The Dollmaker

source: The Dollmaker

Please try to bring this film back to the those interested still in determining what the Good Life could mean...

This was the first film that Jane Fonda had appeared in since receiving her Oscar nomination for supporting actress co-starring opposite her father Henry and Katharine Hepburn in the 1981 smash hit "On Golden Pond". In the 1930's, Hepburn appeared in several films similar to this, although playing younger women. "Spitfire" and "The Little Minister" may not be considered classics, but they are very similar to the role that Fonda plays here, wife to Levon Holm (Sissy Spacek's father in "Coal Miners Daughter") and the mother of a brood of children that keeps her going morning, noon and night. In the opening scene, she's spotted rushing with a child who is choking, basically forcing her way into a car full of soldiers to get her child to the hospital. There is no rest for this woman, and for her husband, drafted into service during World War II, this makes her the head of the household, let the struggle and make ends meet with what little she has. He doesn't end up in active service so she must follow him to Detroit and it's through the strength of her ability to keep the family together that everybody is able to come through it even though there are tragedies along the way. This is a Jane Fonda that you have rately never seen before, wearing no makeup and yet still strong and vulnerable and loving and tough, yet fragile when the times become too hard for her to handle. But she is a rock, strong when most people would be weak and able to take even the toughest blows without blinking. Had Fonda done less glamorous parts during her time as a glamour girl along the lines of this and "They Shoot Horses Don't They", she might have had a different impact as an actress. She is surrounded by a terrific featured cast of the familiar faces, most notably Geraldine Page as her long-suffering mother, Amanda Plummer as her neighbor in Detroit and rising Broadway diva Christine Ebersole as a friendly school teacher. Dan Heydara is hardly recognizable as another one of the teachers, offering friendly advice to Fonda in a memorable scene while she is shopping for food. Slice of life isn't always happy, and this has its moments of sadness as well as triumph. A very good script and tight direction makes this a majorly above average TV movie that could have equally done as well on the big screen in a year filled with similarly strong women played by the best of Hollywood's leading ladies of the 1980's, Oscar winner Sally Field and nominees Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek in memorable parts. A true triumph for Fonda in a part she can be really proud of.

So why does she make drek films like Book Club, This is Where I Leave You, and Monster In Law? Anyway heart warming story, I wish Jane Fonda would forget about her beauty image and concentrate on roles with substance

Jane Fonda plays a Kentucky hillbilly with five children who knows no reality besides the constant obedience to her husband in The Dollmaker. Take a moment to absorb that sentence. If you're shaking your head thinking she could never pull a role like that off, rent the TV-movie that won her an Emmy. She's practically unrecognizable in her transformation. Gone is the beautiful, strong woman who helped millions of women exercise, and in her place is a frumpy, useful homemaker who works herself to the bone every day to keep her family afloat. The Dollmaker takes place during WWII, and when Jane's husband Levon Helm gets drafted, Jane thinks her life will begin again. She's been secretly saving money for years from whittling dolls out of scrap pieces of wood, hoping to buy a farm while her husband's fighting in the war. When he comes home, he'll see how the family's thrived on the farm and he won't question her decision. However, Levon doesn't get accepted by the army. Instead he gets a factory job in Detroit and demands his family join him. Jane's mother, Geraldine Page, pressures her to obey her husband, so Jane packs up her five children and her nest egg and moves to Detroit. In her new life, Jane lives through unspeakable horrors. She gives such a heartfelt, harrowing performance, at times you'll forget she's Jane Fonda. This is a once-in-a-lifetime performance, and it truly takes you back in time to an era when women blindly obeyed their husbands. Modern feminists will probably feel betrayed that Jane took on such a role, but they might feel better if they look at The Dollmaker as a cautionary tale, which it absolutely is. It's an extremely heavy drama, and it might not be for everyone. But if you like terribly depressing stories by Tom Hardy or John Steinbeck, you'll be in a better place to appreciate this tragedy. Get out your Kleenexes and get ready for the best performance of Jane Fonda's career. Kiddy warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to some upsetting scenes involving children, I wouldn't let my kids watch it. I haven't been able to find this movie available on DVD anywhere, so if you'd like to watch it, click here to watch it on YouTube. And thanks "astrosbaseball2012" for posting!

This TV Moves shows that Jane Fonda could have been an excellent Dramatic actress, but political activism, personal wealth and her lack of dedication to acting have lead her elsewhere. The Dollmaker shows how drastically times have changed and helps us to understand part of our history and possibly a limited society that some people do not know exist. So often the struggles of the less well off are not given proper realism or understanding. The fact that the working poor have communication issues and different values and appreciations are often overlooked. Do people feel that the working poor have no time to have personal problems or that only the educated can appreciate art and beauty? This movie also points out the lack of women's rights and control or lack-there-of over their own lives in the 1940's.

I watched this movie also, and altho it is very well done, I found it a heartbreaker and would not recommend this to women who have small children.. The terror on this mother's face when she sees her child about to be run over by a train is truly heartbreaking. And the sad thing is--internally she dies. Eventually she goes back to the Applacian mountains. All the money in the world which she makes from making dolls does not conceal the grief she has. I remember her desperate face as she pulls money out of her clothes to try to have her child healed. I'm surprised this movie takes place in Detroit, because when I watched it I thought for sure the people had come to Cincinnati, Ohio. This also was a route for the poor from the mountains.

This is an all time favorite of mine. A tear jerker, good story line. True to life drama, of the way things were, for the dirt poor. Not having enough money for medical and other expenses, moving to the city should make things better, but does it? Gertie puts her heart and soul into carving a piece of wood to try to get the peace she is seeking. And to get enough money to get her family back home. Out of the big city and back to the hills. This movie has the old time folk music which is great. You don't hear to many of them any more. Does anyone know if a sound track was made for this movie? I am looking for it with no success.

I saw this film for the first time back in 1984. Jane Fonda's performance in this is extraordinary within an assembly of very talented actors. The film isn't overtly sentimental, though it touches on several controversial social issues and has a lot of very powerful points to make on those issues. The family, compelled to move from Virginia to Detroit in the 1940s, must come to terms with adjusting to city life and living in a factory town far from the rural life they have known. For some of the children, making the adjustment is more difficult, and the family experiences its share of tragedies. Yet if much of the Dollmaker is about coping with change, it is also a story of survival and hope, and the Dollmaker (Jane) finds a way to restore the family's hope, morale, and their future livelihood through her craft. Without giving away any more spoilers, I'll just end my commentary by recommending this film to anyone who enjoys good, inspirational storytelling.

It's almost the end of 1999 and I've just seen this film for the first time - had never heard of it. I was pleasantly surprised that it was not a 'sappy, tear jerker'. Also pleasantly surprised at Jane Fonda I think she did a wonderful job in this film. It's a simple story. WWII sharecropper's wife reluctantly follows hubby to Detroit where he is going to 'make his fortune'. Needless to say, there are some major and minor misfortunes. See it to find out if all ends well.