Driving Miss Daisy

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Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy movie poster
Directed by	Bruce Beresford
Produced by	Lili Fini Zanuck Richard D. Zanuck
Written by	Alfred Uhry
Starring	Morgan Freeman Jessica Tandy Dan Aykroyd
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	December 13, 1989 (USA limited release)
Running time	99 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Driving Miss Daisy is a 1987 play by Alfred Uhry about the relationship an elderly Southern Jewish lady shares with her African-American chauffeur, Hoke, over the span of several decades.

The original off-Broadway production starred Dana Ivey and Morgan Freeman. Ivey's performance garnered her an Obie Award as Best Actress.

The play was the first in Uhry's "Atlanta Trilogy" dealing with Jewish residents of that city in the early 20th century. Uhry's most successful play, it won him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was performed in London's West End in 1988, with Dame Wendy Hiller as Miss Daisy.

In 1989, the play was adapted for a Warner Bros. film, which defines Daisy and her point of view through a network of relationships and emotions by focusing on her home life, her synagogue, friends, family, fears, and concerns. Hoke is rarely seen out of Miss Daisy's presence, although the title implies that the story is told from his perspective.

Contents 1 Film plot summary 2 Film cast 3 Film awards 4 Film nominations 5 Soundtrack 6 In popular culture 7 Parodies 8 DVD 9 External links

[edit] Film plot summary

The film adaptation is set before and during the Civil Rights era. In the first scene it is 1948. Mrs. ("Miss") Daisy Werthan is a 72 year old widow who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, in a large house, alone except for an African American housemaid named Idella who prepares food and does daily chores. At the beginning of the movie, Daisy is backing out of her garage to go to the store but loses control of the car and backs it over a wall into the neighbor's yard. Miss Daisy’s son Boolie tells her that besides destroying her new car, the accident means she cannot drive any more because no insurance company will insure her. He tells her she will have to get a chauffeur. She refuses, but Boolie is determined to find her one. Meanwhile she is stuck at home and is unable to run errands or visit friends.

Boolie oversees his family’s textile mill. One day at his business a man named Hoke Colburn helps when the mill's temperamental elevator stops working. Hoke had driven for a local judge until he died, and he decided to remain in the area rather than accompany the widow when she moved away. One of his employees (Oscar, the man stuck in the elevator) has told Boolie that Hoke might be a good choice to drive Miss Daisy around. Oscar sets up a meeting between the two at which Boolie hires Hoke, with the understanding that Hoke works for and is paid by Boolie. This arrangement is to guarantee Miss Daisy can not fire Hoke.

Miss Daisy at first refuses to let Hoke drive her, going so far as to walk to the local supermarket. Hoke follows her in the car and she eventually gets in. It is revealed her reluctance to be driven around is because she is embarrassed people might think she either is too old to drive, or so well off that she can afford a driver.

One morning Daisy notices a can of salmon missing from her pantry. She always leaves Hoke food but she calls her son saying Hoke stole something. When Hoke arrives, before Miss Daisy can say anything Hoke says that he ate a can of salmon because the food she gave him was dried out. He then said he went to the supermarket and bought her a can to replace it with his own money. Miss Daisy is very surprised and is speechless.

Daisy comes to accept Hoke and that she needs him to drive her around. Miss Daisy finds out that Hoke cannot read, so she teaches him how to read. Over the years Hoke drives Daisy in a succession of vehicles. When it came time to trade in the car for a new vehicle, Hoke purchases the previous car and uses it as his personal vehicle.

Miss Daisy has Hoke drive her to her brother's 90^th birthday party in Mobile, Alabama. Hoke reveals during the trip that it is the first time that he has left his home state of Georgia. During their trip from Atlanta to Mobile, Daisy realizes in several circumstances that Hoke's race affects how others treat him; her eyes are further opened to the social aspects of racial prejudice. As Daisy and Hoke spend time together, she gains appreciation for Hoke's many skills. Hoke also proves that he is very adept at driving during ice storms, driving to Miss Daisy's house during such a storm to check on her and to keep her company during the storm.

One day in 1963, while watching television, Idella dies. Miss Daisy is saddened because Idella was very close to her. She and her family attend the funeral, being the only white people in attendance at the funeral. She and Hoke miss Idella's coffee, feeling that while they could make her biscuits and fried chicken as Idella made them, no one could make her coffee.

