Rod Steiger and Robert Ryan are the heads of the backwoods feuding families – the Feathers and the Gutshalls – in this variable drama.
The two sides have been brought to the brink of violence by a land dispute and matters come to a head with a bizarre case of mistaken identity.
Hoping to create internal friction amongst the Feather siblings, Ludie Gutshall (Kiel Martin) mails a postcard from the non-existent “Lolly-Madonna” to the Feather home and allows the brothers to puzzle over who has attracted her attentions.
The prank begins to turn ugly when Thrush (Scott Wilson) and Hawk kidnap Roonie Gill (Season Hubley), a woman passing through town en route to meet her fiancée, believing that she’s the “Lolly Madonna” they’ve heard about.
A strong supporting cast includes Jeff Bridges, Randy Quaid and Gary Busey, and director Richard C Sarafian (Vanishing Point) piles a lot of enthusiasm into the mayhem.
Unfortunately, the film’s mood-swings make it only a superior example of Peckinpah-lite.
Later retitled Fire in the Meadow for its VHS release.
Laban Feather
Rod Steiger
Pap Gutshall
Robert Ryan
Zack Feather
Jeff Bridges
Thrush Feather
Scott Wilson
Chickie Feather
Katherine Squire
Elspeth Gutshall
Tresa Hughes
Skylar Feather
Timothy Scott
Ludie Gutshall
Kiel Martin
Hawk Feather
Ed Lauter
Roonie Gill
Season Hubley
Finch Feather
Randy Quaid
Zeb Gutshall
Gary Busey
Sister E. Gutshall
Joan Goodfellow
Villum Gutshall
Paul Koslo
Director
Richard C Sarafian
