R.I.P. Conchata Ferrell

[Precious Doll]

The DVD was released by Hen's Tooth Video in 2000. That's a deal breaker for me as the price is simply no worth it so I'll have to hold out for a possible restoration.

[Reza]

Heartland also won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1980.

[flipp525]

I remember Siskel & Ebert heavily promoting the film, which is what got me to see it. I'm not quite as high on the film as some here -- it had that honest/heartfelt/boring vibe that marked a lot of the early indie stuff from that time (I've heard people refer to such films as "Sundance high concept") -- but both Ferrell and Rip Torn were very good in it.

So was Lilia Skala!

[Mister Tee]

My archives show that Heartland opened in NYC in August 1981. Looking it over, it appears it might be the first movie I saw at the then-brand new, recently-defunct Lincoln Plaza Cinema, across from Lincoln Center.

I remember Siskel & Ebert heavily promoting the film, which is what got me to see it. I'm not quite as high on the film as some here -- it had that honest/heartfelt/boring vibe that marked a lot of the early indie stuff from that time (I've heard people refer to such films as "Sundance high concept") -- but both Ferrell and Rip Torn were very good in it.

[Big Magilla]

Heartland was released on both VHS and DVD. You can order the DVD on Amazon but delivery time is one to two months which means that they have to get from a third party before they can ship it to you.

I personally don't like signing up for services I don't intend to keep. There is nothing on Fandor I haven't seen that I want to see. A lot of what they have is in the public domain.

[dws1982]

If anyone wants to watch Heartland (in the US at least), it's available on the Fandor streaming service. You can get a one-week free trial through Amazon (or through another outlet I'm sure) and then cancel so you won't get charged for the full month. I may do that since I'm out on Fall Break this week.

Fandor is probably not a service I'll keep for money reasons (October has been an unexpectedly expensive month) and because so much of Fandor's content is subtitled and I can't really do a lot of subtitled films right now (because most of my movie/TV consumption right now happens while I'm working on things for school--trying to create my own AP Statistics curriculum), but if you're into international films that don't get a lot of notice in the US, it would be a streaming service worth getting.

[Precious Doll]

I saw it at the first Sydney Film Festival I attended in 1980. According to imdb it was released in April 1981 which is probably correct as I do recall a commercial release sometime after the festival screening. I don't think it ever received a DVD release anywhere.

[Big Magilla]

Heartland was not Oscar eligible in 1979. It was produced by the National Endowment for the Arts and originally intended for showing on PBS.

It premiered at the New York Film Festival on Friday, September 21, 1979, not in November 1979 as IMDb. indicates. It was reviewed in the New York Times on Saturday, September 22, 1979 with no indication of an imminent release date which was something they always put in their festival reviews if there was one.

It was later given limited distribution by a small independent company and was subsequently listed among the Ten Best Films of 1981 by both the National Board of Review, which has its home in New York, and Roger Ebert in Chicago. It was probably released in L.A. that year as well, though whether it was an Oscar qualifying run, I don't know. However, it did not become widely seen until it was finally shown on PBS in 1984, which is where I think I saw it.

I always liked Conchata Ferrell and initially tuned into Two and a Half Men for her and Holland Taylor, but I only watched one or two episodes.

[Precious Doll]

She was excellent in Heartland which I just had the opportunity to see a couple of months ago. Certainly more deserving of a nomination that year than someone like Marsha Mason in Chapter Two.

And, of course, is very memorable in Network. “The running characters are a crusty-but-benign ex-Supreme Court justice, presumably Oliver Wendell Holmes by way of Dr. Zorba.”

Now I know who she is. The name sounded so familiar and at one point I had her confused with Camryn Manheim.

But it is the mention of Heartland that clicked with me straight away. It's 40 years since I've seen that and it as sort of fallen off the map. Conchata Ferrell was indeed great in the film which also launched director Richard Pearce's career who went on to make Country (1984) and The Long Walk Home (1990). I now also remember her from Edward Scissorhands too.

