As Summers Die

As Summers Die is a 1986 American made-for-television drama film starring Scott Glenn, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bette Davis and Beah Richards, directed by Jean-Claude Tramont. The film is loosely based on Winston Groom's 1980 novel of the same name about greed, bigotry and justice in late 1950s segregationist southern Louisiana. It was filmed in Valdosta and Quitman Georgia and premiered on HBO on May 18, 1986. The film was the last television film produced by HBO Premiere Films before being folded into HBO Pictures, with the next Premiere film, Apology, released under that banner. It was later released on VHS by HBO/Cannon Video.

Plot
Lawyer Willie Croft (Glenn) is indifferent, letting his practice run itself, when the town's richest family begins a determined effort to obtain the farm of an old black woman, Elvira Backus (Richards) when it is discovered that the land might contain oil deposits. Elvira claims she was given her land by the dead family patriarch, Jonathan Holt, and finds an unlikely ally in Jonathan's aging sister, Hannah Loftin (Davis), whose mental competence is being challenged by the Holt clan. As for Croft, his growing involvement in the case intensifies when he begins to fall in love with Hannah's high-spirited niece, Whitsey (Curtis).

Cast

 * Scott Glenn ...  Willie Croft
 * Jamie Lee Curtis ...  Whitsey Loftin
 * Bette Davis ...  Hannah Loftin
 * John Randolph ...  Augustus Tompkins
 * Beah Richards ... Elvira Backus
 * Ron O'Neal ...  Daniel Backus
 * Bruce McGill ...  V.D. Skinner
 * Richard Venture ...  Brevard Holt
 * John McIntire ...  Judge Dudley McCormack
 * Penny Fuller ...  Marci Holt
 * Paul Roebling ...  Percy Holt
 * CCH Pounder ...  Priscilla
 * Tammy Baldwin ...  Wanda