| True Women | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Karen Arthur |
| Produced by | Craig Anderson Terence A. Donnelly Christopher Lofton Lynn Raynor |
| Written by | Janice Woods Windle Christopher Lofton |
| Starring | Dana Delany Annabeth Gish Angelina Jolie Julie Carmen |
| Music by | Bruce Broughton |
| Cinematography | Tom Neuwirth |
| Editing by | Corky Ehlers |
| Distributed by | Hallmark Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | 18 May 1997 |
| Running time | 170 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
True Women is a 1993 novel by Janice Woods Windle. The book was adapted into a 1997 CBS miniseries starring Dana Delany, Annabeth Gish, Angelina Jolie, Julie Carmen, Tina Majorino and Rachael Leigh Cook. The series overs five decades, from the Texas Revolution through Indian uprisings and the Civil War to the early stages of the women's suffrage movement.[1]
Contents |
The story starts with young Euphemia Texas Ashby (Tina Majorino) and her older sister Sara McClure (Dana Delany). When Euphemia gets back to the house from picking flowers she finds out that the Sam Houston is coming to the house. Santa Anna is on his way so they must head east in the Runaway Scrape. While they attempt cross a river Sara suffers from a miscarriage while her young son Little Johnnie dies in Euphemia's arms. Many other young and old Texans die and Euphemia is almost lost in a sea of graves. After a month and a week, Sam Houston defeats Santa Anna's army and Texas is reborn as the Republic of Texas. They now live in a new home with their horses. Their sisters Fannie and Jane Isabella come to live with them after their father dies at sea. They are very different from Sara and Phemie (Annabeth Gish) and must adapt to their new brutal life. One year later, Sarah survives an encounter with Tarantula (Michael Greyeyes), a Comanche warrior, and his band of Comanches. Later, Euphemia's close friend Matilda Lockhart (Anne Tremko)is abducted by the Comanches and only later released. When given back, the Texans discover she was brutally tortured, and the skin is falling off her nose. Matilda is bloody and shows signs of beating everywhere. She never fully recovers from her times with the Indians.
Euphemia is now sixteen and almost gets attacked by a panther when William King (Matthew Glave), a boy who she only dreams about frequently, saves her. They continue to talk every day for the next five years and then get married. Sara's own husband dies in battle and she gets remarried to a musician. She has a few children with William while they live happily together with the slave Tildy (Khadijah Karriem) and their horses, among the few Dancer. Euphemia meets Tarantula once again at a show (he is one of the actors) and since he is walking far for an old man, she gives him Dancer, her best horse. He gives her the name "Brave Squaw Child". This is the end of Euphemia's life in the book.
Now we meet Georgia Lawshe Woods (Angelina Jolie) as she falls in love with a doctor at the age of fifteen and has children years later. Before all that her parents, Julie Carmen and Michael York want to leave Georgia because Cherokee, Georgia's mother is part Creek Indian and they were being driven out. They wanted to leave before they were forced to.
Georgia is fifteen and at Swann Lake when a rogue goose attacks her and Colonial Doctor Peter Woods (Jeffrey Nordling) tends to her wounds. She finds herself falling in love with this man and they get married the same year. They have five or four children a few years later and head to Texas where things will be better. Along the way Georgia has doubts but Peter wants to keep going. They live in Texas for a while but find out the river is infected with cholera, the disease. They move again and Georgia and Euphemia meet when Sam Houston keeps them together. There is a bit more to Georgia's life and then it switches to Bettie Moss.