Lyman D. Dayton Movies
Based on the 1961 children's novel by Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows is a family-oriented drama four years in the making. This project is co-directed by Lyman Dayton, who also adapted the screenplay and produced the 1974 filmed version. The story involves 12-year-old Billy Coleman (Joseph Ashton), who lives in the Ozark mountains with his mother, Jenny (Renee Faia), and father, Will (Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band). Billy's grandfather (Dabney Coleman) encourages him to save money to buy a hunting dog. For two years, Billy does odd jobs in order to save the money. When he finally gets enough, he buys two puppies and names them Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy eventually trains them to become hunting dogs and enters the Fall Hunting Competition. Also starring Kris Kristofferson and Ned Beatty. Even though principal photography started in 1999, Where the Red Fern Grows didn't premiere until the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival due to numerous production difficulties and law suits. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joseph Ashton
- 1991
- PG
In this comedy, college student Barry Davis (Corey Haim) longs to be able to afford a really great car to impress the coeds. However, when Barry receives a beautiful Porshe as an unusual gift, he discovers that his dream car isn't all it is cracked up to be, especially with a dead body in the trunk. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
In this family western, an Indian boy endures racial hatred in a white community. Fortunately, he is defended by a kindly farmer, and a schoolteacher. His horse also provides invaluable assistance. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1983
When a successful half-Native American Harvard-grad returns from college to take over the family ranch, two resentful half-brothers scheme to implicate him in a crime. ~ Rovi
- 1981
In this drama, a hard-working adolescent endeavors to help out his financially struggling family. At the same time, he deals with ostracism at high school. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Designed for the regional family trade, Pony Express Rider is a fond harkback to the Saturday afternoon westerns of old. Stewart Paterson plays the title character, a young frontiersman hoping to avenge his father's death. He takes a job with the Pony Express mail service in hopes of running across his dad's murderer. The supporting cast is populated with such always-welcome reliables as Joan Caulfield, Henry Wilcoxon, Ken Curtis, Slim Pickens and Dub Taylor. Pony Express Rider was directed by Robert J. Totten, a specialist in episodic television horse operas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Baker's Hawk is an old-style Western starring old-style Clint Walker. Burl Ives plays a recluse plagued by vigilantes. Ives is protected by Walker and his son, Lee H. Montgomery, on the basis of the lad's friendship with the old man. Baker's Hawk is based on a novel by Jack Bickham. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clint Walker, Burl Ives, (more)
A septet of settler's children find themselves orphaned and alone following a disaster on the Oregon trail. This fact-based, family-oriented adventure chronicles their cross-country odyssey as they make their way westward. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Against a Crooked Sky is a remake of John Ford's landmark western The Searchers. Richard Boone appears in the John Wayne role, playing an ageing trapper obsessed with rescuing a white girl from her Indian captors. Another movie veteran, Henry Wilcoxon, is the ruthless yet honorable Indian chief. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Boone, Stewart Petersen, (more)
Based on the novel by Wilson Rawls, this film follows the events that befall a young Oklahoma farm boy as he, with the help of his two beloved hounds, struggles to help his family get by in the hard times of the 1930s. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Whitmore, Beverly Garland, (more)
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