Two story lines of past and present are skillfully woven together by director Jon Avnet in his charming 1991 feature debut Fried Green Tomatoes. Adapted from the best-selling novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes spins a memorable southern yarn about friendship, food and murder.
Kathy Bates plays Evelyn Couch, a frumpy doormat of a woman who strikes up a friendship with spunky Alabama nursing home resident Ninny Threadgoode, played by Jessica Tandy. Ninny entertains Evelyn during her visits with stories about her hometown of Whistle Stop, Alabama during the Great Depression and the colorful adventures of young Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker) who ran a cafe by the railroad tracks.
The character of Idgie was based loosely on author Fannie Flagg's great aunt Bess Fortenberry who had once owned a railroad cafe in Irondale, Alabama. "The novel began for me when I was handed a shoebox full of little things like a menu, a picture, a lock of hair, an old Easter card, etc.," recalls Flagg in a 1999 interview. "This was all that was left of the sixty-nine years of my Aunt Bess, who had been such a vital and loving giving person while she had been alive. I wanted to recreate a life from that shoebox."
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe was the second novel written by native Alabaman Flagg. It was a bestseller and was honored with a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1987. The famous red-headed author had already established herself in Hollywood during the 1970s as a television comedy writer (Candid Camera), actress (Grease [1978]), and frequent panelist on TV game shows like Match Game. However, writing was her true passion, and she found a whole new career with the success of her books.
Before its publication, Associate Producer Lisa Lindstrom read a review of Flagg's forthcoming novel and was intrigued. She got a copy of the manuscript and liked it so much that she sent it to Jon Avnet and asked him to read it immediately. Avnet, a successful producer who had been looking for a project to direct, loved it and secured the rights with his own money. When Fannie Flagg heard that her book was going to be made into a movie, she was both stunned and thrilled.
Avnet spent four challenging years trying to bring his vision of Fried Green Tomatoes to the big screen. He shopped the project around Hollywood, gathering some early financial support from legendary television producer Norman Lear. Writer Carol Sobieski (Annie [1982], The Toy [1982]) penned a first draft of the screenplay, but her version didn't meet Avnet's expectations. He then asked Fannie Flagg to help work on the screenplay, and she obliged. Eventually, however, Avnet himself took over the screenplay. He was so passionate about the characters from Whistle Stop that he spent three years writing and re-writing draft after draft until he finally had the version he felt would do justice to the story.
Avnet then assembled the top-notch cast of Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates, Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker for the central roles. Tandy and Bates were both recent winners of the Academy Award for Best Actress. Tandy won hers for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy and Bates won her Oscar® for Misery (1990). The distinguished Cicely Tyson, who herself had been a Best Actress nominee for her work in Sounder (1972), was cast in the small but key role of Sipsey, a cook at the Whistle Stop Cafe. The actors all felt an instant rapport, and that camaraderie translates memorably onto the screen.
Production Designer Barbara Ling needed to find the perfect location to be the town of Whistle Stop, which is as much a character in the story of Fried Green Tomatoes as Idgie or Ruth. An hour south of Atlanta, Georgia, Ling came across the rural town of Juliette and knew instantly she had found Whistle Stop. It was a tiny veritable ghost town by the railroad tracks seemingly forgotten by time. The buildings and storefronts stood abandoned, covered in kudzu and falling apart. The production team worked their magic on the town, cleaning up the area and transforming an old antiques store into the Whistle Stop Cafe. The only thing missing for the location set was a train depot. After a little searching, however, the original train depot of Juliette, GA turned up in a most unusual place. "I discovered this building in the middle of the woods that must have been there for fifty years," recalls Barbara Ling. "Trees had broken through its floor and windows, but when I saw it, I knew it would complete the look of Whistle Stop." The depot was fixed up and transported to its rightful spot by the railroad tracks. When the cast and crew finally descended on Juliette to shoot the film, it was like going back in time and jumping right into the pages of Flagg's vivid book. On the negative side, however, Juliette also offered up plenty of authentic heat, humidity, bugs and snakes to go along with the authentic buildings and trains.
The success of Fried Green Tomatoes at the box office was a triumph for Jon Avnet. It was most unusual for such a small character driven film from a first time director to do so well. "The strength of Fried Green Tomatoes," says Avnet, "is that its core is the art of storytelling. And, as anyone knows, what makes a movie good is its ability to, quite simply, tell a story." The movie resonated with audiences and critics alike who praised the strong acting performances as well as the lovely cinematography by Geoffrey Simpson that helped evoke the feel of a bygone era and make Whistle Stop come alive. The film was acknowledged at Academy Award time with nominations for best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Tandy.
The town of Juliette, Georgia also benefited from the popularity of Fried Green Tomatoes. The citizens of Juliette and the surrounding area turned the Whistle Stop Cafe movie set into an actual restaurant, and tourists came from far and wide for a taste of southern hospitality and delicious fried green tomatoes. Today, Juliette continues to be a thriving attraction spot for visitors hoping to perhaps catch a glimpse of Idgie, Ruth and Sipsey. And in the film, you can catch a glimpse of author Fannie Flagg in a cameo appearance as the workshop teacher of a women's seminar that Evelyn attends.
Producer/Director: Jon Avnet
Screenplay: Carol Sobieski, Fannie Flagg (based on her novel)
Cinematography: Geoffrey Simpson
Editing: Debra Neil-Fisher
Music: Thomas Newman
Art Direction: Larry Fulton
Production Design: Barbara Ling
Costume Design: Elizabeth McBride
Cast: Kathy Bates (Evelyn Couch), Mary Stuart Masterson (Idgie Threadgoode), Jessica Tandy (Ninny Threadgood), Cicely Tyson (Sipsey), Chris O'Donnell (Buddy Threadgoode), Stan Shaw (Big George), Gailard Sartain (Ed Couch), Lois Smith (Mama Threadgoode).
C-131m. Letterboxed. Closed Captioning.
by Andrea Passafiume
