The Whole Wide World

The Whole Wide World

Based on a true story.

1996 · 106 min · ★ 6.6 · Drama, Romance

In 1930s Texas, pulp fiction master Robert E. Howard is introduced to Novalyne Price, a teacher with aspirations of becoming an author herself, and they begin a unique relationship filled with conversation and imagination. Although the possibility exists for romance, Howard's obsession with his work and dedication to his sick mother leads Price to look elsewhere for love, leaving Howard feeling betrayed and alone.

Directed by Dan Ireland · Written by Michael Scott Myers

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Cast

Vincent D'Onofrio Robert E. Howard
Renée Zellweger Novalyne Price
Ann Wedgeworth Mrs. Howard
Harve Presnell Dr. Howard
Benjamin Mouton Clyde Smith
Helen Cates Enid
Leslie Buesing Ethel
Chris Shearer Truett
Sandy Walper Mammy
Marion Eaton Woman on Bus
Dell Aldrich Mrs. Hemphill
Libby Villari Etna Reed Price

Make it a double feature

3h 34m together

The Whole Wide World

Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont

Both from Dan Ireland.

More from Dan IrelandSee all →

Passionada

Passionada · 2003

MovieComedyRomance

The film is a romantic comedy about the Portuguese widow of a fisherman who died at sea. The widow's teenage daughter, who wants to be a professional gambler, convinces her mother to date a British man who's new in town. The widow falls for the Brit, who pretends to be in the fishing business but is actually a professional gambler. The naïve daughter gets into some trouble.

Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont

Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont · 2005

Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont

MovieDramaComedy

All but abandoned by her family in a London retirement hotel, an elderly woman strikes up a curious friendship with a young writer.

Paperhouse

Paperhouse · 1988

MovieDramaFantasy

A young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.

Living Proof

Living Proof · 2008

MovieDramaTV Movie

Dr Dennis Slamon, an American oncologist, discovers a treatment that could possibly cure breast cancer without radiation or chemotherapy. He tries to look for ways to fund the medication.

Jolene

A teenage orphan spends ten years traveling to experience life.

Waxwork

Waxwork · 1988

MovieHorrorComedy

Wealthy slacker Mark, his new girlfriend Sarah, and their friends, are invited to a special showing at a mysterious wax museum which displays eighteen of the most evil men of all time. After his ex-girlfriend and another friend disappear, Mark becomes suspicious…

Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat

Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat · 1991

Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat

MovieComedyHorror

Reclusive vampires lounge in a lonely American town. They wear sunscreen to protect themselves. A descendant of Van Helsing arrives with hilarious consequences.

Salome's Last Dance

Salome's Last Dance · 1988

Salome's Last Dance

London, England, November 5th, 1892, Guy Fawkes Night. The famous playwright Oscar Wilde and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas discreetly go to a luxury brothel where the owner, Alfred Taylor, has prepared a surprise for the renowned author: a private and very special performance of his play Salome, banned by the authorities, in which Taylor himself and the peculiar inhabitants of the exclusive establishment will participate.

The Lair of the White Worm

The Lair of the White Worm · 1988

The Lair of the White Worm

MovieHorrorComedy

When an archaeologist uncovers a strange skull in a foreign land, the residents of a nearby town begin to disappear, leading to further inexplicable occurrences.

The Rainbow

The Rainbow · 1989

MovieDramaRomance

Born to a rich landowner in the waning days of the Victorian era, Ursula Brangwen grows into a beautiful young woman full of imagination and ambition. The free-spirited Ursula begins to feel trapped by her prim surroundings, but her life changes when she has an erotic experience with Winifred, a bisexual teacher. From then on, Ursula puts all of her passion and creativity into the pursuit of sexual fulfillment. But her insatiable quest becomes a source of anguish.

Twister

Twister · 1989

MovieDramaComedy

An oddball family on a Kansas farm are trapped in their farmhouse by an impending storm. The patriarch of the clan is a retired soda pop tycoon. He is currently dating a children's TV evangelist. Also living at the farm is his layabout daughter and her precocious 8 year old daughter, his would-be artist son, the son's fiancée, and the black maid. Also thrown into the mix is the daughter's ex-husband, a ne-er-do-well who is seeking to get back in his ex-wife's good graces.

ivans xtc.

ivans xtc. · 2000

Ivan Beckman, Hollywood's most sought-after talent agent, the darling and crown prince of La La Land, is dead. How and why did it happen? Was it drugs, murder, or perhaps something altogether more mundane? We begin with an ending and then catapult back a number of days to the apex of Ivan's brilliant career as he bags international megastar Don West onto his company's books. We then follow Ivan through the highs, lows, and extreme excesses of his final days.

