"Desert Hearts" has entranced lesbian movie-goers since it was released in 1986. It has withstood the test of time and remains one of the sexiest lesbian love stories ever filmed.

A college professor arrives in Reno for a quickie divorce and gambles with her heart on a different kind of love.

It's 1959 and Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) comes to a divorce ranch in Reno, Nevada, to wait out her decree. There she meets Cay Rivvers (Patricia Charbonneau), an unconventional young casino worker, with whom she forms a special bond. But when their friendship turns sensuous, Vivian's long-dormant heart awakens to desires unlike any she's experienced before and despite her fears, she's drawn into a passionate affair.

Now divorced, Vivian must decide whether to follow the old rules of the past or take a chance on a freewheeling future. A classic fifties soundtrack featuring Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline and the top hits of the day highlight this tender story of friendship, passion and chance.

Desert Hearts is one of the classiest, well funded women's movies in big budget movie-land. Backed by The Samuel Goldwyn Company, it boasts several familiar Hollywood faces.

Directed by Donna Deitch. 91 Minutes. Rated R. Available on DVD and VHS.

Cast Overview:

Helen Shaver .... Vivian Bell
Patricia Charbonneau .... Cay Rivvers
Audra Lindley .... Frances Parker
Andra Akers .... Silver
Dean Butler (II) .... Darrell
Gwen Welles (I) .... Gwen
James Staley .... Art Warner
Katie La Bourdette .... Lucille
Alex McArthur .... Walter
Tyler Tyhurst .... Buck
Denise Crosby .... Pat
Antony Ponzini .... Joe
Brenda Beck .... Joyce

We wish to thank the Internet Movie Database for providing the Cast Overview.
The character Frances (played by Audra Lindley) was best know on television sitcom [1977-1979] as Helen Roper, wife of Stanley Roper (Norman Fell) on Three's Company.

Audrey Lindley's most memorable line in the movie Desert Hearts was, "He just reached in ...and put a string of lights around my heart."

Audrey Lindley's last appearances were on TV - "Sisters and Other Strangers" (1997) and the movie "The Relic."
Audrey passed away in 1997 at the age of 79, of complications from leukemia.

Donna Deitch, director, makes a cameo appearance in the casino. While trying her hand at a slot machine, her most memorable movie quote is, "If you don't play - you can't win."

We highly recommend this movie, if you have not seen it. It is indeed an ageless classic.
Buy it on DVD or VHS or read the original Book by Jane Rule.

 

It is interesting to note that the book (Desert of the Heart, by Jane Rule), from which the screenplay loosely originates, reads a little like the 1939 movie, The Women - during the Reno divorce sequence. It is also interesting to note that this wonderful 1939 movie, The Women, has ONLY women actors. The men in the movie are mere references and make no appearances.

The actresses in this movie [The Women] are wonderful:
Norma Shearer .... Mrs. Stephen Haines (Mary)
Joan Crawford .... Crystal Allen
Rosalind Russell .... Mrs. Howard Fowler (Sylvia)
Mary Boland .... The Countess DeLave (Flora)
Paulette Goddard .... Miriam Aarons
Phyllis Povah .... Mrs. Phelps Potter (Edith)
Joan Fontaine .... Mrs. John Day (Peggy)
Virginia Weidler .... Little Mary Haines
Lucile Watson .... Mrs. Moorehead
Marjorie Main .... Lucy
Virginia Grey .... Pat (perfume counter clerk)
Ruth Hussey .... Miss Watts (Stephen's secretary)
Muriel Hutchison .... Jane (Mary's maid)
Hedda Hopper .... Dolly Dupuyster (columnist)
Florence Nash .... Nancy Blake