PULLIN''EM OFF THE RAFTERS
Synopsis
Summer, 1964. A 400 acre Iowa farm seen in seventeen scenes like old B&W snapshots. No nostalgia, no romance. This is the past, nothing more. Casey Briggs, called Case, has seen what few understood then: he's auctioning his dairy herd and renting out the land. For a livelihood, he and his wife, Nan, have bought a local steak house. And they've convinced themselves they'll like this new life. But as the auction begins, Case holds back the bull, trying to keep open the option of a return to farming. As the herd goes on the block, Case's brother-in-law, Donny Lewis, arrives from Boston with his wife for a claimed vacation. But Donny has come staking everything on asking Case for work on the farm, driven by the worsening economy in the East and his shrinking milk delivery route. In return, Donny offers Case the use of his main possession: a .45 army pistol. Donny's dream is destroyed when he realizes Case has sold all the herd, but the bull. And Donny's wife, always hating the farm, taunts him with the futility of what he's done. In desperation, Donny shoots the bull, thinking it too has been mocking him. But his shot is wide. Case is left knowing he must kill the wounded bull and by doing it, kill the remnant of his futile dream with Nan of a return to the farm. Copyright © 1999 by Richard Toscan 235 N. Harrison Street Richmond, VA 23284 (804) 828-2787 rtoscan@vcu.edu

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