IT IS THE TURN of the century in Texas hill country on a small, dilapidated farm. The owners–a lethargic farmer named Royale Thompson (played by Fred Ward) and his sickly wife, Ellie (Lise Hilboldt)–are slowly losing the struggle to hold onto their land. Then, one day, a Swedish immigrant, Olaf Helton (Stellan Skarsgard), shows up looking for a job, and the Thompsons hire him. Within a few years the farm starts to show a profit.
Everything`s wonderful until the arrival of a bounty hunter from the north, Homer Hatch (Pat Hingle), who claims that Helton committed a murder in North Dakota.
The story is skillfully told in ”Noon Wine,” an ”American Playhouse”
presentation that airs at 8 p.m. Monday on WTTW-Ch. 11. It is based on a 1937 short story by Katherine Anne Porter.
