# The Whales of August
**The Whales of August** is a 1987 American drama film directed by [Lindsay Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/lindsay-anderson), adapted by playwright David Berry from his own play, about two elderly widowed sisters spending a late-summer day at their seaside cottage in Maine. It stars [Bette Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/bette-davis) as the blind, bitter Libby Strong and [Lillian Gish](https://www.edgepedia.org/lillian-gish) as her patient sister Sarah Webber, with Vincent Price, Ann Sothern, and Harry Carey Jr. in supporting roles.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 16 October 1987 (United States); 90 minutes; color; MPAA rating R[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) |
| Director / writer | Lindsay Anderson; screenplay by David Berry, based on his 1981 play[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) |
| Lead cast | Bette Davis (Libby Strong), Lillian Gish (Sarah Webber), Vincent Price (Mr. Maranov), Ann Sothern (Tisha Doughty), Harry Carey Jr. (Joshua Brackett)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) |
| Setting | A cottage on a Maine island, where the sisters have summered for decades; the story's action takes place in 1954, though the film never states the year[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) |
| Production | Eight weeks of principal photography in fall 1986 on Cliff Island in Casco Bay, off Portland, Maine; $3 million budget financed by Embassy Home Entertainment[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) |
| Recognition | Ann Sothern's only Academy Award nomination (Best Supporting Actress); Gish tied with Holly Hunter for the National Board of Review Best Actress award[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) |
| Final films | The last feature film appearance of Lillian Gish and of Ann Sothern[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film covers a single day at the end of the summer season. Sarah Webber and Libby Strong, widowed sisters in their eighties who have spent the past thirty years caring for each other, live in Sarah's seaside home in Maine. Libby, who has lost her eyesight, depends on Sarah for cooking and cleaning and responds with bickering and demands; Sarah stays agreeable but sometimes loses patience. A Russian neighbor, Mr. Maranov, fishes in Sarah's cove, and when Sarah invites him to dinner, Libby calls him a "fraud" and senses a rival for her sister's attention. The day's small dramas include Sarah's wish to replace two windows with a [picture window](https://www.edgepedia.org/picture-window) overlooking the ocean, which Libby vetoes with the line "We're too old to be considering new things."[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august)
The title refers to the migrating whales that once passed close to the shore in August and have dwindled since World War II; Sarah keeps hoping for a glimpse of them.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094315/faq/) The supporting cast includes Tisha Doughty ([Ann Sothern](https://www.edgepedia.org/ann-sothern)), the sisters' lifelong friend and island busybody, and Joshua Brackett ([Harry Carey Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-carey-jr)), the island handyman.[4](https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/6068/the-whales-of-august)
## Production
Producer Mike Kaplan first saw Berry's play in 1981 at the Trinity Square Repertory theater in [Providence, Rhode Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/providence-rhode-island), and believed it would make a starring vehicle for Lillian Gish, whom he had known since the late 1960s. According to a 1987 New York Times article, he did not option the play until Gish agreed to star.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) Bette Davis turned down the role of Libby in 1981 but changed her mind later; while Kaplan searched for a replacement, both [Barbara Stanwyck](https://www.edgepedia.org/barbara-stanwyck) and [Katharine Hepburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/katharine-hepburn) declined the part.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august) Sir John Gielgud was initially cast as Mr. Maranov but dropped out due to a conflict, and Anderson cast the 75-year-old Vincent Price in his place.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august)
Funding took five years. After [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](https://www.edgepedia.org/metro-goldwyn-mayer), Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, and Warner Bros. each declined the project, Alive Films stepped in; Embassy Home Entertainment provided the $3 million cost, receiving worldwide video and jointly held foreign theatrical rights in return.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST)
