Trying to find a movie about a bereaved mother

September 17, 2005 11:35 PM

ForgottenMovieFilter: I'm looking for this film I saw at least fifteen years ago about a single mother whose daughter was killed by a train. [all the plot I can remember inside, including spoiler]

The woman and her daughter lived near a train yard; the woman was either divorced or widowed. The daughter was playing between two cars when a train came in and coupled with the car at the end, pushing the line back and killing the girl.

The mother carved a large wooden Jesus statue in hopes of selling it so she could go back to her home town. She had it on display in a local store, waiting for it to sell, and after some time she eventually admitted to herself that it wouldn't. In what I remember as a fairly dramatic scene she took an axe to it. She carved little animals from the pieces and sold those instead, eventually earning enough money to move back home.

The film was in color and, if I remember right, it took place in some dry dusty rural part of the U.S..

I think of this movie occasionally and I'd like to see it again to find out if it's any good at all or if I just thought so at the time because I was young.

I haven't yet chanced on the right combination of terms to get Google to cough up the title; IMDb hasn't helped me either (for that matter, neither have any of my movie-related books with an index at the back organized by theme, topic, key element, etc.)

Any tips or suggestions appreciated.

posted by Tuwa to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Best answer: I read a book once called "The Dollmaker" whose story had some details similar to the one you describe; the mother carves wooden Jesus statues, her daughter is killed in a train accident, she wants to move back to her home town somewhere in Appalachia...
posted by Mars Saxman at 11:52 PM on September 17, 2005

I second Mars' suggestion. Was it the TV movie of The Dollmaker with Jane Fonda?

I can still hear the way she yelled "Cassie!"
posted by Liffey at 12:34 AM on September 18, 2005

Yup, it was The Doll Maker with Jane Fonda. That screen where the child dies is etched in my memory. Also that the mother has to cut up the Jesus to make wooden dolls for $.
posted by johnj at 3:54 AM on September 18, 2005

Response by poster: Hm. The plot description isn't quite what I remember, but I've probably just remembered it wrong because I saw it so long ago. The Dollmaker does look like a good bet.
posted by Tuwa at 10:25 AM on September 18, 2005

Definitely The Dollmaker, by Harriet Arnow. I recommend the book. I never saw the movie because I was offended by the idea of Fonda as Gert;-)
posted by orange swan at 12:15 PM on September 18, 2005