Desert Hearts
1985
Debut Screening: Sept. 5/1985 @ Toronto International Film Festival (Canada)
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Length: 1 hr. 31 min.
Country: United States
Tagline: In a city where fortunes are made & dreams are shattered, she gambled on a different kind of love.
Starring: Helen Shaver (Vivian Bell), Patricia Charbonneau (Cay Rivvers), Audra Lindley (Frances Parker), Andra Akers (Silver), Alex McArthur (Walter), Dean Butler (Darrell), & Gwen Welles (Gwen)
Written by: Natalie Cooper
Based on the novel “Desert of the Heart” (1964) by: Jane Rule
Directed by: Donna Deitch
Synopsis: It’s 1959, & buttoned-up NYC professor Vivian Bell has arrived at a Reno, Nevada guest ranch for the era’s famous 6-week divorce. Her strictly scheduled life is thrown off course by Cay, a magnetic, unapologetically out casino worker who sees right through Vivian’s academic armor. As the desert heat thaws Vivian’s professional chill, she realizes she’s not just shedding a husband—she’s discovering a side of herself that wasn’t in the syllabus. A landmark classic that proves some lessons are best learned outside the classroom.
Sites: official site
FYI: Donna Deitch is a lesbian filmmaker.
Jane Rule (1931- 2007) was a well-known lesbian writer whose novel “Desert of the Heart” was published 5 years before homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada. Rule was also the subject of a 1995 documentary entitled Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule.
Audra Lindley (Frances) died in 1997 at 79 years of age of complications from leukemia.
Gwen Welles (Gwen) died from cancer in 1993 at the age of 42.
Quotes:
Vivian: “When I retire I will simply write a short story for my revenge about this town, these people, these gamblers...My only clear memory is arriving. The rest is a blur... Absolute blur.”
Cay: “She just reached in & put a string of lights around my heart.”
It’s a Small Sapphic World: Filmmaker Donna Deitch also directed the 2000 TV movie Common Ground which also co-starred Helen Shaver (Vivian). Shaver also appeared in several episodes of “The L Word” (2004-2009).
Keywords: Nevada, 1950s, divorce, sexuality, older/younger relationship, romance, adapted from a novel, lesbian cinema classic
Stills:
Trailer: