Hollywood Stars in Orlando For Dunsmore
(released
8/13/2001)
By Kimberly Burke
The producers of Dunsmore, Peter Spirer, Michael Andrews and Paul Sirmons, are taking advantage of the wealth of local talent utilizing actors, key personnel, technicians and crew from the Florida film community. The feature film is being produced in conjunction with the Valencia Community College Technical Film Program.
Dunsmore is the story of a quiet one-road town in the backwoods of Florida, too far off the interstate to matter. One evening around midnight the quiet is shattered by an explosion of shotgun fire, and a local resident, Ronny Roy Pricher is left dying in the middle of Main Street.
The ensuing narrative takes place within the forty-eight hours immediately after the killing, and follows the investigation of Special Investigator Walter Taylor from the State Attorney General’s office. Taylor, assigned to determine whether or not the vigilante murder of Pricher constitutes a civil rights violation, is assisted in his investigation by Sheriff Cal Miller, a soft-spoken and seemingly earnest small town lawman. Together they question the local towns folk, but everyone has an alibi. No one heard, saw, or knows anything, but they all have a story to tell. Their memories reveal Ronny Roy Pricher as a man who had terrorized the community for decades, a man some in town describe as the devil himself.
Taylor soon begins to doubt the motives behind the Sheriff’s apparent cooperation. Is Miller really as helpful as he appears, or is he the shrewd mastermind behind the murder? Are the leaders of the town really as innocent as they seem, or are they all part of a thinly veiled cover-up?
The characters, town and events of Dunsmore are brought to life through the creative vision of director, Peter Spirer, Academy Award nominee for his documentary The Life and Times of Sally Mann and director of Rhyme and Reason, distributed by Miramax.
Written by Michael Andrews, Dunsmore is a powerful, often dark story of these characters and their motivations and how circumstance can sometimes make evil seem good, and good seem evil.
Dunsmore boasts an impressive cast:
W. Earl Brown explodes on the scene as the devil-incarnate Ronny Roy Pricher. Brown’s roles are as diverse as his extraordinary acting ability (Bella Mafia; Deep Impact; Scream; Meatloaf in The Meatloaf Story: To Hell And Back; Warren, Cameron Diaz’s mentally challenged brother in There's Something About Mary).
Kadeem Hardison brings an honesty and quiet determination to his role of Special Agent Walter Taylor. Hardison just completed a seven-year run as Dwayne Wayne on NBC’s highly successful comedy, A Different World. He moved from the small screen to the silver screen where he co-starred in Renaissance Man, White Men Can't Jump and Gunmen. He starred in the feature film Panther and was featured in I’m Gonna Get You Sucker.
Orlando’s Rus Blackwell is outstanding as the strong, soft-spoken Sheriff Cal Miller. Blackwell (Instinct, Carrie II, Kalifornia and dozens of television shows such as Party Of Five, Law And Order, In The Heat Of The Night) is well known and respected as a talented actor in the Central Florida theatrical community.
Talia Shire, an actress of great range and integrity, illuminates her role as schoolteacher, Mildred Green. Ms. Shire is best known for her critically acclaimed roles in the hugely successful Godfather and Rocky films where she received Academy Award nominations for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Ms. Shire also starred in Old Boyfriends with John Belushi and Windows, directed by Gordon Willis.
Barry Corbin plays Sheriff Jesse Breen. He has appeared in dozens of feature films and television shows (you’d know his face anywhere). Corbin became a household name when he took on the role of Maurice on Northern Exposure.
Jeanetta Arnette is Irma Pricher, Ronny Roy Pricher’s long-suffering first wife. She can be seen in Boy's Don't Cry, Florida City, and Play It Forward.
Alicia Lagano gives great depth to her role of Ruby, the young, innocent new bride of Ronny Roy Pricher. Alicia Lagano can be seen in the NBC series All About Us. She appeared in the feature films Microscopic Boy and Totem and was a guest or supporting lead on Hang Time, City Of Angels and Lifetime’s Jane's Coming Out Party.
The Green Room Orlando caught up with the production on their fifth and final week of production as they transformed Montverde into the small town of Dunsmore.
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