Melanie (1982)

She had to fight for what most women take for granted

A backwoods, illiterate young woman from Arkansas battles to regain custody of her son from her estranged husband who feels she is an unfit mother. In the process, she falls in love with a struggling musician who helps her cause.

Date of release
1982-02-12
TMDB
7.5 / 10 (3)
Runtime
1h 35m
Genres
Drama, Romance
Director
Rex Bromfield

Casting

Interesting facts

Melanie is a 1982 Canadian drama film directed by Rex Bromfield, starring Glynnis O'Connor, Burton Cummings, Paul Sorvino and Don Johnson.

Production

The film was based on the novella A Melanie Without Words by American author Michael C. Green, whose rights were acquired by producer Peter R. Simpson around early 1980. Cummings was approached to star on the basis of his promotional appearances on Canadian television and his hosting of the Juno Awards. He was still asked to audition, and was initially not attracted to his self-absorbed, troubled character.

Cummings rearranged existing songs and wrote some original ones for the film, including "You Saved My Soul", which describes the two main characters' relationship. The new material was included on Cumming's then-current album Sweet Sweet, of which "You Saved My Soul" was the opening track. Fellow Canadian musicians Lisa Dalbello and David Wills of Stonebolt also feature in the film, in dual speaking and musical roles.

The film had a budget of CDN$4.3 million. Filming began in Toronto on 2 June 1980, while some scenes were shot in Los Angeles. Principal photography concluded on 24 July 1980, although additional filming took place during a Burton Cummings concert staged for the occasion on 29 October 1980, at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute in front of 3,000 fans.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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