The Death of the Hired Man
Director: Donald Tongue
Narrative Short
Drama |
USA |
18 min
View trailer
In a New England farmhouse, a dramatic struggle unfolds between a husband and wife over a farmhand who abandoned them during haying season, but has now returned to seek refuge before winter. This film adaptation of the Robert Frost narrative poem, “The Death of the Hired Man,” is a quiet, poignant drama that captures the fragility of rural life at the dawn of the industrial revolution.
This is the second film in the “Poetry In Motion” series, which features short film adaptations of Robert Frost’s narrative poems. Each film presents a performance of the poem’s complete text.
The full text of the poem and this film can be found on the Poetry Foundation website.
poetryfoundation.org/poems/44261/the-death-of-the-hired-man
Screens in Shorts Program: Pick Me Up
Shorts Program: Pick Me Up
Basie Center CinemasShorts Program: Pick Me Up
Basie Center Cinemas
| Ticket Type | Price | Qty. | Add To Cart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shorts Program: Pick Me Up 6/05 1:00PM Basie | $20 |
Director’s bio:
Adapted from Robert Frost’s poem, The Death of the Hired Man is a story about change, dignity, and survival in the face of economic upheaval. On the surface, Warren and Mary seem cold in denying Silas, their aging hired man, a regular wage. But the truth is more complicated—they, too, are struggling to survive as small farmers in an era when industrialization is eroding the very institution of the “hired man.”
This film is not about cruelty, but about the impossible choices ordinary people must make when tradition collides with progress. Silas returns not for money, but to find purpose, to belong—to “come home.” Yet home itself is in question: is it a place of labor, or a place of rest?
Ultimately, the film is a quiet elegy—for Silas, yes, but also for a vanishing way of life.