The Awakening Land
Encyclopedia
The Awakening Land is 1978 television miniseries
based on Conrad Richter
's trilogy of novels: The Trees
; The Fields
; and The Town. The series originally aired on NBC
in three installments from February 19 to February 21, 1978 and stars Elizabeth Montgomery
and Hal Holbrook
.
wilderness from post-revolutionary
Pennsylvania
. The series takes Sayward from a young single woman, unexpectedly left with three sisters to raise, to a married woman who becomes a mother of seven. Her faithful devotion to her family is recounted against the day-to-day struggle for survival.
in Springfield, Illinois
. The gym was also used to house the prop and wardrobe departments. Filming took 2-½ months. The Springfield city council agreed to fill up a nearby lake so it would resemble the Ohio River
as an incentive for the production company to choose the area. Animals from the Elgin Zoo were also shipped to the set.
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
based on Conrad Richter
Conrad Richter
Conrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
's trilogy of novels: The Trees
The Trees (novel)
The first novel of Conrad Richter's trilogy The Awakening Land, The Trees is set in the wilderness of central Ohio . The simple plot — composed of what are essentially episodes in the life of a pioneer family before the virgin hardwood forest was cut down — is told in a third person narration rich...
; The Fields
The Fields (novel)
The Fields is a 1946 novel by Conrad Richter and the second work in his The Awakening Land trilogy. It continues the story of the characters Portius and Sayward Luckett Wheeler begun in the novel The Trees....
; and The Town. The series originally aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in three installments from February 19 to February 21, 1978 and stars Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...
and Hal Holbrook
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
.
Plot
The storyline follows the struggle of Sayward Luckett (Montgomery) as she travels to the unsettled Ohio ValleyOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
wilderness from post-revolutionary
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The series takes Sayward from a young single woman, unexpectedly left with three sisters to raise, to a married woman who becomes a mother of seven. Her faithful devotion to her family is recounted against the day-to-day struggle for survival.
Main cast
- Elizabeth MontgomeryElizabeth MontgomeryElizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...
... Sayward Luckett Wheeler - Hal HolbrookHal HolbrookHarold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
... Portius Wheeler - Jane SeymourJane Seymour (actress)Jane Seymour, OBE is an English actress best known for her performances in the James Bond film Live and Let Die , East of Eden , Onassis: The Richest Man in the World , and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman...
... Genny Luckett - Steven KeatsSteven KeatsSteven Keats was an American actor who appeared in such films as Silent Rage, Death Wish, Black Sunday, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, and the TV-movie version of the Norman Mailer book The Executioner's Song starring Tommy Lee Jones.-Biography:The son of Jewish emigrants from Denmark, Keats was a...
... Jake Tench - Louise LathamLouise LathamLouise Latham is an American actress, perhaps best known for her portrayal of Bernice Edgar in Alfred Hitchcock's film Marnie...
... Jary Luckett - William H. MacyWilliam H. MacyWilliam Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
... Will Beagle - Jeanette NolanJeanette NolanJeanette Nolan was an American radio, film and television actress. Nolan was nominated for four Emmy Awards.-Early life:...
... Granny McWhirter - Bert RemsenBert RemsenHerbert Birchell "Bert" Remsen was an American actor.-Life and career:Remsen was born in Glen Cove, New York, on Long Island, the son of Helen and Winfred Herbert Remsen. He played character roles in numerous films directed by Robert Altman, including: Brewster McCloud , McCabe & Mrs...
... Isaac Barker - Charles GowanCharles GowanCharles Gowan was an American and Canadian pioneer and politician. He served as mayor of Antigo, Wisconsin and as a municipal councillor in Edmonton, Alberta.-Biography:...
... Alan Hamilton - Sean FryeSean FryeSean Anthony Frye is an American former child actor. His best-known role was as Steve, Elliot's older brother's friend in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Frye was born in Hollywood, California. Actress Soleil Moon Frye is his half-sister; his father is actor Virgil Frye.-External links:...
