Zandy's Bride

Zandy's Bride is a 1974 American Western film directed by Jan Troell and starring Gene Hackman and Liv Ullmann.

The film is also known as For Better, for Worse in the United States (TV title). It was filmed on location near Big Sur, California.

Plot
Zandy Allan is a hard-working cattle rancher in a remote part of the American West who needs a hired hand more than he needs a wife. He sends away for a mail-order bride, a Swedish woman who lives near Minneapolis. Expecting a woman in her 20s, Zandy is disappointed when Hannah Lund turns out to be 32. He is not interested in love, only in work, although this does not keep him from misbehaving around a local woman named Maria. Hannah is here, in his mind, strictly to help Zandy run his ranch and provide future sons. However, the more time he spends with Hannah, the less he comes to treat her as a possession that he has bought, in no small part because of her insistence that she be treated with respect.

Cast

 * Gene Hackman as Zandy Allan
 * Liv Ullmann as Hannah Lund
 * Eileen Heckart as Ma Allan
 * Susan Tyrrell as Maria Cordova
 * Harry Dean Stanton as Songer
 * Joe Santos as Frank Gallo
 * Frank Cady as Pa Allan
 * Sam Bottoms as Mel Allan
 * Robert E. Simpson as Bill Pincus
 * Vivian Gordon as Street girl
 * Fabian Gregory Cordova as Indian boy

Production
Director Jan Troell recounted, "The first problem with me on Zandy's Bride was that I wasn't allowed to operate the camera [because of U.S. union rules]. That makes a lot of difference to me because I feel very awkward sitting beside the camera. Otherwise, I thought it was a very useful experience."