**Location shooting.** [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) ran eight weeks in fall 1986 on Cliff Island in Casco Bay, about 45 minutes by boat from [Portland, Maine](https://www.edgepedia.org/portland-maine). The aged actors were housed in cottages on the island and limited to a six-hour workday, while crew members traveled to set by boat from another island.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) The autumn location proved colder than its summer setting; Price remembered Davis calling the production "The Whale of November, because it kept getting colder and colder."[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august) According to Gish biographer Charles Affron, the winds were strong enough that Gish and Davis had to be supported just off camera while shooting the film's final image of the sisters looking out over the ocean.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august)
**The cast's ages and health.** Gish, who made her film debut in 1912, turned 93 during the autumn 1986 shoot; a Life magazine item reported she was believed to be 94, although she claimed to be 87. She struggled with her hearing and often needed Anderson to repeat other actors' lines. Davis, 78, had recently recovered from a stroke that paralyzed her left side, and Sothern, 77, had difficulty walking from an old stage injury. Davis was said to be standoffish toward Gish for much of the shoot, though she attended the dailies every evening, the only principal actor to do so, and was the last actor to leave the island.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august) The characters of Sarah and Libby were partly based on Berry's great-aunts, one of whom was blind; the screenplay was Berry's feature film writing debut.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST)
## Release and reception
The film premiered at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on 14 October 1987, opened in New York on 16 October and in Los Angeles on 23 October, and screened out of competition (Hors Compétition) at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) • [5](https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/the-whales-of-august/) It came in under budget, with post-production in London.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) Its United States theatrical gross was $127.3 thousand.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whales_of_august)
Critical reception was warm. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "a cinematic event, though small in scale and commonplace in detail," writing that it was as moving for the history it recalled as for what happens on screen.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august) Roger Ebert gave it three of four stars, describing "a quiet film of a conventional story, a star vehicle designed to show everyone to advantage."[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whales_of_august) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 64% Tomatometer from 11 reviews and a 67% audience score from over 1,000 ratings.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whales_of_august)
**Awards.** There was Oscar buzz for Gish, Davis, and Price, but the film's sole Academy Award nomination went to Ann Sothern, for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, the only nomination of her career. Gish tied with [Holly Hunter](https://www.edgepedia.org/holly-hunter) for the [National Board of Review](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-board-of-review)'s Best Actress award, and Gish and Davis were jointly named Best Performer of 1987 by the U.S. Council of Film Organizations. The film won first prize at the 1988 National Media Owl Awards for films about aging.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august)
## Legacy
The film marked the final feature appearances of Lillian Gish, who died in 1993 at 99, and of Ann Sothern. Davis appeared in one more film, the black comedy *Wicked Stepmother* (1989), but walked off the set before completing her role, making *The Whales of August* her effective screen farewell; she died three years after completing production at 81.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august) It was also Anderson's last feature film before his death in 1994.[7](https://psi329.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Shail%2C%20British-Film-Directors-A-Critical-Guide.pdf) A 30th-anniversary special edition was released by Kino Lorber, and the film received anniversary theatrical screenings with producer Mike Kaplan.[8](https://kinolorber.com/film/thewhalesofaugust30thanniversaryspecialedition) • [9](https://www.laemmle.com/film/whales-august)
## References
1. [The Whales of August (1987), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57883-THE-WHALES-OF-AUGUST)
2. [The Whales of August, by Sean Axmaker, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1233567/the-whales-of-august)
3. [The Whales of August (1987) FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094315/faq/)
4. [The Whales of August, Film Review, Spirituality & Practice](https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/6068/the-whales-of-august)
5. [The Whales of August, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/the-whales-of-august/)
6. [The Whales of August, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whales_of_august)
7. [Andrew Shail, "Lindsay Anderson," British Film Directors: A Critical Guide](https://psi329.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Shail%2C%20British-Film-Directors-A-Critical-Guide.pdf)
8. [The Whales of August (30th Anniversary Special Edition), Kino Lorber](https://kinolorber.com/film/thewhalesofaugust30thanniversaryspecialedition)
9. [Whales of August, Laemmle Theatres Anniversary Classics](https://www.laemmle.com/film/whales-august)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1980s › Released 1986 to 1989*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license