The Straight Story

The Straight Story (1999)

Timing: 1:52 (112 min)

7.742/10
1758

7.838/10
35398

8/10
108000

All about film

Video 11

Photo 87

Actors and characters

Release date

1999-10-15

Country

France, United Kingdom, United States

Production

Walt Disney Pictures, StudioCanal, Canal+, Film4 Productions, Asymmetrical Productions, Les Films Alain Sarde, The Picture Factory, CiBy 2000, The Straight Story, Inc, Le Studio Canal+

Genre

Drama, History

Budget

$10 000 000

Revenue

$6 417 962

Website

Director

David Lynch

Actors

Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Jane Galloway Heitz, Joseph A. Carpenter, Donald Wiegert, Tracey Maloney, Dan Flannery, Jennifer Edwards, Ed Grennan, Jack Walsh
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

John Roach, Mary Sweeney

Producer

Mary Sweeney, Neal Edelstein, Alain Sarde, Pierre Edelman, Michael Polaire

Operator

Freddie Francis

Composer

Angelo Badalamenti

Artist

Chris Kennedy

Audition

Jane Alderman, Lynn Blumenthal

Editing

Mary Sweeney
All team (77)

• The Zone 1 DVD of "Simple Histories" contains no extras, and not even a scene selection function – this was done at the special request of the film's director, David Lynch.
• The real Alvin Straight, who served as the prototype for the film's protagonist, lived from 1920 to 1996, making his journey three years before his death.
• The filming of the film's scenes proceeded in strict chronological order.
• This is the first of David Lynch's films in which he directs his parents in cameo roles.
• According to some reports, the lead role in the film was offered to John Hurt and Gregory Peck.
• Lynch, who had been aware of the project from the beginning of the script's development, was not initially interested in it, but after reading the final script, he agreed to direct the film.
• Farnsworth initially refused the role, citing illness, but Lynch persuaded him to take it.
• Filming began in September 1998 and ended on October 19, 1998.
• A publication in The New York Times about Alvin Straight's six-week journey on a lawnmower attracted the attention of Mary Sweeney, a long-time assistant to David Lynch. She sent the article to her long-time friend John Roach, who quickly became interested in the story. They tried to acquire the rights to the plot, but they had already been sold. The opportunity to acquire them arose only in 1998. They then secured the copyright for themselves and began working on the script. To add credibility to the script, Sweeney and Roach retraced Straight's steps from Lawrence (Iowa) to Mount Zion (Wisconsin), interviewing people who had interacted with Straight during his journey. They also met Straight's children, who were initially unhappy with the project, as they believed the film could give a false impression of their eccentric father. However, after learning of Sweeney and Roach’s attitude towards the story, they offered their support to the project and shared memories of Alvin and his photographs with the screenwriters to make the script’s character as close as possible to the real Alvin Straight.
• For Richard Farnsworth, this role proved to be his last: at the time of filming, he was suffering from bone cancer, and on October 6, 2000, he shot himself at his ranch in Lincoln, New Mexico.
• Notably, the film begins and ends with a shot of a starry sky, which may be a reference to another biographical film by Lynch – "The Elephant Man", which also concludes with a view of the starry sky.
• Notably, the film begins and ends with a view of the starry sky, which may be a reference to Lynch's other biographical film – "The Elephant Man," which also ends with a view of the starry sky.