A once-in-a-lifetime cast of veterans performs David Berry's play about Libby Strong (Bette Davis) and Sarah Webber (Lillian Gish), widowed sisters vacationing on a Philadelphia island for their 60th consecutive summer. Libby is blind and embittered, while Sarah is healthy, supportive, and almost annoyingly chipper. Their neighbor Tisha (Ann Sothern) tries to convince Sarah to put Libby in the care of her daughter, but Sarah hasn't forgotten Libby's moral support when her own husband died, and
she won't entertain such notions -- until she is swept off her feet by an aging roué (Vincent Price). When Libby spitefully sabotages this romance, an infuriated Sarah decides that gratitude has its limits. But when it actually comes down to selling their summer house and sending Libby packing, Sarah can't do it. In the film's flashback sequences, Libby is played by Margaret Ladd, Sarah by Mary Steenburgen, and Tisha by Ann Sothern's real-life daughter Tisha Sterling. Another film personality of long standing, Harry Carey Jr., is well cast as the sisters' handyman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Seeing as how the cast is a who's who of Hollywood legends, short bios would certainly have been appropriate, but alas there's not even a hint of added features.
The names of Lillian Gish, Bette Davis and Vincent Price will never be forgotten by film lovers. The Whales of August, on the other hand, surely will be.
This stuffy drama will interest anyone who likes movies about the elderly, but other wise, I'd say stay away from it. It's very boring, slow, and by the middle, I didn't care about the story anymore.
If you love dramas with old people sitting around talking about old people stuff, you will love this movie. Unfortunately that isn't my idea of a good time, so I was totally bored with this movie, I didn't even watch the whole thing. I wanted to see Vincent Price, I love him, but his character didn't seem to add much
to the story anyway.
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