If These Walls Could Talk
Encyclopedia
- For the episode of The Outer Limits, see If These Walls Could Talk (The Outer Limits).
If These Walls Could Talk is a 1996 made for television movie, broadcast on HBO. It follows the plights of three different women and their experiences with abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. Each of the three stories takes place in the same house, 22 years each: 1952, 1974, and 1996. All three segments were co-written by Nancy Savoca
Nancy Savoca
Nancy Savoca is an American film screenwriter, director, and producer. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, she is the daughter of Sicilian and Argentine immigrants Calogero Savoca and Maria Elvira Savoca...
. Savoca directed the first and second segment while Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
directed the third. Anne Heche
Anne Heche
Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,...
, who starred in the 1996 segment, went on to direct the sequel, which received an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
.
The women's experiences in each vignette are designed to demonstrate the popular views of society on the issue in each of the given decades. The film became a surprise success, and was HBO's highest rated movie ever. The film's critical and commercial success was followed by an international release, and spawned a sequel, If These Walls Could Talk 2
If These Walls Could Talk 2
If These Walls Could Talk 2 is an Emmy Award-winning 2000 television movie in the United States, broadcast on HBO. It follows three separate storylines about lesbian couples in three different time periods...
(2000), starring Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
, Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams (actress)
Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...
, Chloë Sevigny
Chloë Sevigny
Chloë Stevens Sevigny is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modeling and for her work at New York's Sassy magazine, which labeled her...
and Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
, which deals with homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
in three different eras.
The films Common Ground
Common Ground (film)
Common Ground is a 2000 Showtime television movie directed by Donna Deitch and written by Paula Vogel, Terrence McNally and Harvey Fierstein. It stars Brittany Murphy, Jason Priestley, Steven Weber, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Edward Asner and James Le Gros...
(2000) and The Hours
The Hours (film)
The Hours is a 2002 drama film directed by Stephen Daldry, and starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Ed Harris. The screenplay by David Hare is based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Michael Cunningham....
(2002) would also use a similar format to address the issue of homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
as If These Walls Could Talk.
1952
The 1952 segment deals with Claire Donnelly (Demi MooreDemi Moore
Demi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
), a widowed nurse living in suburban Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, who becomes pregnant by her brother-in-law and decides to undergo abortion in order not to hurt her late husband's family. However, abortion at the time is strictly illegal. Donnelly eventually finds another nurse (CCH Pounder
CCH Pounder
Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder , known professionally as C. C. H. Pounder , is a Guyanese-American film and television actress...
) who provides her the name of a woman who can find her someone who will perform the abortion. After a clandestine procedure she finally manages to abort but dies shortly afterwards due to hemorrhage.
1974
The 1974 segment deals with Barbara Barrows (Sissy SpacekSissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
), a struggling and aging mother with four children and a policeman husband who works the night shift, who discovers she must welcome another addition to the family, despite having recently gone back to college. She considers abortion with the support of her teenage daughter (Hedy Burress
Hedy Burress
-Early life:She was born Heather Elizabeth Burress in Edwardsville, Illinois, to teacher parents. She attended Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, before relocating to Los Angeles, California, in 1995.-Career:...
) but ultimately chooses to keep the child.
1996
The 1996 segment deals with Christine Cullen (Anne HecheAnne Heche
Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,...
), a college student who got pregnant by a married professor, decides on an abortion when he breaks up with her and only offers her money. She is operated on by Dr. Beth Thompson (Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
). However, the abortion takes place during a violent protest, and an abortion protester (Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...
) walks in on the operation and shoots Dr. Thompson.
Cast
1952 segment:- Demi MooreDemi MooreDemi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
- Claire Donnelly - Shirley KnightShirley KnightShirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....
- Mary Donnelly - Catherine KeenerCatherine KeenerCatherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...
- Becky Donnelly - Jason LondonJason LondonJason Paul London is an American actor, best known for his role as Randall "Pink" Floyd in director Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused.-Personal life:...
- Kevin Donnelly - CCH PounderCCH PounderCarol Christine Hilaria Pounder , known professionally as C. C. H. Pounder , is a Guyanese-American film and television actress...
- Jenny Ford
1974 segment:
- Hedy BurressHedy Burress-Early life:She was born Heather Elizabeth Burress in Edwardsville, Illinois, to teacher parents. She attended Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, before relocating to Los Angeles, California, in 1995.-Career:...
- Linda Barrows - Sissy SpacekSissy SpacekSissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
- Barbara Barrows - Xander BerkeleyXander BerkeleyAlexander Harper "Xander" Berkeley is an American actor. His roles include George Mason on the television series 24.-Early life:Berkeley was born in Brooklyn, New York, but has lived most of his life in New Jersey...
- John Barrows - Janna MichaelsJanna MichaelsJanna Michaels is a former child actor. She is perhaps best known for voicing Molly Cunningham on Disney's TaleSpin.Michaels was a regular on the short-lived television series What a Dummy. She later had a recurring role on Dr...
- Sally Barrows - Ian Bohen - Scott Barrows
- Zack Eginton - Ryan Barrows
1996 segment:
- Anne HecheAnne HecheAnne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,...
- Christine Cullen - CherCherCher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
- Dr. Beth Thompson - Jada Pinkett SmithJada Pinkett SmithJada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...
- Patti - Eileen BrennanEileen BrennanEileen Brennan is an American actress of film, television, and theater. Brennan is best known for her role as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in the TV adaption and won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy...
- Tessie - Lindsay CrouseLindsay Crouse-Early life:Crouse was born in New York City, the daughter of Anna and Russel Crouse, a playwright. Her full name—Lindsay Ann Crouse—is an intentional tribute to the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse. Her father and his writing partner, Howard Lindsay, wrote much of...
- Frances White - Craig T. NelsonCraig T. NelsonCraig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
- Jim Harris - Matthew LillardMatthew LillardMatthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...
- Protester
Awards and nominations
- Emmy Awards
- Outstanding Made for Television Movie (nomination)
- Outstanding Editing for a Miniseries or a Special - Single Camera Production (nomination)
- Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special (nomination)
- Golden Globe Awards
- Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV (nomination)
- Best Lead Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV – Demi Moore (nomination)
- Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV – Cher (nomination)
- NAACP Image Awards
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Television Movie or Mini-Series – Jada Pinkett Smith (nomination)
- National Educational Media Network, USA
- Gold Apple (won)
- Satellite AwardsSatellite AwardsThe Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama...
- Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV (nomination)
- Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV – Cher (nomination)
- Women in Film Crystal + Lucy AwardsWomen in Film Crystal + Lucy AwardsFirst presented in 1977, Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards are presented to honor women in communications and media. The awards include the Crystal Award, the Lucy Award, the Dorothy Arzner Directors Award, the MaxMara Face of the Future Award, and the Kodak Vision Award...
- Lucy Award (2000) to the Creators and Cast of If These Walls Could TalkIf These Walls Could TalkIf These Walls Could Talk is a 1996 made for television movie, broadcast on HBO. It follows the plights of three different women and their experiences with abortion. Each of the three stories takes place in the same house, 22 years each: 1952, 1974, and 1996. All three segments were co-written by...
and If These Walls Could Talk 2If These Walls Could Talk 2If These Walls Could Talk 2 is an Emmy Award-winning 2000 television movie in the United States, broadcast on HBO. It follows three separate storylines about lesbian couples in three different time periods...
- in recognition of excellence and innovation in a creative work that has enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television
- Lucy Award (2000) to the Creators and Cast of If These Walls Could Talk