The Straight Story
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
David Lynch
Sissy Spacek
Jane Galloway Heitz
Joseph A Carpenter
Donald Wiegert
Richard Farnsworth
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Alvin Straight was 73 when he got the call about his brother. Alvin couldn't see well enough to hold a driver's license. He walked only with the support of two canes. He didn't much care for anybody else helping him out. But when he got the call that his brother Lyle--separated from him by hundreds of miles and a decade a proud silence--had suffered a stroke, Alvin knew he had to reach him. With little money, there begins a one man's real journey across America's Heartland. Filmed along the 260-mile rout that the actual Alvin Straight traversed in 1994 from Laurens, Iowa to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin, the piece chronicles Alvin's patient odyssey and those he meets along the way. When not rolling around at five miles an hour aboard his '66 John Deere, Alvin encounters a number of strangers, from a teenage runaway to a fellow World War II veteran. By sharing his life's earned wisdom with simple stories, Alvin has a profound impact on the characters that color his pilgrimage.
Director
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/DavidLynch.118023.1.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
David Lynch
Cast
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/SissySpacek.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Sissy Spacek
Jane Galloway Heitz
Joseph A Carpenter
Donald Wiegert
Richard Farnsworth
Tracey Maloney
Dan Flannery
Jennifer Edwards-hughes
Ed Grennan
Jack Walsh
Max--the Wonder Dog
Gil Pearson
Barbara June Patterson
Everett Mcgill
Anastasia Webb
Max Guidry
Bill Mccallum
Barbara Robertson
James Cada
Sally Wingert
Barbara Kingsley
Jim Haun
Wiley Harker
Randy Wiedenhoff
Jerry E Anderson
Kevin Farley
John Farley
John Lordan
Garrett Sweeney
Peter Sweeney
Tommy Fahey
Matt Fahey
Dan Fahey
Russ Reed
Ralph Feldhacker
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/HarryDeanStanton.183076.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Harry Dean Stanton
David Hack
Crew
Kent Abbott
Amy Alarian
Richard Alarian
Jane Alderman
Pedro Amaya
Giovanni Arcangeli
Bryan Arenas
Angelo Badalamenti
Angelo Badalamenti
Crist Ballas
Angela Barton
Lynn Blumenthal
Chamonix Bosch
Kevin P. Boyd
Nancy Briggs
Anita Brongill
Alex Bulkley
Keith Bunting
Ron L Burchfield
Gary Burritt
Brendan David Butler
David L Butler
Rudy Calzavara
Scott Cameron
Mary Lu Cerny
Don Cerrone
Bill Chaffee
Darlene Chaffee
Calvin Chin
John Churchill
Sean Coffey
Spade Cooley
Johnny Culley
Gary D'amico
Richard De Angelo
Richard Deangelo
Deborah Dee
Lisa Di Quollo
Michael Dunn
Pierre Edelman
Neal Edelstein
Ronald Eng
Ronald Eng
Mary Erstad
Floyd Erwin
Simone Farber
Michael Fedack
David Fein
Ralph Feldhacker
James Fierro
Geri Paige Filister
S Fine
Jack Fisk
Freddie Francis
Will Gatlin
Cheryl Gibson
Patrick Giraudi
George Gowing
Joni Dee Gowing
Barbara Haberecht
Tony Halsrud
Roy Hancock
Joe Hanna
Mark Har
Bob Harper
Sally J Harper
Gordon Hayman
Catherine Head
Vicki Jo Hertz
Billy Higgins
Sarah Jane Hill
Spike Allison Hooper
Doug Jackson
Anne Johns
Brian Justus
Chris Kennedy
Steven J. Kerlagon
Gracie Klein
Paul Klein
Scott Klug
Kristi Lake
Nancy Lampe
Rick Lefevour
Susan Lichtman
Tim Lobdell
Ann Luster
David Lynch
Sean E. Markland
Diane Marshall
Patti Marshall
Edgar Martin
Mato
Dick Mccartney
William C. Mcconnell Jr.
William M. Mcconnell
Julia Mcferrin
Dennis Mcnamara
Bob Medcraft
Jerry Meyers
Steven R Morales
Kathryn Mueller
Hitomi Nakase
John Neff
John Neff
John Neff
Howard Neiman
Howard Neiman
Cheryl Nelson
Patricia Norris
David Nowell
David Oberholtzer
Shane Patrick
Andrew Peterson
Joan Philo
Michael Polaire
Gaye Pope
Gaye Pope
Luis Racer Rangel
Carla Rear
Denis Rear
Ressetar
Scott Ressler
Eric Ritter
John Roach
Hugh Ross
Peggy Ann Rosson
Earl Sampson
Hilary Schroeder
Richard Schwartz
Billy Scoles
Eric Sherman
Joshua E Smith
Scott Smith
Walter Spencer
Walter Spencer
Jo Stafford
Jules Stewart
Alvin Straight
Lucy Sustar
Mary Sweeney
Mary Sweeney
Mary Sweeney
Nick Swiatek
Mark Togni
Susumu Tokunow
Thomas A Traugott
Paul Vecchio
Mickey Vendafreddo
Bruce Ventura
John N. Ward
Wilson Webb
Mike Weesner
John Wentworth
Becky Whitehorse
Ronald Wilson
Tim Wilson
Dave Wilt
Trini Wilt
John David Wolfe
William T. Zacha
Robert Zajonc
Gary Zarris
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Actor
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Winner of Best Actor (Richard Farnsworth) at the 1999 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Winner of two 1999 awards, including Best Actor (Richard Farnsworth) and Best Cinematography (Freddie Francis) from the New York Film Critics Circle.
Expanded Release in United States October 29, 1999
Limited Release in United States October 15, 1999
Released in United States 1999
Released in United States Fall October 15, 1999
Released in United States November 1999
Released in United States on Video May 9, 2000
Released in United States September 1999
Wide Release in United States November 5, 1999
Shown at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (in competition) October 20 - November 15, 1999.
Shown at London Film Festival November 3-18, 1999.
Began shooting September 14, 1998.
Released in United States 1999 (Shown at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (in competition) October 20 - November 15, 1999.)
Released in United States on Video May 9, 2000
Released in United States September 1999 (Shown at Telluride Film Festival September 3-6, 1999.)
Limited Release in United States October 15, 1999
Released in United States Fall October 15, 1999
Expanded Release in United States October 29, 1999
Released in United States November 1999 (Shown at London Film Festival November 3-18, 1999.)
Wide Release in United States November 5, 1999
Completed shooting October 23, 1998.