Although they first met years earlier, actor Ed Harris and actress Amy Madigan got married after working together on this film.

Danny Glover's first film lead role.

Director and screenwriter Robert Benton set the film in his birthplace of Waxahachie, Texas in 1935, three years after he was born there. Waxahachie was a half-hour drive south of Dallas; a small, relatively-prosperous farming town near a major city.

Gennie James was cast as Possum Spalding after the initially-cast little girl couldn't stop crying when the cameras were rolling. The two girls were actually friends in their hometown of Navasota, Texas.

Sally Field's heartfelt Oscar acceptance speech for this film was as follows: "Oh, Benton, what you did for me. You changed my life, truly! This means so much more to me this time. I don't know why, I think the first time I hardly felt it because it was all so new. I owe a lot to the cast, to my players. To Lindsay and John and Danny, and Ed and Amy, and my little friends Gennie and Yankton. I owe a lot to my family for holding me together and loving me and having patience with this obsession of me. But I want to 'thank you' to you. I haven't had an orthodox career. And I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it. And I can't deny the fact that you like me...right now...you like me! (Applause) Thank you!"