With so few people having rated this movie as of January 2017, one can only surmise that TV networks and stations no longer broadcast it. And, probably haven't done so for many years. That's too bad, because this is one of the very best Christmas movies ever made. And, it led to the long- running prime time family TV series, "The Waltons" (1972-81).
This movie is based on a 1970 novel by Earl Hamner Jr., "The Homecoming: A Novel About Spencer's Mountain." That book, this film, and Hamner's earlier book, "Spencer's Mountain" of 1961, were the basis for the TV series that would begin airing in 1972. Hamner created the series and was the narrator for its 210 episodes that ran into 1981 on CBS.
But this movie is the piece de resistance of a wonderful story. The story is a superb blend of family interaction, love, light humor, concern and worry over the father who hasn't yet come home, and relations between the youthful members of the family. Hamner wrote the teleplay for the TV movie, which is autobiographical. He was the oldest child of a large family that lived on the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in west-central Virginia. The town of Schuyler, Virginia, is 20 miles south of Charlottesville and 75 miles WNW of Richmond.
His father, Earl Sr., worked in the local soapstone mines. But when the mines closed during the depression, he found work as a machinist in Waynesboro, VA, about 30 miles away. He stayed there in a boarding house during the week and returned home on weekends. He took a bus from Waynesboro to Charlottesville and then one other stop; and would then walk the last six miles to home. All of this is covered in this movie. And, while the town of Schuyler isn't named in the film, the movie takes place there. But the exterior farm and woods scenes were shot in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson, WY. That was probably easier and less costly than trying to find such a pastoral, less populated area in which to shoot even then in Virginia.
The cast for the film is superb. Patricia Neal is Olivia Walton, the mother. Andrew Duggan is the father, John Walton, who finally makes it home at the very end of the film. Richard Thomas gives a breakout performance as John-Boy, the eldest son who is tailored after Hamner in his youth. Edgar Bergen is Grandpa Walton (Ebenezer) and grandma (Esther) is played by Ellen Corby. Some other key adult characters are Cleavon Little as Hawthorne Dooley, Woodrow Parfrey as Ike Godsey, David Huddleston as Sheriff Ep Bridges, and Dorothy Stickney and Josephine Hutchinson as the Baldwin sisters, Emily and Mamie. Some of the child actors went on play their roles in the TV series, most notably, Richard Thomas as John-Boy.
This is a heartwarming story and slice of life picture of rural life in much of America during the Great Depression. The dialog and interaction are real and believable. This film should be at the top of everyone's list of movies to watch during the Christmas and year-end holidays. It's in my film library of Christmas movies. I don't know why this film isn't a Christmas classic and viewing staple over the holidays.
Earl Hamner Jr. died March 24, 2016, at age 92. His home in Schuyler, VA, is a Virginia Historical Landmark and is open to tours. Walton's Mountain Museum is located in Schuyler. It is in the former high school that Earl Hamner attended. One can buy a postcard in the museum store and have it stamped, "Sent from Walton's Mountain, Virginia."
This movie is based on a 1970 novel by Earl Hamner Jr., "The Homecoming: A Novel About Spencer's Mountain." That book, this film, and Hamner's earlier book, "Spencer's Mountain" of 1961, were the basis for the TV series that would begin airing in 1972. Hamner created the series and was the narrator for its 210 episodes that ran into 1981 on CBS.
But this movie is the piece de resistance of a wonderful story. The story is a superb blend of family interaction, love, light humor, concern and worry over the father who hasn't yet come home, and relations between the youthful members of the family. Hamner wrote the teleplay for the TV movie, which is autobiographical. He was the oldest child of a large family that lived on the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in west-central Virginia. The town of Schuyler, Virginia, is 20 miles south of Charlottesville and 75 miles WNW of Richmond.
His father, Earl Sr., worked in the local soapstone mines. But when the mines closed during the depression, he found work as a machinist in Waynesboro, VA, about 30 miles away. He stayed there in a boarding house during the week and returned home on weekends. He took a bus from Waynesboro to Charlottesville and then one other stop; and would then walk the last six miles to home. All of this is covered in this movie. And, while the town of Schuyler isn't named in the film, the movie takes place there. But the exterior farm and woods scenes were shot in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson, WY. That was probably easier and less costly than trying to find such a pastoral, less populated area in which to shoot even then in Virginia.
The cast for the film is superb. Patricia Neal is Olivia Walton, the mother. Andrew Duggan is the father, John Walton, who finally makes it home at the very end of the film. Richard Thomas gives a breakout performance as John-Boy, the eldest son who is tailored after Hamner in his youth. Edgar Bergen is Grandpa Walton (Ebenezer) and grandma (Esther) is played by Ellen Corby. Some other key adult characters are Cleavon Little as Hawthorne Dooley, Woodrow Parfrey as Ike Godsey, David Huddleston as Sheriff Ep Bridges, and Dorothy Stickney and Josephine Hutchinson as the Baldwin sisters, Emily and Mamie. Some of the child actors went on play their roles in the TV series, most notably, Richard Thomas as John-Boy.
This is a heartwarming story and slice of life picture of rural life in much of America during the Great Depression. The dialog and interaction are real and believable. This film should be at the top of everyone's list of movies to watch during the Christmas and year-end holidays. It's in my film library of Christmas movies. I don't know why this film isn't a Christmas classic and viewing staple over the holidays.
Earl Hamner Jr. died March 24, 2016, at age 92. His home in Schuyler, VA, is a Virginia Historical Landmark and is open to tours. Walton's Mountain Museum is located in Schuyler. It is in the former high school that Earl Hamner attended. One can buy a postcard in the museum store and have it stamped, "Sent from Walton's Mountain, Virginia."