... Resolve Wheeler, as youth - Tracy Kleronomos ... Dezia Wheeler
- Katy KurtzmanKaty KurtzmanKaty Kurtzman is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress. In 1977, Michael Landon cast Katy as stuttering Anna who was abused by Nellie on Little House on the Prairie...
... Rosa Tench - Byrne PivenByrne PivenByrne Piven was an influential American stage actor, director, and co-founder of the Playwrights Theatre Club, a forerunner of The Second City.-Life and career:...
... Dr. Pearsall - Julie GibsonJulie GibsonJulie Gibson is an American actress who had prolific film career during the 1940s.-Career:Born in Lewiston, Idaho, Gibson made her first appearance in small roles in the films Nice Girl? and The Feminine Touch ....
... Lady Peddler
Locations
The series was shot in historic New Salem, Illinois. Interiors were filmed in a gymnasiumGym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
. The gym was also used to house the prop and wardrobe departments. Filming took 2-½ months. The Springfield city council agreed to fill up a nearby lake so it would resemble the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
as an incentive for the production company to choose the area. Animals from the Elgin Zoo were also shipped to the set.
Crew
- Directed by: Boris SagalBoris SagalBoris Sagal was a Ukrainian-born American television and film director.-Early life and career:Born in Yekaterinoslav, Soviet Union, Sagal emigrated to the United States where he attended the Yale School of Drama. Sagal's many TV credits include directing episodes of The Twilight Zone, "T.H.E...
- ”The Trees” and “The Fields” script: James Lee BarrettJames Lee BarrettJames Lee Barrett was an American producer, screenwriter, and writer.Barrett, along with Peter Udell and Phillip Rose won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Shenandoah, which was based on his 1965 film by the same name, which starred James Stewart.Other notable works written by...
- ”The Town” script: Liam O'BrienLiam O'Brien (screenwriter)Liam O'Brien was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for writing the movie Here Comes the Groom.-Life and career:...
- Novels written by: Conrad RichterConrad RichterConrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
- Executive Producer: Harry Bernstein
- Associate Producer: Robin S. Clark
- Executive Producer: Tom Kuhn
- Producer: Robert E. Relyea
- Original Music by: Fred KarlinFred KarlinFred Karlin was an American composer of more than one hundred scores for feature films and television movies. He also was an accomplished trumpeter adept at playing jazz, blues, classical, rock, and medieval music....
- CinematographyCinematographyCinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
by: Michel Hugo - Film EditingFilm editingFilm editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
by: Bernard J. Small - Production Design by: Jack DeShields
- Set Decoration by: Fred Price
- Costume DesignCostume designCostume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
by: Frank Tauss - Key Costumer: Bill Blackburn
- Hair Stylist: Sugar Blymyer
- Assistant Director: Alan R. Green
- First Assistant Director: Dennis E. Jones
- Property MasterProperty masterThe property master is an artistic and organizational employee in a film, television or theatrical production who is responsible for purchasing, acquiring and/or manufacturing any props needed for a production...
: Matt Springman - Sound Mixer: Glenn E. Anderson
- ADR Editor: Jerry Jacobson
- Assistant Cameraman: Jim Mazzula
- Choreographer: Marge ChampionMarge ChampionMarge Champion is an American dancer, choreographer, and pedagogue. In addition, she also worked in film and appeared in a number of television variety shows.-Early years:...
- DialogueDialogueDialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
Supervisor: Marge Champion - Extras Brian Halcomb, Allen Tomlin, Dan Yeager
Award nominations
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Emmy Award Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming... |
Nominated | Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series | Jeanette Nolan For part one |
| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series | Elizabeth Montgomery | |||
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series | Hal Holbrook | |||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Any Area of Creative Technical Crafts | Sugar Blymyer For part three |
|||
| Outstanding Cinematography in Entertainment Programming for a Series | Michel Hugo | |||
| Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) | Fred Karlin |
External links
- The Awakening Land at TheNewYorkTimes.comThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Synopsis