I live not too far from the place where the plane went down, which is oft-quoted as "near Dyersburg TN" but is actually closer to Camden TN. And no, there are no damned mountains like that in West Tennessee, although there are some hills as you approach Nashville. They would have had to be skimming the treetops to find something like that to crash into. I've heard there is a memorial of some kind at the crash site, but being in a wooded area it is hard to find. Maybe sometime I will go looking for it.
I don't know about the farmer, but I have read in several places that when the news raced around the airwaves that the plane was missing, many people, including country singers in the area, combed the area and called out the names of the hoped-for-survivors. Roger Miller described the crash site as "ghastly." Nose down crash.
It's also popular news that after the bodies were taken away, souvenir hunters ransacked the wreckage for keepsakes. Who ARE these people who would do that?? Even pieces of the plane were taken away. Some apparently was donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame (I'm not sure I'd want to see the display), but the white dress Patsy wore at her last public appearance disappeared.
Of course nobody knows what went on in the plane. Patsy mentions in her phone call to her mother (which did take place) that the weather had been bad. Apparently when they stopped at Dyersburg they were advised to wait because of the weather, but Randy Hughes, who was piloting, said they were nearly home. I don't mind the artistic license of imaginging them in the plane - the drama of the engine dying and them panicking, then relief, and THEN the crash comes - for those who knew how she died, those scenes carry as much impact as if we HADN'T known. Even though you know what's going to happen, you hope they make it anyway. I watched the movie with my daughter tonight (after she ragged me about "not liking country music") and I hadn't watched it in years. Of course, I knew the crash was coming, but when they pulled up and saw the mountain, I jumped and turned away, wringing my hands - just knowing she had died in some sort of similar way was disturbing to watch again. Yes, they took dramatic license, but it did drive the tragedy home.
And how in the world would you tell Patsy's story without the plane crash? I can't imagine how a phone call would have the same impact. Ok, fine, in Coal Miner's Daughter, Loretta Lynn hearing the news over the radio was pretty bad. Powerful impact there because not only did Loretta consider Patsy her best friend, but she was also pregnant with twins at the time (Loretta was) and Patsy had been emotionally supportive.
But still, when doing a biopic, the person's death is part of it, especially when it's not from natural causes. Anne Boleyn always gets beheaded, JFK always gets shot, any movie about Patsy Cline will end in a plane crash.
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15 years ago
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coop82
14 years ago
i agree, AND i think the way La Bamba dealt with the issue made it even more emotional. something that this movie really needed.
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cookiela2001
10 years ago
And how in the world would you tell Patsy's story without the plane crash? I can't imagine how a phone call would have the same impact.
Yes, I think you need to see this scene happen to sever the audience's connection to the main character. The viewers (who may not know too much about Cline's life in particular) really need to know she is GONE.
And there's nothing in poor taste about the dialogue that precedes the crash. The passengers aren't doing anything out of the ordinary. It's not as if the screenwriter had them all suddenly shooting heroin, or making out with each other nude. The group is just chatting innocuously.
The point of the scene is that the heroine says her husband's name right before she dies. Since the couple's marriage has tension in it, the filmmakers want the audience to remember that this version of the events was a love story.
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