Riders of the Purple Sage is a 1996 American Western television film, based on the 1912 novel by Zane Grey, directed by Charles Haid. It was adapted by Gil Dennis, and stars 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.
Contents
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 the local pastor Dyer, has the town turned against her. Lassiter, however, also has his own agenda.
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."