A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.A mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.
- Awards
- 1 win & 7 nominations
- Leland Gaunt
- (as Max Von Sydow)
- Brian Rusk
- (as Shane Meier)
- Father Meehan
- (as W. Morgan Sheppard)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the feature film debut for director Fraser C. Heston, who had played the infant Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956). During the filming, he took Max von Sydow (who played Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)) aside to discuss how he would play the upcoming scene. One observer noted, "That's something you don't see every day - Moses telling Jesus how to play the devil."
- GoofsOne man buys a first edition, signed copy of "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. In later scenes, he and the little girl who stole it refer to the title as "Huck Finn" by Mark Twain. In the video and DVD release, his words are dubbed over to correct the mistake. On the television broadcast, the mistake was not corrected. This is an audio mismatch and a continuity error, depending on which version you saw.
- Quotes
[after Buster drives himself and Gaunt into Gaunt's shop and blows it up, Gaunt emerges from the ruins, completely unscathed]
Leland Gaunt: [stepping through the debris] Oh... you know, there are days I really hate this job. This is not my best work, not by a long shot. Oh, sure, a few murders and a couple of rather lovely explosions. I would hardly call it a rousing success, but what the hell? I'll be back.
[to Alan]
Leland Gaunt: In the meantime, you and Polly, you are two terrific kids, and you'll marry her. Trust me. She's a lovely girl, Alan. You'll have a wonderful family. Oh, by the way, give my regards to your grandson. Bob will be his name, international trade his game. I'll see him in Jakarta. 2053, August 14th, 10 a.m. A nice, sunny day. We'll make headlines.
- Alternate versionsOn May 22, 1996, the TBS network aired a 187-minute extended edition. The extra footage includes more of the citizens of Castle Rock and their lives, namely the character of Cora Rusk, played by Lisa Blount, shown only in passing in the current version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater: Viki Williamson Night (1995)
- SoundtracksAchy Breaky Heart
Written by Don Von Tress
Performed by Billy Ray Cyrus
Courtesy of Mercury/Nashville
By Arrangement with PolyGram Special Markets
I haven't read the novel, but I'd say the essence of the story and with it all of the various articulations of the morals are carried out well enough to produce an effect on the viewer. However classic the main theme is, "careful what you wish for", selling your soul to the devil for a mere material item (for 30 pieces of silver) etc... it's still developed in a way that is unique enough that it makes for a compelling watch.
Ed Harris (order) vs von Sydow (chaos) in a small town setting, with pretty relevant humor dished out on the side throughout (that guy and the jukebox, the priest and reverend feud, "BUSTER"...), in a good paced highly eventful film with spirit that never feels like it drags on, and with the metaphorical aspects (whether innuendos in the dialogue, or elements in the decor...) depicted with care during all two hours of it, all in all makes for a pretty good deal.
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $15,185,672
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,202,478
- Aug 29, 1993
- Gross worldwide
- $15,185,672
- Runtime2 hours 1 minute
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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