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The Substitute Wife

  • TV Movie
  • 1994
  • PG-13
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
618
YOUR RATING
Farrah Fawcett in The Substitute Wife (1994)
DramaRomanceWestern

In Nebraska, in pioneer days, a woman who knows she is going to die asks a prostitute to replace her with her husband and four children in order to make it possible for them to keep their fa... Read allIn Nebraska, in pioneer days, a woman who knows she is going to die asks a prostitute to replace her with her husband and four children in order to make it possible for them to keep their family farm.In Nebraska, in pioneer days, a woman who knows she is going to die asks a prostitute to replace her with her husband and four children in order to make it possible for them to keep their family farm.

  • Director
    • Peter Werner
  • Writer
    • Stan Daniels
  • Stars
    • Farrah Fawcett
    • Lea Thompson
    • Peter Weller
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.4/10
    618
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Peter Werner
    • Writer
      • Stan Daniels
    • Stars
      • Farrah Fawcett
      • Lea Thompson
      • Peter Weller
    • 14User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos6

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    Top cast27

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    Farrah Fawcett
    Farrah Fawcett
    • Pearl
    Lea Thompson
    Lea Thompson
    • Amy Hightower
    Peter Weller
    Peter Weller
    • Martin Hightower
    Karis Paige Bryant
    Karis Paige Bryant
    • Jessica
    • (as Karis Bryant)
    Cory Lloyd
    • Nathan
    Colton Conklin
    • Jack
    Annie Suite
    • Mrs. Van Der Meer
    Babs George
    Babs George
    • Mrs. Parker
    Gena Sleete
    • Hattie Donahue
    Gail Cronauer
    Gail Cronauer
    • Isabel Donahue
    Lou Perryman
    • Saloon Keeper
    Jonathan Joss
    Jonathan Joss
    • Black Deer
    Blue Deckert
    Blue Deckert
    • Royal Spencer
    Wally Welch
    Wally Welch
    • Jake
    Guich Koock
    • Mr. Van Der Meer
    John S. Davies
    John S. Davies
    • Preacher #1
    Tony Frank
    Tony Frank
    • Major Willows
    John Harrison
    John Harrison
    • Groom
    • Director
      • Peter Werner
    • Writer
      • Stan Daniels
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews14

    6.4618
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    Featured reviews

    lionel.willoquet

    A prostituted wife.

    1869, at a farm in Nebraska. Amy Hightower (Lea Thompson) discovers that she is affected by an incurable illness. Wife and devoted mother, she decides to find a new woman for her husband, Martin (Peter Weller). Having finally persuaded her husband, Amy visits numerous widows, but always returns empty-handed. Frustrated, she eventually makes her proposition to prostitutes. One of them, Pearl ( Farrah Fawcett), accepts immediately...

    Looking like "The Little House on the Prairie ", with a shot of vulgarity and a good dose of unlikeliness. On this insipid cream tart, a cherry: Farrah Fawcett!
    7taralynhuber

    Different, Original.

    I was captivated by this story because you don't see many stories like this. A woman is dying and finds someone to replace her to take care of her husband and children. Eventually the husband and the replacement start to care for each other and the wife approves. There is more to the story. Was sad and funny and very good story telling.
    10benbrae76

    A refreshing western with a difference....there's not a gun in sight

    Why this movie isn't screened more often I can't understand. It was delicately and sensitively played by all the actors, and incorporated a gamut of emotions from comedy to pathos, but never becoming over-sentimental, gushy, or stodgy.

    The problems of males "getting spliced" on the Prairies in the mid 19th century, must have been difficult to solve at any time considering there were about ten men to one woman. For a widower with a bunch of kids in tow it would have been virtually impossible, particularly if he was a sod-buster...the lowest of the low in farming circles.

    This was beautifully and amusingly solved by the dying wife, by arranging impending nuptials between her soon to be bereaved husband and a whore looking for a way out of her present predicament.

    The film is strikingly, if not lavishly photographed, has an intelligent well crafted script, which makes all the points it can out of a rather thin plot, and some lovely accompanying music to boot.

    It may not appeal to others as much as it did to me, but it's well worth a watch, and I also think worthy of a place in anyone's library.
    8dezwartemaan

    Plausible

    I enjoyed the movie. It had slow moments, I mean.. a woman taking a carriage down the trail to a city a days travel away?... I know they used it to show how much she endured... but we got that the first 2-3 times. ;)

    I do a bit of Genealogy and I have a situation where a Farmer ancestor married a younger wife before the older wife died. I was thinking.. "Mormon"?... then I saw this movie... perhaps this movie actually shows a plausible reason why he married a 2nd wife before the 1st died. I have no history in stories and no written accounts in the marriage license data. Left to speculate, but the fact that my ancestor showed 2 marriages, made me go... hrmmmm... and this movie became more real life to me in my eyes.

    The movie played well on many accounts. The emotions, the hardships, the triangle as it moved into play. Very well done.
    6dhannah1955

    The Substitute Wife

    I thought the movie was good and kept me watching it but I was very surprised when it has a PG-13 rating. I wouldn't want my grandchildren watching it. I thought that it was very similar to the other Hallmark movies with a similar plot but this movie actually came first and I think that is why the other movies were improved on from it. I believe that back in those days they would not have had allowed actions in front of the children such as was in this movie. I really felt, all in all, that the movie was heartwarming and kinda sweet although I wouldn't have done it that way, I don't care what the ways were. Nice movie for a lady to sit down with a cup of tea and watch, not sure that the husband would appreciate it.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance
    John Wayne and Harry Carey Jr. in The Searchers (1956)
    Western

    Storyline

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • May 23, 1994 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Substitute
    • Filming locations
      • Austin, Texas, USA
    • Production companies
      • Frederick S. Pierce Company
      • Patchett Kaufman Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 32m(92 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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