Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On September 28, 1984, the movie “Country” debuted in theaters. Shot on location in Dunkerton and Readlyn, Iowa, the film followed the trials and tribulations of a rural family during the 1980s Farm Crisis in Iowa.
William D. Wittliff wrote the film, which starred real-life couple Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard. Richard Pearce directed the film. Jessica Lange, who served as actress and producer, conceived the idea for Country, citing a desire to make a contemporary version of The Grapes of Wrath based on her discussions with several mid-western farmers and several newspaper articles chronicling the struggles farmers faced in the 1980s.
Then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan stated in his personal diary that this film "was a blatant propaganda message against our agri programs.” Some members of the U.S. Congress took the film so seriously that Jessica Lange was brought before a congressional panel to testify as an expert about living on family farms.
In addition to the Congressional summons, Lange also garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe nomination. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar
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