Summer's End
1999 TV film by Helen Shaver
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Summer's End is a 1999 drama television film directed by Helen Shaver (in her directorial debut) from a screenplay by Grant Scharbo and Jim Thompson, based on a story by Scharbo.[1] The film tells the story of two teenage brothers who have lost their father, one of which befriends an African-American physician facing racial prejudice in a small town in Georgia.
| Summer's End | |
|---|---|
DVD cover | |
| Screenplay by | Grant Scharbo Jim Thompson |
| Story by | Grant Scharbo |
| Directed by | Helen Shaver |
| Starring | James Earl Jones Jake LeDoux Brendan Fletcher Wendy Crewson |
| Composer | Lawrence Shragge |
| Country of origin | Canada United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Gina Matthews Frank Siracusa Connie Tavel Patrick Whitley |
| Cinematography | Andreas Poulsson |
| Editor | Rick Martin |
| Running time | 107 minutes |
| Production company | Temple Street Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Showtime |
| Release | February 28, 1999 |
The film premiered on Showtime on February 28, 1999.[2] It received nominations for four Daytime Emmy Awards, and won for best children's special and also best actor (James Earl Jones).[3][4]
Plot
A young boy, still grieving over his father's death, befriends a retired physician, the former chief of cardiology at an Atlanta hospital who has returned to his hometown in North Georgia where he had a traumatic boyhood; but racial intolerance in the local, predominantly white, lakeside community ends up souring the relationship.[5][6][3]
Cast
- James Earl Jones as Dr. William 'Bill' Blakely
- Jake LeDoux as Jamie Baldwin
- Brendan Fletcher as Hunter Baldwin
- Wendy Crewson as Virginia Baldwin
- Jonathan Kroeker as Lad Trapnell
- Al Waxman as Grandpa Trapnell
- Andrew Sardella as Alex Rifkin
- R.D. Reid as Henry Whitley
- Gary Reineke as Sheriff Miller
- Patrick McManus as Inspector
- Randy Hughson as Rainey
- Sarah Francis as Erinn
- Victor Garber as narrator
