Driving Miss Daisy

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Driving Miss Daisy
Image:Driving Miss Daisy .jpg Driving Miss Daisy movie poster
Directed by	Bruce Beresford
Produced by	Lili Fini Zanuck Richard D. Zanuck
Written by	Alfred Uhry
Starring	Morgan Freeman Jessica Tandy Dan Aykroyd Esther Rolle
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	December 13, 1989 (limited release) January 26, 1990 (general release)
Running time	99 min.
Country	Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language	English
Budget	$7,500,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Driving Miss Daisy is a 1987 play by Alfred Uhry about the relationship of an elderly Southern Jewish lady shares with her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Colburn, over the span of several decades.

The original off-Broadway production starred Dana Ivey and Morgan Freeman. Ivey's performance garnered her an Obie Award as Best Actress.

The play was the first in Uhry's "Atlanta Trilogy" dealing with Jewish residents of that city in the early 20th century. Uhry's most successful play, it won him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was performed in London's West End in 1988, with Dame Wendy Hiller as Miss Daisy Werthan.

In 1989, the play was adapted for a Warner Bros. film with Morgan Freeman reprising his role and Miss Daisy played by Jessica Tandy (who went on to be the oldest winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role). The story defines Daisy and her point of view through a network of relationships and emotions by focusing on her home life, her synagogue, friends, family, fears, and concerns. Hoke is rarely seen out of Miss Daisy's presence, although the title implies that the story is told from his perspective.

The film won the 1989 Academy Award for Best Picture. It is also, as of 2007, the last PG-rated film to win that title.

Contents 1 Film plot summary 2 Film nominations 3 Soundtrack 4 In popular culture 5 Parodies 6 DVD 7 External links

[edit] Film plot summary

The film adaptation is set before and during the Civil Rights era. In the first scene of the movie, it is 1948. Mrs. ("Miss") Daisy Werthan is a 72 year old widow who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, in a large house, alone except for an African American housemaid named Idella who prepares food and does daily chores. At the beginning of the movie, Daisy is backing out of her garage to go to the store, but loses control of the car and backs it over a wall into the neighbor's yard. Miss Daisy’s son Boolie tells her that besides destroying her new car, the accident means she cannot drive any more because no insurance company will insure her. He tells her she will have to get a chauffeur. She refuses, but Boolie is determined to find her one. Meanwhile, she is stuck at home and is unable to run errands or visit friends.

Boolie oversees his family’s textile mill. One day at his business, a man named Hoke Colburn helps when the mill's temperamental elevator stops working. Hoke had driven for a local judge until he died, and he decided to remain in the area rather than accompany the widow when she moved away. One of his employees (Oscar, the man stuck in the elevator) has told Boolie that Hoke might be a good choice to drive Miss Daisy around. Oscar sets up a meeting between the two at which Boolie hires Hoke, with the understanding that Hoke works for and is paid by Boolie. This arrangement is to guarantee Miss Daisy can not fire Hoke.

Miss Daisy at first refuses to let Hoke drive her, going so far as to walk to the local supermarket. Hoke follows her in the car and she eventually gets in. It is revealed that her reluctance to be driven around is because she is embarrassed. People might think she is either too old to drive, or so well off that she can afford a driver.

One morning, Daisy notices a can of salmon missing from her pantry. She always leaves Hoke food but she calls her son saying Hoke stole something. When Hoke arrives, before Miss Daisy can say anything, Hoke says that he ate a can of salmon because the food she gave him was dried out. He then said he went to the supermarket and bought her a can to replace it with his own money. Miss Daisy is very surprised and is speechless.

Daisy comes to accept Hoke and the fact that she needs him to drive her around. Miss Daisy finds out that Hoke cannot read, so she teaches him how to read. Over the years Hoke drives Daisy in a succession of vehicles. When it became time to trade in the car for a new vehicle, Hoke purchases the previous car and uses it as his personal vehicle.

Miss Daisy has Hoke drive her to her brother's 90^th birthday party in Mobile, Alabama. Hoke reveals, during the trip, that it is the first time that he has left his home state of Georgia. During their trip from Atlanta to Mobile, Daisy realizes in several circumstances that Hoke's race affects how others treat him; her eyes are further opened to the social aspects of racial prejudice. As Daisy and Hoke spend time together, she gains appreciation for Hoke's many skills. Hoke also proves that he is very adept at driving during ice storms. Hoke also proves that he cares by driving to Miss Daisy's house during such a storm to check on her and to keep her company during the storm.

One day in 1963, while watching television, Idella dies. Miss Daisy is saddened because Idella was very close to her. She and her family attend the funeral, being the only white people in attendance at the funeral. She and Hoke miss Idella's coffee, feeling that while they could make her biscuits and fried chicken as Idella made them, no one could make her coffee.

The racism and prejudice that permeated American society is explored in this movie, especially when Hoke is questioned by a pair of racist highway patrolmen, who also make out-of-earshot comments about Miss Daisy being an "old Jew woman" and Hoke being an "old Nigger". But during the course of the movie, American society is undergoing radical changes, and Miss Daisy soon attends a dinner in which Dr. Martin Luther King gives a speech. She initially invites Boolie to the dinner, but he declines saying it could affect his business, and suggests that Miss Daisy invite Hoke. However, Daisy does not mention the invitation to Hoke until he is already driving her to the dinner, greatly angering Hoke. Daisy's reluctance to invite Hoke to the King dinner with her underlines the passive racism that often goes unnoticed when compared with more open and aggravated racism.

