Steel Magnolias

Full of life and brimming with laughter, STEEL MAGNOLIAS, directed by Herbert Ross, is a warm and witty celebration of friendship, Southern-style.

Julia Roberts (MYSTIC PIZZA), in an Academy Award-nominated performance, portrays a vibrant, young diabetic whose decision to have a baby may cost her life. Academy Award winner Sally Field (Best Actress, NORMA RAE and PLACES IN THE HEART) stars as her mother, torn between love and anger. Shirley MacLaine (Academy Award Best Actress, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT), Dolly Parton (NINE TO FIVE), Daryl Hannah (SPLASH) and Olympia Dukakis (Academy Award Best Supporting Actress, MOONSTRUCK) are the four loyal friends who support them with buoyant humor and unfailing grace.

Based on Robert Harling’s semi-autobiographical hit play, STEEL MAGNOLIAS is a tribute to the power of love... and laughter.


TRIVIA:

• Dolly Parton and Daryl Hannah studied hair stylists so their hair styling scenes would look authentic.

• After a poor take, director Herbert Ross reprimanded Dolly Parton and asked her if she could act. She replied, ”No, but it’s your job to make me look like I can!”

• When Bette Davis saw the off-Broadway play, she thought it would be a great film for her, envisioning herself as Ouiser, Katharine Hepburn as Clairee and Elizabeth Taylor as Truvy. However, when she contacted the rights holders for the film adaptation, she found out that they intended to cast much younger actresses.

• Meg Ryan was initially under contract to play Shelby, but the producers let her out of it to play Sally in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY...

• Winona Ryder was originally offered the role of Shelby. Although the producers were charmed by Ryder, they ultimately considered her too young for the part.

• Daryl Hannah was originally turned down for the role of Annelle. The director thought that she was too attractive. She asked if she could come in and read for the part anyway. The next day, she arrived dressed as Annelle, so unrecognizable that security refused to let her in.

• The producers thought no one would believe Sally Field was the mother of a 22-year-old, until she pointed out her real-life son was almost 22 at the time.

• The original source play has no on-stage roles for men. The characters spend a great deal of time talking about the men in their lives, but no male characters ever appear on-stage.

• Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine said in an interview that director Herbert Ross was very difficult to work with, telling the main lead actresses they couldn’t act and singling out Julia Roberts in particular, to the point that she would be left in tears.

• M’Lynn’s house is actually two different houses. The Cook-Taylor House, owned by the Henry Taylor family and now a Bed and Breakfast in Natchitoches, was used for the outside front of the house and most of the scenes inside the home and in the back yard. It is on Front Street by the river and can be easily located, as it is now known as ”The Steel Magnolias Bed and Breakfast.” During filming, the Taylors moved out and rented an apartment.

• The title has been said to suggest that the six main characters are delicate like magnolias but tough as steel, but this is not explained in the film. The only references to the two words are Ouiser’s near accusation of Drum stealing magnolias from her tree and then a later comment by M’Lynn that men are supposed to be made out of steel.

• Ouiser mentions that she and her friends used to dress up like nuns and go bar-hopping when they were young. Shirley MacLaine had previously played a woman who masqueraded as a whiskey-drinking nun in TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA.

• There is no parish or town in Louisiana known as Chinquapin. ”Chinquapin” is the name for a type of fish and a particular breed of oak tree. The town of Natchitoches in the parish of the same name served as the backdrop for the film. The town was named after the ”Naktosh” Indians whose names means ”chinquapin eaters”. As seen in the film, Natchitoches actually does have a large annual Christmas Light Featival and the town was also the first settlement in the Louisiana Territory.

• M’Lynn’s two sons are named Thomas and Jonathan and Shelby’s husband is named Jackson. Thomas Jonathan Jackson was the legendary Confederate general known as Stonewall.

• The cemetery scene was filmed in only one take.

• Shirley MacLaine and Tom Skerritt play antagonists in this film. However, in 1977 they played a married couple in THE TURNING POINT, which was also directed by Herbert Ross.

• The film cast includes four Oscar winners:

- Olympia Dukakis (Best Supporting Actress, 1987 - MOONSTRUCK)

- Sally Field (Best Actress, 1979 - NORMA RAE; Best Actress, 1984 - PLACES IN THE HEART)

- Shirley MacLaine (Best Actress, 1983 - TERMS OF ENDEARMENT)

- Julia Roberts (Best Actress, 2000 - ERIN BROCKOVICH; subsequent win)

and two nominees:

- Dolly Parton (Best Orig. Song, 1980 - ”9 to 5” from NINE TO FIVE; Best Orig. Song, 2005 - ”Travellin’ Thru” from TRANSAMERICA - subsequent nomination)

- Sam Shepard (Best Supporting Actor, 1983 - THE RIGHT STUFF)

• STEEL MAGNOLIAS opened off-Broadway (with one set and an all-female cast) at the WPA Theatre in New York City, on March 28, 1987 directed by Pamela Berlin. The play had its Broadway premiere on April 4, 2005 at the Lyceum Theatre and starred Delta Burke as Truvy, Christine Ebersole as M’Lynn, Rebecca Gayheart as Shelby, Marsha Mason as Ouiser, Lily Rabe as Annelle and Frances Sternhagen as Clairee. The production received mixed reviews and closed on July 31, 2005 after only 136 performances.

• Shirley MacLaine previously played the mother of a terminally-ill daughter in the Oscar-winning TERMS OF ENDEARMENT. Robert Harling, the author of both the play and film versions of STEEL MAGNOLIAS went on to direct MacLaine in the TERMS OF ENDEARMENT sequel, THE EVENING STAR.

• Robert Harling, the author of the film and the play, plays the part of the Reverend who performs Shelby’s wedding and then later her funeral.

• In honor of its 30th anniversary, STEEL MAGNOLIAS was reissued for a limited, 3-day engagement in theaters nationwide through Turner Classic Movies’ Big Screen Classics series on May 19, 21 and 22, 2019.

1989

PG

8712609070071

Comedy-Drama

Movie

2018-02-07 18:16:18

1.85:1

117

United States

2000-07-25

1080p

2.35:1

1

1

Snap Case

~€3.18

2025-07-19

2018-02-07 18:16:18