The racism and prejudice that permeated American society is explored in this movie, especially when Hoke is questioned by a pair of racist highway patrolmen, who also make out-of-earshot comments about Miss Daisy being an "old Jew woman". But during the course of the movie, American society is undergoing radical changes, and Miss Daisy soon attends a dinner in which Dr. Martin Luther King gives a speech. However, her reluctance to invite Hoke to the King dinner with her underlines the passive racism that often goes unnoticed when compared with more open and aggravated racism.

Time continues to pass, and a few years later Miss Daisy becomes ill. One morning Hoke comes to her house to find her in a confused and agitated state. He calls Boolie and tells him his mother is upset. When Boolie asks why it should be different from any other day, Hoke tells him that it is, something is very wrong. While waiting for Boolie to come over, Miss Daisy tells Hoke that he is her best friend. Following this, Miss Daisy moves to a retirement home.

Two years later, in 1973, the family home is sold, and Hoke has given up driving. Hoke is now 85 and Miss Daisy is 97 years old, as 25 years have passed in the story. Boolie and Hoke meet at Miss Daisy's house one final time before the new owner takes possession, and they drive over to the retirement home to visit Miss Daisy. The movie comes to a conclusion with Hoke and Miss Daisy discussing how it feels to be so old, and Hoke sweetly helping Miss Daisy eat a piece of pie by feeding it to her.

[edit] Film cast

• Jessica Tandy - Miss Daisy Werthan
• Morgan Freeman - Hoke Colburn
• Dan Aykroyd - Boolie Werthan, Daisy's son
• Patti LuPone - Florine Werthan, Boolie's wife
• Esther Rolle - Idella
• Crystal R. Fox - Katie Bell
• Jack Rousso - Slick
• Alvin M. Sugarman - Dr. Weil
• Ray McKinnon - Trooper
• Muriel Moore - Miriam
• Indra A. Thomas - Soloist
• Fred Faser - Insurance Agent
• Clarice F. Geigerman - Nonie
• Carolyn Gold - Neighbor Lady
• William Hall, Jr. - Oscar
• Bob Hannah - Red Mitchell
• Joann Havrilla - Miss McClatchey
• Ashley Josey - Trooper
• Sylvia Kaler - Beulah

[edit] Film awards

• Academy Award for Best Picture
• Academy Award for Best Actress (Tandy)
• Academy Award for Best Makeup
• Academy Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Uhry)
• Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
• Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (Freeman)
• Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (Tandy)
• BAFTA for Best Actress (Tandy)
• National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (Freeman)
• National Board of Review Award for Best English Language Picture
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Uhry)
• Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Acting Team (Tandy and Freeman)

[edit] Film nominations

• Academy Award for Best Actor (Freeman)
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Aykroyd)
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction and Set Decoration
• Academy Award for Best Costume Design
• Academy Award for Best Film Editing
• BAFTA for Best Film
• BAFTA for Best Direction (Beresford)
• BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay

[edit] Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Hans Zimmer, who won a BMI Film Music Award and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television for his work.

[edit] In popular culture

• The film is referenced negatively in the Public Enemy song "Burn Hollywood Burn" from the album Fear of a Black Planet.
• The time travel television series Quantum Leap had an episode influenced by Driving Miss Daisy called "The Color of Truth". In the episode, Sam is a black driver of the widow of an Alabama Governor in 1955.
• The movie "Long Kiss Goodnight" has Samuel L. Jackson's character saying the line, "I be honkin' Miz Daisy" in an obvious reference to Morgan Freeman's character.

[edit] Parodies

• The comedy film Stay Tuned (1992) features a short parody of Driving Miss Daisy entitled Driving Over Miss Daisy.
• Cartoon Network aired a short featuring characters from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (two minutes in length) entitled "Driving Miss Crazy" in June 2006.
• An episode of the stop-motion animated television series Robot Chicken features a sequel to Driving Miss Daisy, in which The Transporter drives Miss Daisy through the air to get a bomb off the car.

[edit] DVD

• U.S. release: April 30, 1997
• Special edition: February 4, 2003

[edit] External links

• Driving Miss Daisy at the Internet Movie Database
• Teaching Driving Miss Daisy