Tandy, Cronyn’s ‘Foxfire’ Lights Up Small Screen : TV REVIEW: New Film Recaptures Glow of Play

Hector Nations has no use for television. It’s “sin furniture.”

He might change his mind if he took a look at “Foxfire” on CBS Sunday (9-11 p.m., Channels 2 and 8). This movie about Hector and his kin, based on the play of the same name, is immensely affecting.

If it were set in December, it would be the perfect holiday heart-warmer. Unfortunately, it’s set in the summertime.

But the holidays are when many people pause to ponder the themes of then and now, holding on and letting go, living and dying. And “Foxfire” illuminates these themes with an irresistible glow.

At the heart of “Foxfire” are Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn as Annie and Hector Nations. Married 60 years ago, the Nationses plowed their fields in southern Appalachia for decades. Hector died five years ago, but his spirit lingers on in Annie’s life--not just as a loving memory, but as a constant critic as well.

The couple reared three kids; two others died as children. All three survivors long ago left the mountains, but now one of them, Dillard (John Denver), has returned for a visit, just in time to watch a crafty real estate developer (Gary Grubbs) attempt to talk Annie into selling her land for a cool $200,000.

Yes--the views from this farm are easily worth such a price. And Tom Burstyn’s camera captures the hills in as much of their glory as we could expect on a small screen.

The story doesn’t go quite where you might expect. Susan Cooper, who adapted her script from the play she wrote with Cronyn, is too much of an artist to paint the old days as totally rosy or to depict the entire younger generation as rapacious destroyers.

We see that the father and son never really resolved their private war. Annie’s final decision is an attempt to make sure that she achieves the sense of resolution that eluded her husband.

The script flashes back to the earlier life of the Nations, still played by Tandy and Cronyn. Thank you, producer Marian Rees and director Jud Taylor, for not using younger actors in these scenes. Instead, they’ve trusted the abilities of their stars--and the imaginations of their audience.

Most of these scenes are backlit and soft-focused to indicate daydreams. We can’t see Tandy leaping into girlhood quite as clearly as we did in the theater. Nor do we see her giving birth; that entire scene was cut.

But one of the flashbacks, a memorable scene in which the aged Hector is interviewed by a student (Harriet Hall), fits the TV screen better than it did the stage.

The most notable casting switch between the production that played the Ahmanson in 1985 and the movie is the substitution of John Denver for Keith Carradine as Dillard. While this is bound to elicit a few groans from the peanut gallery, Denver does a fine job.

In fact, Dillard’s transition from country boy to commercialized hillbilly (he plays a struggling country singer) precisely parallels the change in image that many people associate with Denver. And Dillard’s one concert scene, staged here with a real hand-clapping, down-home crowd (in contrast with the uptown audience at the Ahmanson), adds a touch of veracity.

Best of all, this “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation preserves the gorgeously tuned performances of Cronyn and Tandy. You can have your adorable kiddies and jolly Santas; Tandy’s Annie is my idea of a character to cherish during the holidays--and beyond.