Time continues to pass, and a few years later, Miss Daisy becomes ill. One morning Hoke comes to her house to find her in a confused and agitated state. He calls Boolie and tells him his mother is upset. When Boolie asks why it should be different from any other day, Hoke tells him that it is, something is very wrong. While waiting for Boolie to come over, Miss Daisy tells Hoke that he is her best friend. Following this, Miss Daisy moves to a retirement home.

Two years later, in 1973, the family home is sold, and Hoke has given up driving. Hoke is now 85 and Miss Daisy is 97 years old, as 25 years have passed in the story. Boolie and Hoke meet at Miss Daisy's house one final time before the new owner takes possession, and they drive over to the retirement home to visit Miss Daisy. The movie comes to a conclusion with Hoke and Miss Daisy discussing how it feels to be so old, and Hoke sweetly helping Miss Daisy eat a piece of pie by feeding it to her.

[edit] Film nominations

(Win indicated by an asterisk (*) )

• Academy Award for Best Actor -- Morgan Freeman {"Hoke Colburn"}
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor -- Dan Aykroyd {"Boolie Werthan"}
• Academy Award for Best Actress -- Jessica Tandy {"Daisy Werthan"} *
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction and Set Decoration
• Academy Award for Best Costume Design
• Academy Award for Best Makeup *
• Academy Award for Best Picture *
• Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay *
• Academy Award for Best Film Editing

• Golden Globe for Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) *
• Golden Globe for Best Actor (Comedy/Musical) (Morgan Freeman) *
• Golden Globe for Best Actress (Comedy/Musical) (Jessica Tandy) *

• BAFTA for Best Actress *
• BAFTA for Best Film
• BAFTA for Best Direction (Beresford)
• BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay

[edit] Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Hans Zimmer, who won a BMI Film Music Award and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television for his work. The score was performed entirely by Zimmer, done electronically using samplers and synthesizers, and did not feature a single live instrument. The soundtrack was issued on Varese Sarabande.

[edit] In popular culture

• The film is referenced negatively in the Public Enemy song "Burn Hollywood Burn" from the album Fear of a Black Planet.
• The time travel television series Quantum Leap had an episode influenced by Driving Miss Daisy called "The Color of Truth". In the episode, Sam is a black driver of the widow of an Alabama Governor in 1955.
• The movie The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) has Samuel L. Jackson's character saying the line, "Yes'm, Miz Daisy. I be honkin'." in an obvious reference to Morgan Freeman's character.
• In Bad Boys, Will Smith's character mentions to Martin Lawrence's character that "you drive slow enough to drive Miss Daisy".
• In To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) says to Vida Bohemme (Patrick Swayze), "I ain't driving you no more, Miss Daisy."
• French rock guitar star Jean-Pierre Danel named one of his famous Fender Stratocaster guitars "Miss Daisy" after the movie.
• In A Cinderella Story, the main character Sam makes a reference to the movie by saying "I need the Fast and the Furious, not Driving miss Daisy", on her way home from Halloween homecoming dance.
• An episode of Dinosaurs is entitled "Driving Miss Ethyl".
• An episode of British sitcom My Family in which Ben teaches his daughter Janey to drive is entitled 'Driving Miss Crazy'; an obvious pun on the film's title.
• The SWAT vehicle used as the getaway car in Ocean's Eleven was called the Miss Daisy.
• In the movie adaptation of Get Shorty, Harry Zimm (played by Gene Hackman) says the current movie he is working on is his "Driving Miss Daisy."
• In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Will Smith's character references the film when asked to drive his cousin Ashley to violin lessons.
• In The First Wives Club, Goldie Hawn's character states that there are three ages for women in Hollywood "Babe, District Attorney and Driving Miss Daisy"

[edit] Parodies

• The comedy film Stay Tuned (1992) features a short parody of Driving Miss Daisy entitled Driving Over Miss Daisy.
• Cartoon Network aired a short featuring characters from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends entitled "Driving Miss Crazy" in June 2006.
• In Living Color did a brief skit with Damon Wayans in which he had sexual relations with Miss Daisy. It was called Ridin' Miss Daisy.

[edit] DVD

• U.S. release: April 30, 1997
• Special edition: February 4, 2003

[edit] External links

• Driving Miss Daisy at the Internet Movie Database
• Driving Miss Daisy at All Movie Guide
• Driving Miss Daisy at Rotten Tomatoes

Awards
Preceded by Rain Man	Academy Award for Best Picture 1989	Succeeded by Dances with Wolves
Preceded by Working Girl	Golden Globe: Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy 1989	Succeeded by Green Card

v • d • e Academy Award for Best Picture: Winners (1981–2000)

1981: Chariots of Fire · 1982: Gandhi · 1983: Terms of Endearment · 1984: Amadeus · 1985: Out of Africa · 1986: Platoon · 1987: The Last Emperor · 1988: Rain Man · 1989: Driving Miss Daisy · 1990: Dances with Wolves · 1991: The Silence of the Lambs · 1992: Unforgiven · 1993: Schindler's List · 1994: Forrest Gump · 1995: Braveheart · 1996: The English Patient · 1997: Titanic · 1998: Shakespeare in Love · 1999: American Beauty · 2000: Gladiator Complete List · Winners (1927–1940) · Winners (1941–1960) · Winners (1961–1980) · Winners (2001– )

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