Right of Way (film)
- James Stewart: Teddy Dwyer
- Bette Davis: Miniature Dwyer
- Melinda Dillon: Ruda Dwyer
- Priscilla Morrill: Mrs. Finter
- John Harkins: G. Clayburn
- Jacque Lynn Colton: Mrs. Belkin
- Charles Walker: Kahn's assistant
At the end of the path is an American television film directed by George Schaefer from 1983, based on the play Right of Way by Richard Lee. Lee also wrote the screenplay of the film. At the end of the path was the last film in which James Stewart took over the lead role, and Stewart's first collaboration with Bette Davis.
Content
Teddy and Miniature "Mini" Dwyer are together become old couple. When her daughter Ruda comes to visit her, she is horrified at the state of the house and yard. Hoarding - like states have used here, since she has visited the two for the last time. The front yard is unkempt and the whole house messy. But the old couple feels comfortable in the self-created chaos, after all it has deliberately set up that way. Both no longer want to live other-directed and - more importantly - also no stranger surely die. Mini suffers from a disease that is they do with that time to a shadow of itself. Therefore, they want to die. Teddy in turn, can not imagine being separated from Mini themselves, which is why he also wants to die. Both offer their daughter that they plan to commit suicide in the near future and which reacts in horror. You send them a psychologist in the house, both to discourage their plans. And so the wheels of bureaucracy begin to grind.
Always close takes place in the following days, the power to the Dwyers, which will be arranged according to their self-determined life and after. Should be as both zwangsentmündigt, they put their suicide plan into action: Teddy buys a vacuum cleaner tube, it connects to the exhaust of the car and put both into the car in their garage and turn on the engine. But her plan is thwarted by overzealous neighbors and both now captured as potential criminals and managed in separate hospitals.
Production
At the end of the road was the first film James Stewart, which was produced from the outset exclusively for cable television. The television premiere of the film took place in the U.S. television on November 21, 1983. The end was thereby changed so after long discussions that the couple sitting in the car in the garage and daughter Rudy comes to the house. Although you can smell the fumes, but respected the dying wish of their parents. The German premiere was in April 1988 in the original movie, tragic end of the arrest was shown on West German television.
Criticism
Jonathan Coe described at the end of the path as " too serious television film about euthanasia ." Partially James Stewart's representation of Teddy Dwyer was called " role of a lifetime ," the film but also criticized as " cool and down to earth '. Lee attributed the criticism on the negative ratio of the film crew to actress Bette Davis, who regularly left out their bad mood on set at the filming team.
The lexicon of the International film valued at the end of the path as " emotionally charged melodrama " that is "not before over-allotments back [ shy ] " and " in questionable generalization for the right to a suicide [ is ] without allowing counter-arguments ".