who played tommy in coward of the county
Coward of the County The song inspired a 1981 television movie of the same name, directed by Dick Lowry, who also directed all but the last of The Gambler television movie saga pentalogy. Set in small-town Georgia during the onset of America's involvement in World War II, the film's plot stayed true to the song's lyrics and starred Rogers as Tommy's uncle, Reverend Matthew Spencer (the singer of the song), Fredric Lehne as the troubled Tommy Spencer, Largo Woodruff as Tommy's girlfriend Becky, and William Schreiner as James Joseph "Jimmy Joe" Gatlin (one of Tommy's nemeses and a rival for Becky; Jimmy Joe publicly states that Becky is 'his girl' despite the fact that Becky never has felt the same way towards him and has repeatedly told him so. That rejection (to which he is in total denial), along with the fact that Becky and Tommy started dating and became engaged while he and his brother Luke were away at basic training, would serve as motive for Jimmy Joe and his brothers to assault Becky three days before she and Tommy would be getting married.). The movie added several characters not mentioned in the song, including Car-Wash (Noble Willingham), a friend of the Spencer family; Violet (Ana Alicia), a local girl who also loved Tommy; and Lem Gatlin (Joe Dorsey), the equally-nemesis father of the Gatlin boys (brothers Jimmy Joe, Paul, and Luke).
Cast Away In the film, Wilson the volleyball serves as Chuck Noland's personified friend and only companion during the four years that Noland spends alone on a deserted island.[10][11][12] Named after the volleyball's manufacturer, Wilson Sporting Goods, the character was created by screenwriter William Broyles, Jr.. While researching for the film, he consulted with professional survival experts, and then chose to deliberately strand himself for one week on an isolated beach in the Gulf of California, to force himself to search for water and food, and obtain his own shelter. During this time, a volleyball washed up on shore. This was the inspiration for the film's inanimate companion. From a screenwriting point of view, Wilson also serves to realistically allow dialogue in a one-person-only situation.[13][14]