Guide Note

Fried Green Tomatoes is a multi-generational dramatic film adaptation of Fannie Flagg's novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. The story is about life in the town of Whistle Stop, Alabama in the early 1900's recounted in the present day by an elderly woman in a nursing home.

Fast Facts

1. Producer and director: Jon Avnet
2. Written by: Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski
3. Starring: Kathy Bates, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, Cicely Tyson, Chris O'Donnell and Jessica Tandy
4. Released: December 27, 1991
5. Run time: 136 min
6. Adaptation of the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
7. Nominated for 2 Oscars

From Book to Screen

There were a number of changes from the original book to the screen version of the story. The most prominent being the relationship between the two central characters played by Mary-Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson. In the book there was a lesbian romance between the characters but in the film, it appeared as though they were only best friends. While the film was criticized for not rightly portraying the characters, GLAAD still awarded the film and the director acknowledged the lack of sexual intensity between the characters. Other changes of note, Ninny passes away in the book, while in the film she leaves the nursing home and ends up living with Evelyn and Ed. Also it is implied in the film that Ninny is recounting her own youth, however, in the novel she is really just a third character.

Where is the Whistle Stop Cafe

The Whistle Stop Cafe is based on the Irondale Cafe in Irondale, Alabama which is a suburb of Birmingham. Still in operation, the restaurant has become a tourist attraction due to the book and film and it's famous dish, fried green tomatoes. The film actually built a set called the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, Georgia and after shooting was eventually turned into a real working restaurant for which tourists can visit and dine.