, he easily outclasses everyone else.

However, as the picture lumbers from one stymied vignette to the next, it becomes ever-more frustrating to consider such a charily formulated and earnest enactment is not being afforded as much gestured consideration from the supporting cast. Only Frances Fisher comes anywhere near to achieving the sort of subtle finesse that adds ballast and conjecture to her otherwise, and, ‘as written’, two-dimensional character.  Fisher’s been kicking around Tinsel Town since 1983’s Can She Bake A Cherry Pie? And although, long-since, to have appeared in some pretty weighty contenders for Hollywood’s brass ring (or, at least, the little gold, bald guy handed out each February by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences…1997’s Titanic immediately comes to mind), she is usually relegated in service to ‘stars’, making her blessed, but belated, and oft truncated ‘cameo’ as something of a welcomed afterthought we would all wish to see more of, though never do. Likewise, Aidan Quinn’s career has been a series of misfitted bits and false starts, occasionally to be distinguished in ensemble masterworks like Legends of the Fall (1994) or even more rarely, in intimate, if forgettable dramas like This Is My Father (1998), while stubbornly falling just shy of that megawatt personality the industry can bank on as the sole name above the title on a marquee.  So, The Stars Fell on Henrietta is Duvall’s show.  As Duvall’s turn in it is peerless from titles to credits, the fault must rest with the trajectory – or lack thereof – of Keach’s directing and Railsback’s writing. We are expected to become invested in Mr. Cox’s singular/selfless ray of optimism, in a world gone dark and sad, mired in its complicit selfishness and power-mad animosity. Cox is doing his good works for the soul rather than the cash. It is a pity, Keach and Railsback were not as altruistic in their own slovenly yearning to will a hit from this miss.

The Stars Fell on Henrietta gets a Blu-ray release from the Warner Archive. It’s a problematic hi-def transfer, though I am not entirely certain why this is so. There are scenes that appear less than properly exposed, with contrast toggled so dim, a completely blackened room must be achieved to search for the finer details in Henry Bumstead’s cinematography. To be sure, Bumstead is going for the bleakness of Depression-era muted browns, greys, blues and blacks, with only the occasional splash of an exotic red or verdant tree to catch the eye. But color is very oddly placed, and color timing varies greatly between shots, as do black levels. Take the scene where Cox is confronted by college grad know-it-all, Alex Wilde. Shots of Cox sustain a muted, pinkish integrity to flesh tones, while Wilde’s reverse shots are a garish, ruddy orange and more brightly lit. There is also some intermittent chroma bleed when the camera pans to follow Cox’s car down these dusty, dirt roads. The scene where Cox awakens from his slumber and walks out of the Day’s house in the dead of night to look up at the stars, convinced there is oil beneath the farm while casting his gaze into the azure skies, suffers from some digitized grit and tiling. Overall, I was sincerely unimpressed by this 1080p transfer – a rare misfire from WAC, whose record for remastering the past is usually far more proactive.  The 5.1 DTS audio is adequate. This is a mostly dialogue-driven movie, with a few punctuated moments where action fills the scope of the frame, admirably complimented by some bombast and spread throughout all 5 channels. But this almost sounds like a 2.0, or even, a 2.0 re-channeled to 5.1 rather than a native 5.1 legit stereo theatrical mix. Dialogue is front sounding. Ambiance occasionally trickles in from the left and right channels. The only extra is an extended trailer. Bottom line: The Stars Fell on Henrietta is disappointingly bland. The quality of this transfer follows that middling trajectory. Pass, and be glad that you did.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

2

VIDEO/AUDIO

2.5

EXTRAS

1