Grace of My Heart | |
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Theatrical poster
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Directed by | Allison Anders |
Produced by | Ruth Charny Daniel Hassid Martin Scorsese |
Written by | Allison Anders |
Starring | |
Music by | Larry Klein |
Cinematography | Jean-Yves Escoffier |
Edited by | James Y. Kwei Harvey Rosenstock Thelma Schoonmaker |
Distributed by | Gramercy Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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116 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $5 million |
Box office | $660,313 |
Grace of My Heart is a 1996 film written and directed by Allison Anders and starring Illeana Douglas, set in the pop music world, starting in New York City's Brill Building early 1960s era, weaving through the California Sound of the mid '60s and culminating with the adult-contemporary scene of the early 1970s.
The plot follows the life and career trajectory of its protagonist, Denise Waverly. The soundtrack features songs by artists Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, Gerry Goffin, and Jill Sobule, replicating the musical style that emerged from the Brill Building, New York City's music factory in the heyday of girl groups and "pre-fab" acts like The Monkees.
Edna Buxton (Illeana Douglas) is a steel heiress from Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, who wants to be a singer and enters a talent contest. The story begins with a conversation between herself and her mother (Christina Pickles) with regard to what she will sing and what she will wear. At her mother's insistence, she reluctantly makes a plan to sing "You'll Never Walk Alone." Edna is even less thrilled about her mother's choice of wardrobe, calling it uncomfortable. Her mother responds with a cutting remark, "Perhaps it's not the dress. Perhaps it's you who doesn't fit, dear."
Backstage at the contest, she meets a blues singer named Doris Shelley (Jennifer Leigh Warren). Doris advises Edna to follow her heart, and the two women trade dresses. Clad in Doris’s sleek black dress, Edna sings "Hey There" instead. Despite the fact that she wins the contest, she loses the respect of her mother, who has since left the theater in humiliation.