TRUE WOMEN: TRUE FRONTIER GRIT HISTORICALLY ACCURATE EPIC FROM CBS
PRESENTS THE ROLE FEMALE PIONEERS HAD IN TEXAS
Date: 05-18-1997 - Publication: Denver Rocky Mountain News - Author: Dusty
Saunders ©: 1997 Denver Rocky Mountain News
CBS bills True Women as ``an epic saga, . . . a sweeping tale of love, war and the American spirit." Translation: True Women (8 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday, KCNC-Channel 4) is specifically geared for female viewers during a sweeps month so far dominated by male-appealing shows dealing with Mafia violence and alien invasions.
Based on Janice Woods Windle's historical novel, the four-hour miniseries chronicles the lives of generations of her Texas family. The story spans five decades, from the Texas Revolution, through Indian uprisings and the Civil War, to the early stages of the women' s suffrage movement.
It's a frontier story that mixes petticoats with buckskin. The inspiration for Windle's novel came while she was researching family recipes for a cookbook. Intrigued by all the family history, she began intense research, which included reading volumes of material collected by her mother.
" I soon discovered that key women in my family tree were closely involved in the settling of the Texas territory," Windle says.
She says everything in her book, from the names of the characters to the places where the action occurs, is "absolutely accurate."
" My mother is a perfectionist historian," she says. ``There are only three characters in the book who have fictionalized names, and they were real people. We just didn't have their complete names."
Windle was on hand during the entire filming, helping with pronunciation of family names and providing a historical overview.
The huge cast is headed by Dana Delany, Annabeth Gish and Angelina Jolie, who play Sarah Ashby McClure, Euphemia Ashby King and Georgia Lawshe Woods, respectivevly.
Delany, best-known for her Emmy-winning role as nurse Colleen McMurphy on China Beach, says the thing she liked best about Sarah is the fact that "there wasn't a thing she couldn't do." "Sarah never questioned her ability, even under trying circumstances. Yet I don't think she ever thought of herself as a heroine," Delany said during a Hollywood interview. ``She just had a job to do and she did it. As I like to say, Sarah does everything that John Wayne does, but she does it pregnant."
In tonight's opening segment, set after the fall of the Alamo, the men, including Sarah's husband, Bartlett McClure (Powers Boothe), leave their families behind to defend the independence of Texas against Santa Anna and his approaching Mexican Army. It is Sarah, an uncommonly strong and resilient woman, who leads the unprotected women and children across treacherous territory to safety, losing both her youngest son and her unborn child in the process.
Delany said she and the other actresses ``delved into" the characters of the women. ``We did more than simply learn how to fire a rifle, ride a horse and speak with a Texas accent," she said. ``We spent time in a library near Austin (where filming was done) soaking up valuable background material."
Delany discovered that Sarah McClure ``built her own home, led 3,000 women and children across Texas, escaped Santa Anna, lost eight children and outlived two husbands," she said. ``She was a shining example that real-life individuals are more compelling than fictional ones."