Great Movies: Sarah, Plain and Tall

Last updated on: August 19, 2018 at 10:48 pm by Esther O’Reilly

Great Movies: Sarah, Plain and Tall 2018-08-19T22:48:27-04:00 Esther O’Reilly

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I had a different post scheduled for today, but I immediately shifted it when I was browsing Youtube recently and discovered that all three of Hallmark’s Sarah, Plain and Tall adaptations had just been uploaded in full the other day. I had to take the opportunity to recommend them to my readers while this person’s channel is still live!

These movies are a little hard to track down and find, and they won’t always play on your computer even if you try to buy new copies (I speak from experience). Like many good made-for-TV movies, they’re buried gems waiting for the lucky viewer who chances upon them. Rarely do I feel that a movie adaptation of a book surpasses its source material, but this is an exception. For those who are unfamiliar with the stories, they follow a young family in Kansas at the turn of the century, whose lives are forever changed by the arrival of mail-order bride Sarah Wheaton (Glenn Close). The father, a widower named Jacob (Christopher Walken), literally places an ad in the paper for a potential new wife. Of course, she eventually stays for good.
I can’t recommend all three of them highly enough. They represent film-making at its finest. This is not Love Comes Softly. No offense to Janette Oke, but… yeah, just no.

The first film, Sarah Plain and Tall, tells the story through the eyes of the children, Anna and Caleb. Caleb immediately warms to Sarah, but Anna, a quiet, thoughtful child, is still aching from the loss of her birth mother. And for that matter, Jacob has not fully dealt with the loss himself. But all of them gradually awaken to the bonds of love that are forming. The second installment, Skylark, is more of a romance between Jacob and Sarah. They are happily married, but a devastating drought threatens to tear them apart, as Jacob is urging her to return to her home state of Maine indefinitely while he waits for rain. This is one of the brilliant things about all three movies: The land is arguably the main character. Drought, fire, storms and blizzards form plot-shaking centerpieces. The family’s character is formed as they weather each new disaster. Each loss reveals something honest and raw and true about them.

The final installment, Winter’s End, takes place a number of years later when the child actors have grown into teenagers. It introduces the wonderful new character of Jacob’s father, played by Jack Palance in a gripping guest performance. When you pair him up with Christopher Walken, you might want to take a couple steps back, because it is intense. Which brings me to another point, namely, the acting. The acting in all three of these films is so good, I need to refrain from gushing over it. As another actor described Glenn Close’s work in this series, “Light pours from that woman.” She’s simply brilliant in every scene. And Christopher Walken puts aside his bizarre eccentricities for a compelling, powerful dramatic role. Finally, watching little Anna and Caleb grow up before our eyes is a real treat, and unlike some child actors, Christopher Bell and Lexi Randall don’t lose their appeal with age. They’re joined by an adorable Emily Osment as Jacob and Sarah’s child Cassie.

Finally, there’s the script. Credit must be given to Patricia MacLachlan’s original, but the adapters filled out the books in so many wonderfully rich ways. Take this speech from Sarah after surviving a crisis in Winter’s End where she nearly freezes in the snow:

You know, my father used to say that when you die, you go to a place that feels like home. So, I always imagined that when that happened, I would see the rugged coast of Maine, smell the salty sea air, hear my three aunts, the unclaimed treasures, calling me in to supper. But the remarkable thing is, last night, it wasn’t the sea I went to, but this land. This Kansas. I saw the blue sky, the wind sweeping across the summer grasses, the cattle grazing on the hill. And Jacob. And I knew this was my home. This was my heart.

I really could go on and on, but you should just check out all three films for yourself. I would point to Skylark as my favorite overall, but they form an excellent trilogy to sit down and watch all at once. You’ll thank me later. Here are the Youtube links, along with a few of my favorite scenes.

Part 1: Sarah Plain and Tall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U6MOxJE_y4
***
Part 2: Skylark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBz_wx9ZHnU

***
Part 3: Winter’s End

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njby7jXNGvs

Movies

Previous Post

January 1, 2015

New "Christian" Movie Waffles on Homosexuality

Next Post

January 7, 2015 Marriage in the Movies: Boyhood (Patheos cross-post)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 3 star 3.5 star 4 star 4.5 star Anatomy of a Song Behind the Songs Blog Stuff Book Reviews CCM CCM vs. SG CD Reviews Christians in Entertainment Christmas Essential 12 Christmas Favorites Christmas Top Fives Concert Reviews Concerts Culture Devotional Thoughts Faith and Culture From the Vault Fun Gospel Singers Gospel Songs Great Music Guest Posts Harmony Master Classes History Holidays Humor Hymns Interviews Marriage in the Movies Monday Morning Humor Movie Reviews Movies Music NQC Odds and Ends Old Movies, New Eyes Old Southern Gospel News Old Stuff Open Threads Other Genres Perfect Tenor Performances Polls Questions and Answers Recently Added SG vs. The Rest of the World Sing It Again Songs Songwriting Southern Gospel Surprise Sunday The Definitive Hymns Theology Toe-to-Toe Top 10 Lists Top 5 Top 5 Lists Two Sisters Review Uncategorized Video Posts Youtube Finds

Select a Month August 2026 February 2025 August 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 October 2023 March 2023 February 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 June 2020 March 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 April 2018 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 February 2017 December 2016 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group is known for having monks who follow the Rule of St. Benedict?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Baptists Catholics Lutherans Pentecostals