Heartland is also a true example of what independent American cinema was and it was much celebrated in its day. Such a shame that independent cinema has all morphed over the decades into a generic sameness. Would be fitting if Criterion restored and released Heartland so it can be rediscovered.

[flipp525]

She was excellent in Heartland which I just had the opportunity to see a couple of months ago. Certainly more deserving of a nomination that year than someone like Marsha Mason in Chapter Two.

And, of course, she is very memorable in Network. “The running characters are a crusty-but-benign ex-Supreme Court justice, presumably Oliver Wendell Holmes by way of Dr. Zorba.”

[danfrank]

It's hard to tell if everyone is more sad that she died or was in Two and a Half Men.

LOL. Grief can be a very complex matter.

[Sabin]

OscarGuy wrote
I only watched like parts of the first couple of seasons. It was a fairly standard show, but not as execrable as something like Home Improvement or Everybody Loves Raymond or anything with Patricia Richardson or Patricia Heaton in it, really.

I forgot about all the Everybody Loves Raymond bashing on this board! Happy 22nd anniversary to some of us, lol.

I think Everybody Loves Raymond has to be understood in the context of its time. Doing a family sitcom that didn't involve the kids, placing it awkwardly between TGIF and Must See TV, may not have been daring per se but creatively and commercially it was a lot more viable than many thought possible at the time. At least, the creators understood that audiences could enjoy a family sitcom without a cutesy moppet being wheeled out every five seconds. That's worth something.

It hasn't aged well in a few regards. There's nothing funny about its casual homophobia -- inexcusable. In retrospect, I must've enjoyed it because of Ray Romano, who at the time I thought was a terribly anonymous sitcom star but whose proven himself a more enjoyable character actor than I would've thought possible at the time. But it certainly didn't deserve to win Comedy Series twice, Actor once, Actress twice, Supporting Actor three times, and Supporting Actress four times... Jesus! Who knew?

Home Improvement... can't disagree.


... um... Rest in Peace

[OscarGuy]

I only watched like parts of the first couple of seasons. It was a fairly standard show, but not as execrable as something like Home Improvement or Everybody Loves Raymond or anything with Patricia Richardson or Patricia Heaton in it, really.

I first became aware of her on L.A. Law and in several guest appearances throughout her career. I always enjoyed her in what she did. Her comic timing was excellent.

[Sabin]

dws1982 wrote
I guess Two and a Half Men is the main thing she'll be remembered for--doing a twelve-season show will have that effect--but she had a very long career.

danfrank wrote
She never stopped working and finally found a hit decades later in Two and a Half Men, a show I’ve never seen.

Mister Tee wrote
I guess it's kind of how things go, that her biggest credit was a crap sitcom, ...

It's hard to tell if everyone is more sad that she died or was in Two and a Half Men.

I have a question. Has anyone here seen Two and a Half Men? I certainly haven't. I used to have aversion to anything with Chuck Lorre's name on it, although to be fair he created the biggest sitcom of the decade two seasons in a row so maybe there's more to be said for him as well. Is Two and a Half Men really that bad?

I'm not sure I've ever seen Conchata Ferrell in anything. My biggest exposure to her is griping, sight-unseen, whenever I saw her name pop up (or anyone's really) for an Emmy nomination during what is in retrospect one of my favorite eras of television, thus taking deserving accolades away from the cast of Arrested Development, The Office, 30 Rock, or Scrubs. I only know that she plays "Berta the Housekeeper" so I formed my own conclusions about how deserving her accolades really were. That said, what do I know? Maybe she added something fresh to the role. Now that she's gone, I'm glad she had her moment in... if not in the sun then the vicinity of it.

[Mister Tee]

I saw her onstage in The Hot l Baltimore, and on-screen in Heartland. Thought she was a real talent. I guess it's kind of how things go, that her biggest credit was a crap sitcom, but her physical type was always going to limit her possibilities. And, as years go by (and I watch actor friends struggle to make a living), I'm less judgmental/more happy for them to get any kind of foothold. Godspeed.