Riders of the Purple Sage is a 1996 American Western television film based on the 1912 novel by Zane Grey, directed by Charles Haid, adapted by Gil Dennis, and starring Ed Harris as Lassiter and Amy Madigan as Jane Withersteen. It is the fifth screen adaptation of Grey's novel across an eight-decade span. The film aired on TNT on January 21, 1996.
Plot Spinster homesteader Jane Withersteen joins forces with Jim Lassiter, a mysterious gunslinger and wanted man, to protect her land and cattle from the powerful Deacon Tull, who with the aid of Pastor Dyer, has the town turned against her. Lassiter, however, has his own reasons for showing up.
Cast Ed Harris as Jim Lassiter Amy Madigan as Jane Withersteen Henry Thomas as Bern Venters Robin Tunney as Elizabeth "Bess" Erne Norbert Weisser as Deacon Tull G.D. Spradlin as Pastor Dyer
Reception Variety described the film as "moody" and said, "Charles Haid directs efficiently, with occasional moments of artiness — including filming a falling horse from several angles and cross-editing them, and action in a genuinely spooky thunderstorm."
References
External links Official Website