Whore

MovieDramaComedy

This melodrama investigates the life of a sex worker, in a pseudo-documentary style.

Spies, Inc.

Spies, Inc. · 1992

MovieComedyAction

Spies from different nationalities stationed in a small Asian island work out a plot to create an international incident taking profit from it. Defrauding CIA through fake reports and running a front company using operating funds, they control the island and use the skills acquired in the service of their countries to pursue their personal dreams of wealth and happiness.

Midnight Crossing

Midnight Crossing · 1988

Midnight Crossing

MovieMysteryThriller

A blind woman, her husband and another couple sail off to find cash hidden on an island near Cuba.

The Velocity of Gary

The Velocity of Gary · 1999

The Velocity of Gary

MovieDramaRomance

When bisexual porn star Valentino meets new-in-town hustler Gary, there is an immediate attraction between the two. Valentino helps get Gary a job at a phone-sex company, and they become fast friends and lovers, but tension threatens their relationship when Gary and Valentino's friend Mary becomes involved. When Valentino finds out he is dying and Mary is going to have his child, the three must work through hard times together.

More Like This

Notes on a Scandal

Notes on a Scandal · 2006

Notes on a Scandal

MovieDramaRomance

A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.

Stalker

Stalker · 1979

MovieScience FictionDrama

Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.

Anna and the King

Anna and the King · 1999

Anna and the King

MovieDramaRomance

The story of the romance between the King of Siam (now Thailand) and the widowed British school teacher Anna Leonowens during the 1860s. Anna teaches the children and becomes romanced by the King. She convinces him that a man can be loved by just one woman.

In My Father's Den

In My Father's Den · 2004

In My Father's Den

MovieDramaMystery

War journalist Paul Prior returns to his New Zealand hometown after his father’s death, rekindling strained relationships with his brother and memories of a troubled past. He befriends Celia, a curious and aspiring writer, who shares a fascination with his world. When Celia mysteriously disappears, Paul becomes the prime suspect, forcing him to confront buried secrets and uncover the dark truths of his family and community.

The Miracle Worker

The Miracle Worker · 1962

The Miracle Worker

MovieDramaHistory

The true story of the frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness of 7-year-old Helen Keller who, since infancy, has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch, the only tool they have in common, and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Sweet Sixteen

Sweet Sixteen · 2002

MovieCrimeDrama

Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.

Lights in the Dusk

Lights in the Dusk · 2006

Lights in the Dusk

Outcast by his co-workers and living alone, Koistinen is a security guard who works the night shift in a luxury shopping mall in Helsinki. But when icy blonde Mirja approaches him, the lonely Koistinen falls helplessly for her, unaware she is manipulating him for her criminal boyfriend.

Black Cat, White Cat

Black Cat, White Cat · 1998

Black Cat, White Cat

MovieComedyRomance

A small-time hustler makes a deal with a notorious gangster to whom he owes money: marry his teenage son to the latter's daughter. However, the young lovers are not as agreeable.

The Music Room

The Music Room · 1958

MovieDramaMusic

An aging, decadent landlord’s passion for music becomes the undoing of his legacy as he sacrifices his wealth in order to compete with the opulent music room of his younger, richer neighbour.

Moulin Rouge!

Moulin Rouge! · 2001

MovieDramaRomance

A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.

Games of Love and Chance

Games of Love and Chance · 2003

Games of Love and Chance

MovieRomanceDrama

A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Marivaux's play of the same name. Krimo is determined not to take part, but after developing feelings for Lydia, he quickly assumes the main role and love interest in the play.

Small Change

Small Change · 1976

MovieComedyDrama

The lives of a motherless young man, who's just starting to find interest in women, and his physically abused, poverty stricken friend, are mixed with more or less innocent childhood experiences and challenges most their age experience.

Kolya

MovieDramaComedy

After a fictitious marriage with a Russian emigrant, Cellisten Louka, a Czech man, must suddenly take responsibility for her son. However, it’s not long before the communication barrier is broken between the two new family members.

Barren Lives

Barren Lives · 1963

MovieDramaWestern

A destitute family tries to escape the drought in the backlands of northeastern Brazil. Fabiano (Átila Iório), Sinhá Vitória (Maria Ribeiro), their two children and their dog Baleia wander aimlessly and almost hopelessly through the remote interior, surviving the forces of nature and the cruelty of men. An adaptation of the work by Graciliano Ramos.

Andrei Rublev

Andrei Rublev · 1966

MovieDramaHistory

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter