Mr. Donahoe’s Mangoes -

About the Film

logline

Edith, a naïve and unworldly middle-aged woman, cares for her dying but domineering actress-mother until a showdown between them could set Edith’s life on another path.

Synopsis

Edith, a naïve middle-aged woman, cares for her dying actress-mother in their urban apartment, which is filled with memorabilia from her mother’s theater career. Edith blames her mother for neglecting her during her childhood, but instead of expressing regret about it, her mother only says that she realizes she spent less time with Edith than Edith would have wanted. Edith gets back at her mother passive-aggressively by purloining some of her mother’s belongings, including a pearl necklace, and musing about her inheritance. After a madcap interaction in the hall with an accidentally-naked male neighbor, Edith confides to her mother that she has never seen a penis before and blames her mother for failing to teach her how to make her way in the world. When Edith muses about an 8th grade crush, the only “relationship” with a “man” she’s ever had, her mother finally seems to understand how stunted Edith actually is. Then, in a pivotal scene, Edith’s mother apparently doesn’t recognize Edith, orders her to leave her room, and threatens to call the police. The final scene shows Edith tentatively packing a bag to visit her 8th grade crush, whom she’s apparently tracked down, until her mother’s helpless cries start echoing in her head.

Mr. Donahoe’s Mangoes trailer

Genre: Drama 
Running Time: 14 minutes 
Country: USA 
All Press Inquiries: 
Todd I. Gordon, Director & Executive Producer 
[email protected]

Technical Information

Runtime: 14:02 
Color 
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 
Camera: Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro g2 Camera
Shooting Format: BRAW 4.6k 
Language: English 
Exhibition Format: .MOV, DCP

Director's Statement

Genesis of the Story

“Mr. Donahoe’s Mangoes” is loosely based on vignettes in “Herb’s Pajamas,” a book of short stories by the renowned memoirist, Abigail Thomas. What especially attracted me to the stories was the vibrancy and quirkiness of Thomas’s characters and the possibility of exploring, in greater depth, the complicated and unresolved relationship between Edith and her dying but domineering actress-mother.

I love adapting stories and novels because it allows me to explore worlds and cultures I don’t necessarily have direct experience with and transmute stories into cinematic language, while being loyal to the author’s intentions and the spirit of the stories. Nothing pleases me more than returning to one of my adapted scripts and not readily being able to figure out whether particular elements of the story were from the author’s pen or mine.

Themes

Two of the themes that preoccupy me include the emotional lives of elders, and the disparity between the way we build and even luxuriate in our own particular safe spaces (homes, offices, other literal and metaphoric communities) and the way we experience and are treated in the world outside the walls and doors (literal or figurative) that protect us.

Inside Edith’s mother’s apartment, Edith feels safe from the outside world, but also under the thumb and subject to the whims of her domineering mother. Their complex relationship is encapsulated in this exchange:

Edith: You guarded your worldliness like a precious gem. . .
Edith’s Mother: “Oh, how sharper than a–
Edith: Yes, a serpent’s tooth. I know mother. And not just your worldliness. All the other social skills I could have made good use of.
Edith’s Mother: You’re 42. It’s a little late to still be blaming your mother.
Edith: I’m 46.
Edith’s Mother: I don’t think so. . . but I will concede that my theater career forced me to be away more than you would have liked.

Near the end of the film, Edith is symbolically rejected by her mother, who either literally doesn’t recognize Edith or is disdainfully pretending not to. After that final slight, Edith decides to seek out a childhood crush and prepares to leave her mother and the partial comfort of her home. As she packs a suitcase, however, Edith hears the her mother’s voice pleading for help. Will Edith break free or not? The answer to that is left up to the audience.

Visual Approach

My DP and I were aiming for a timeless, nostalgic look, perhaps like a slightly faded photograph from the 1980s, to reflect the age of the main characters and the fact that Edith is trapped in a secure, but colorless existence that hasn’t changed in decades. To that end, the visuals are moderately saturated, with a bit of graininess.

For the intimate scenes between Edith and her mother, I would cite, as influence, the intimate scenes in such films as “The Remains of the Day” (1993), and “Maudie” (2016), which use a naturalistic style to focus attention on character and intimacy (or the lack of it).

For the look and feel of the visuals generally, our influences include “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) and “A Ghost Story” (2017), among other films.

Production Design

The timelessness of the film is emphasized by the production design and wardrobe, which have no obvious references to a particular time period, except an analog table clock and odd rotary dial phone. There are no digital appliances or electronic gadgets anywhere.

And, emphasizing the fact that this turf belongs to Edith’s mother, the room is filled with posters from her theater career and other accessories and trinkets from her past. Edith’s only refuge, her own bedroom, is rather plan and old-fashioned, perhaps not changed in many many years.

Director’s Bio

Todd I. Gordon came to filmmaking after a long career practicing entertainment law and managing complex web development projects for a large media company. A few years ago, he began writing feature screenplays on spec, with a particular focus on adapting unfairly obscure or forgotten novels, which were the only ones to which he could afford the rights. After winning a few screenwriting competitions, Todd pivoted to short films to pursue more collaborative projects. “Pianoforte,” a short narrative film that he wrote and produced, was released in 2018. “Old Hen” (2020), which he also wrote and produced, was his first foray into directing and was the official selection of 15 festivals in the U.S. and Europe. In 2023, Todd wrote and directed two short films, “Herb’s Pajamas,” a comedy, and “Mr. Donahoe’s Mangoes,” a drama, both based on short stories by the renowned memoirist, Abigail Thomas.

Cast Bios

Alison Cimmet
(Edith)

Alison recently appeared on Law & Order: SVU and the feature film The Wrath of Becky. Other film/tv credits include The Big Sick, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Blacklist, Ray Donovan, Bull, Younger, and Evil. Alison’s Broadway credits include Gary, Amelie, She Loves Me, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Bonnie & Clyde, Baby, It’s You! and A Tale of Two Cities. NYC/Regional favorites include Romeo & Juliet (Westport Country Playhouse), Into the Woods (Fiasco/The Old Globe), John Guare’s 3 Kinds of Exile (Atlantic Theater), and Mame (Kennedy Center). After graduating from Brown University, she continued to study acting with Upright Citizens Brigade, Larry Moss, and myriad master teachers at The Actors Center. Alison lives in Hastings-on-Hudson with husband David, daughter Ella, and son Gavin.

www.AlisonCimmet.com

Elizabeth Shepherd
(Edith’s Mother)

Elizabeth is a Londoner by birth and a New Yorker by choice. Her distinguished theatre career encompasses London’s West End (War and Peace, Inherit the Wind), Broadway (Relatively Speaking, Conduct Unbecoming), Off-Broadway (December Fools, Chasing Happy 2023), Stratford Ontario (Hamlet, King Lear, Henry Vlll), Shaw Festival Niagara (Pygmalion, The Devil’s Disciple) to many performances in regional theatres. Recent roles include Maddy Rooney in Beckett’s All That Fall, Mrs Graves Enchanted April, Fanny Cavendish The Royal Family, Madame de Rosemonde Dangerous Liaisons, Miss Havisham Great Expectations, Fraulein Schneider Cabaret, Fonsia Dorsey The Gin Game, Elsa Tabori My Mother’s Courage, Daisy Werthan Driving Miss Daisy. Over 500 TV appearances range from BBC Masterpiece Theatre to All My Children & Law and Order, Margaret Thatcher in Shades of Black, Hermione in The Winter’s Tale (PBS Emmy nomination). Selected Film: The Tomb of Ligeia, Damien:Omen 2, The Queen’s Guards, Criminal Law, Amelia, Dear Kate, Mr Donahoe’s Mangoes (to be released).

Richard Eagan
(Mr. Donahoe)

As a young man in Westport, CT, Richard appeared in various community theater plays and musicals before deciding to pursue acting as a career. He worked off-Broadway and in summer stock in the 1960s, but had a change of heart, which took him out of the theater and into other life pursuits. In 1987 he agreed to act in a friend’s production of Len Jenkins’ Kid Twist at Sideshows by the Seashore in Coney Island, where his then nine-year-old daughter Daisy saw him perform and decided she wanted to do the same thing herself. In the 1990s he was cast in HBO Films Judgment, with Keith Carradine and Blythe Danner, and joined Avalon Repertory Theater in NYC, appearing in a baker’s half- dozen stage dramas including The Elephant Man, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Shaw’s Dark Lady of the Sonnets, and Jerome Davis’ Pas de Deux. Opportunity knocked twice again when two friends asked him to act in their debut films–Eric Werthman’s Going Under (2004) and Todd Gordon’s Pianoforte (2018). Since then, Richard has been featured in a variety of short dramatic films, and is most proud to be seen as the title character in Todd Gordon’s last film, Old Hen.

www.RichardEagan.com

Michelle Concha
(Dr. Guerrero)

Michelle graduated from The Juilliard School. She is fluent in English & Spanish. Film/TV: Lifetime Movie Malicious Minds, A Good Cop, Blue Bloods, Law & Order:SVU, Dr. Death, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Star Quality. V/O: Click the Camera for Go, Diego, Go! Video Games (Nickelodeon), various voices on Dora the Explorer Education Series, Burlington Coat Factory, Carmax (Spokesperson). Hosting: QVC (Product Specialist) , ragu.com (Cooking host), hosted her series Friday w/Friends on FB spotlighting female entrepreneurs. Previous Boards: Chair – Ossining Arts Project & Executive Director – Ossining Jazz Festival. Michelle is Artistic Director of State of Play Productions.

michelleconcha.com

Ellinor DiLorenzo
(Health Aide)

Ellinor is an actress and comedian, born and raised in Sweden. Before the pandemic, she was in several off-Broadway productions as an ensemble member of Scandinavian American Theater Company while also performing at New York’s hottest comedy stages. During the pandemic, she ran her own successful Twitch-channel, reaching thousands of viewers during her baking and gaming streams. She also produced and wrote the podcast The Lost Mountain Saga, reaching over 200,000 downloads in its limited 20 episode run. It’s being developed into a book by Free League Publishing, set to release in 2023.

Production Team

John L. Murphy (Director of Photography) – John loves light. As such he is a cinematographer and has worked on a wide variety of films, television series, and media projects that include three feature films as well as countless short film films, amongst them the feature “The Idea of Manhood” which won best picture at the 2018 Phoenix Film Festival. He has worked with networks such as Travel, Discovery, and Food Network on doc style series, most notably “Uncommon Grounds” in which he traveled and shot in over 30 countries. John did not begin his story telling career behind the camera, he began it in the theater, lighting for stage and live performance. He transitioned to film work after attending NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts carrying over his fascination with light from stage to screen. He now lives in Brooklyn, NY continuing his love affair and helping to shine a light on unique and interesting stories.

Joseph Gutowski (Editor) — Joseph is a film editor who has cut over 20 feature films in a wide variety of genres, such as Echelon Conspiracy, Bella, Front Cover, and Passenger 57. He apprenticed with some of the industry’s top film editors including Dede Allen, Stephen A. Rotter, and Richard Nord. Joseph is also a painter, and has had several exhibitions of his works in New York and California.

Julian Evans (Composer & Sound Designer) – A proud member of USA829 and IATSE Local 700 (Motion Picture Editors Guild), Julian oscillates between theatrical and cinematic mediums, bringing cinematic language to the stage, and theatrical stylings to the screen. As co-founder of Audioworks Film & Theatre in Chelsea, he has provided sound supervision for six seasons GZero World with Ian Bremmer on PBS. Recent mixes include A Holiday Spectacular in collaboration with Madison Square Garden and The Radio City Rockettes (Hallmark), and indie shark thriller The Requin starring Alicia Silverstone. Off-Broadway: Desperate Measures (New World Stages), Cheek to Cheek; Forbidden Broadway; Enter Laughing (The York), Felix Starro (Ma-Yi); Tick, Tick…BOOM! (Keen Company); The Artificial Jungle (TBTB), I Like it Like That! (Pregones Theater), Soulographie (La MaMa), Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night (59e59). Regional: The End of War [2017 RTCC Winner: Outstanding Sound Design] (Virginia Repertory Theatre), Oklahoma! (Weston Playhouse). Cruise: Scarlet Night (Virgin Voyages). BA: Carnegie Mellon. www.julianevans.info “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Elle Kunnos de Voss (Producer & Production Designer) – Elle Kunnos de Voss is an award winning designer, director and writer with an M.A. from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Design. She has developed theatrical pieces that have played at The Royal Dramatic Theater Stockholm, Prosthesis with choreographer Charlotta Öfverholm: Too Much for Dansens Hus (Stockholm) and The Echo Drift opera for Alfred Nobel Hall and Baruch Performing Art Center New York. For her work on The Echo Drift libretto she received the Opera Genesis Fellowship, alongside composer Mikael Karlsson.

Karin Agstam (Casting Director) – Hailing from a small village in the north of Sweden, Karin received her BA in Journalism (Writing/Acting) from Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden. From there she moved to New York City and continued her studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and at Labyrinth Theatre Company.