STEEL MAGNOLIAS: 4K UHD Blu-ray (TriStar Pictures, 1989) Sony Home Entertainment
The woman’s picture, long dormant in American movies, came rushing rather gloriously back to life in director, Herbert Ross’s Steel Magnolias (1989), a flagrantly sentimental comedy zinger, eliciting the big laughs and hearty ‘good cry’ through its affecting cocktail of pathos and wit. The film is inspired by Robert Harling’s Broadway play, reportedly written in just 10 days, but based on his personal recollections of the Louisiana-based/close-knit community of Southern women from his youth who helped ease his family through the tragic loss of Harling’s beloved sister, Susan. The Alabama-born Harling, having graduated with a law degree, never professionally put to use, transferred his passion to acting and writing prior to Susan’s death from diabetic complications. Yet, success eluded him. In one of their last heart-to-heart telephone calls, Harling recalls how Susan, always his steadfast rock, quietly confided a failing, that she had no ‘advice’ to offer him on how to improve his pro
