MOVIES - June 21, 1988

The critical drought in the Midwest isn’t driving only farmers batty. It’s also making life difficult for Brian Frankish, executive producer of “Shoeless Joe,” now filming in and around Dubuque, Iowa, to be released by Universal. Frankish needs a field of tall corn for scenes in which an Iowan has a vision of infamous baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson ordering him to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield--but the corn’s only about 2 feet high right now on account of the drought. The producer is delaying shooting until rain comes (the area has not had rain since May 8). Even though the delay is costing money, Frankish said he has made many new farmer friends and worries more about their crops than his movie.