- Needful Things (film)
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Needful Things 
Theatrical release posterDirected by Fraser C. Heston Produced by Jack Cummins Written by Novel:
Stephen King
Screenplay:
W.D. RichterStarring Max von Sydow
Ed Harris
Bonnie Bedelia
J. T. Walsh
and Amanda Plummer
as 'Nettie'Music by Patrick Doyle Cinematography Tony Westman Editing by Rob Kobrin Studio Castle Rock Entertainment
New Line CinemaDistributed by Columbia Pictures Release date(s) August 27, 1993 Running time 120 min Country United States Language English Budget Unknown Box office $15,185,672 (USA) Needful Things is the 1993 film adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name directed by Fraser C. Heston, the son of actor Charlton Heston. The film starred Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, and Bonnie Bedelia.
Contents
Plot summary
A mysterious proprietor named Leland Gaunt, claiming to be from Akron, Ohio,[1] opens a new antiques store called 'Needful Things' in the small town of Castle Rock, Maine. The store sells various items of great personal worth to the residents (some of which, like a pendant that eases pain or a toy which predicts the outcome of horse races, are clearly supernatural), and Gaunt demands payment both in cash and in small "favors," usually pranks played by his customers on their neighbors. Gaunt seems to have an innate knowledge of the townspeople and their history, and the pranks exploit their previous rivalries and prejudices, causing them to attack each other.
When the normally peaceful townsfolk begin to commit acts of violence and murder, Sheriff Alan Pangborn investigates Gaunt and becomes convinced that his machinations are the source of the unrest. Gaunt is revealed to be the Devil, traveling from place to place, manipulating people into destroying themselves. Acting primarily through a corrupt boat salesman and gambler named Danforth Keeton, Gaunt succeeds in sparking a riot in the town square.
Pangborn manages to stop the violence before the town destroys itself, and the townspeople admit their pranks, exposing Gaunt's web of manipulation. Keeton, despondent at the death of his wife earlier in the film, blows up Needful Things with Gaunt inside. Defeated, the mysteriously impervious Gaunt emerges completely unharmed from the burning wreckage of his store, predicts he will encounter Pangborn's grandson in 2053, exclaims "Bob will be his name", and departs, presumably to continue his vicious, evil work. He leaves in the same sinister black car (revealed as similarly supernaturally indestructible in the extended cut), in which he arrived at the beginning of the film.
Cast
- Max von Sydow as Leland Gaunt/The Devil
- Ed Harris as Sheriff Alan J. Pangborn
- Bonnie Bedelia as Polly Chalmers
- Amanda Plummer as Netitia 'Nettie' Cobb
- J. T. Walsh as Danforth 'Buster' Keeton III
- Ray McKinnon as Deputy Norris Ridgewick
- Duncan Fraser as Hugh Albert Priest
- Valri Bromfield as Wilma Wadlowski Jerzyck
- Shane Meier as Brian Rusk
- William Morgan Sheppard - Father Meehan
- Don S. Davis - Reverend Rose
- Frank C. Turner - Pete Jerzyck
Differences from the Novel
- Most of the characters in the novel either don't appear in the movie or are much less prominently featured, undoubtedly due to time constraints.
- Brian Rusk (Gaunt's first customer) succeeds in his suicide attempt in the novel, but is said to survive in the movie.
- Polly Chalmers owns a sewing shop called the "You Sew and Sew" in the novel it is hinted that her profession caused her arthritis; in the film she is a diner owner .
- Polly Chalmers breaks the necklace in the novel and must fight the rapidly-growing spider-like creature within. In the film she merely throws it down.
- Alan J. Pangborn is in mourning for his wife and son in the novel. This plot line was dropped for the movie, as was a plot about Polly's dead son and decision to leave town when pregnant and return later.
- In the novel the sheriff refuses to give Gaunt his bag, which contains the souls of all those he has tricked into committing sins. Pangborn opens the bag and something is released and a furious Gaunt reveals his true monstrous form as he drives off.
- In the novel's end, Gaunt boards a Tucker Talisman that transforms into a medieval peddler's horse-drawn wagon and rides off into the night sky. In the movie ending, he drives a black Mercedes-Benz Type 300 limousine that mysteriously vanishes after leaving Castle Rock. Though the book ends with a premonition that Gaunt is opening yet another cursed store called "Answered Prayers" elsewhere in America, the movie does not.
- In the movie, Gaunt leaves, predicting he'll meet Pangborn's grandson in the distant future. This relationship between a local law officer, his son, and a mythical antagonist was later revisited more deeply in King's Storm of the Century.
References
- ^ "Official website of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. - Ars Gratia Artis". MGM.com. 2002-08-27. http://www.mgm.com/title_clip.php?title_star=NEEDFULT. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
External links
Media based on Stephen King works Films Individual filmsThe Shining (1980) • Cujo (1983) • The Dead Zone (1983) • Christine (1983) • Cat's Eye (1985) • Silver Bullet (1985) • Stand by Me (1986) • The Running Man (1987) • Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990) • Graveyard Shift (1990) • Misery (1990) • Sleepwalkers (1992) • The Dark Half (1993) • Needful Things (1993) • The Shawshank Redemption (1994) • Dolores Claiborne (1995) • Thinner (1996) • The Night Flier (1997) • Apt Pupil (1998) • The Green Mile (1999) • Hearts in Atlantis (2001) • Dreamcatcher (2003) • Secret Window (2004) • Riding the Bullet (2004) • 1408 (2007) • The Mist (2007) • Dolan's Cadillac (2009) • It (2011)Film seriesCarrieCreepshowCreepshow (1982) • Creepshow 2 (1987)Children of the Corn (1984) • The Final Sacrifice (1993) • Urban Harvest (1995) • The Gathering (1996) • Fields of Terror (1998) • Isaac's Return (1999) • Revelation (2001) • Children of the Corn (2009)FirestarterFirestarter (1984) • Rekindled (2002)Maximum Overdrive (1986) • Trucks (1997)Pet SemataryPet Sematary (1989) • Pet Sematary Two (1992)The Lawnmower ManThe Lawnmower Man (1992) • Beyond Cyberspace (1996)The ManglerThe Mangler (1995) • The Mangler 2 (2001) • The Mangler Reborn (2005)The Dark TowerThe Dark Tower (2013)Television Single films or miniseriesGramma (1986) • Sorry, Right Number (1987) • It (1990) • Golden Years (1991) • The Tommyknockers (1993) • The Stand (1994) • The Langoliers (1995) • The Shining (1997) • Quicksilver Highway (1997) • The Revelations of Becka Paulson (1997) • Storm of the Century (1999) • Kingdom Hospital (2004) • Stephen King's Desperation (2006) • Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006)Multiple films or miniseriesSalem's LotSalem's Lot (1979) • A Return to Salem's Lot (1987) • 'Salem's Lot (2004)Sometimes They Come BackSometimes They Come Back (1991) • Sometimes They Come Back... Again (1996) • Sometimes They Come Back… for More (1998)Rose RedRose Red (2002) • The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (2003)SeriesThe Dead Zone (2002) • Haven (2010)Categories:- 1993 films
- Castle Rock Entertainment films
- Columbia Pictures films
- Films based on works by Stephen King
- Films set in Maine
- New Line Cinema films
- Films directed by Fraser Clarke Heston
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