Revolving around Truvy's Beauty Parlor in a small parish in modern-day Louisiana, STEEL MAGNOLIAS is the story of a close-knit circle of friends whose lives come together there. As the picture opens, we find Drum Eatenton shooting birds in the trees of his back yard in preparation for his daughter's wedding reception that afternoon. Shortly thereafter, M'Lynn and Shelby (Drum's wife and daughter) depart for Truvy's to get their hair done for the wedding. "Just the sweetest thing," Annelle Depuy Desoto (who may or may not be married because her marriage may not be legal) is introduced to Truvy's customers as her new "glamour technician." While in the chairs, the sour-tempered Ouiser Boudreaux shows up and entertains the assemblage with her barbs. It seems that the only one of the group who truly understands Ouiser is Clairee who is recently widowed and looking for a diversion. As she says, later in the picture, "If you can't find anything good to say about anybody, come sit by me." Filled with humor and heartbreak, these "Steel Magnolias" make us laugh and cry as the realities of their lives in tiny Chiquapin Parish unfolds.

This movie was based on a play written about a sister of Phi Mu sorority. Susan Harling was a member of the Kappa Iota chapter and her brother wrote the play on which the movie is based.

Clairee:
I've just been to the dedication of the new children's park.


Truvy:
Yeah, how did that go?


Clairee:
Janice Van Meter got hit with a baseball. It was fabulous.


Truvy:
Was she hurt?


Clairee:
I doubt it. She got hit in the head.

Continuity: When Truvy is preparing Shelby's hair for her wedding, she takes out the same rollers three times.

Written and Performed by Ry Cooder
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products