A Girl of the Limberlost

The fourth essay at converting Geneva (Gene) Stratton-Porter's most popular novel for the screen, this version conflicts markedly with the original story while yet managing to make a faithful adaptation of the book's pre-Great War era in a visually appealing film, with beautiful southern Oregon locations standing in for the author's eastern Indiana setting. Stratton-Porter is inserted into the scenario as the "Bird-Woman" of the Limberlost Swamp region, here played sensitively by Joanna Cassidy, and the naturalist writer's endeavours with camera, notebooks, and glass photographic plates is accurately rendered, even to a mention of her watercolour tinting for illustrations in a published volume of nature studies, but there are significant alterations in the characters of Elnora Comstock (Heather Fairchild) and her embittered widowed mother Kate (Annette O'Toole) that result in flaws of logic surrounding their actions. Since this product comes from Feature Films For Families, it was possibly deemed discreet to eliminate the important reference to Elnora's father's marital infidelity, but nothing is provided here to replace it in context, while the omission of the neighbouring childless couple, the Sintons, with their supportive counsel of Elnora; and of Phillip, beau of the young farm girl, are unfilled voids. The dramatic act of Kate that results in a climactic clash between mother and daughter is weakly altered and Fairchild's sporadic Valley Girl diction and mannerisms are not harmonious with O'Toole's more accurate dialect, especially since the two have lived only with each other since the girl's birth 16 years prior, but Fairchild nicely interprets Elnora's struggle to balance her desire for self-improvement with her loyalty to her mother and to their tax-endangered farm. Direction is pedestrian, and a minimalist score is nonspecific, but the sets and costumes are splendidly crafted.

In the mid 50's my favorite Aunt Elnora gave me a copy of "Girl of the Limberlost" for my very own and I still have it. I cannot count the many times I was embraced by the rich story of Elnora Comstock's life in the Limberlost swamp.

I wanted so much more from this movie. The story was crippled by its abbreviation. The photography could have been a story in itself. "The Girl of the Limberlost" is as much a story for today as it was when written.

Please, someone - anyone - redo this and make it America's story. Not every great movie needs a comic book hero and massive explosions to be good. Beautiful quiet human stories can be just as good.

This movie is all about the L narratives that somehow you can't be successful unless you have an education, of course all taught by L professors, who brainwash you into thinking like they do.

Helping the family on the farm is beneath this worldly child, she must be set free to see her true talents. It's a slap in the face to all the people working on farms, providing us the food & dairy we take for granted, & making them all appear to be backwards lowlifes.

Logging is bad so I guess everyone lives in a house made of cob, Hollywood loves bashing the rural way of life & logging is one of the only good paying jobs for rural towns, so they want it ended & force everyone to move to the city.

To me, it was a great movie that the whole family can sit and watch without being assaulted by Hollywood's warped morals and lack of decency. Why don't they make more movies like this? The mode of dress in that time and patterns were nice. The woodland scenes were beautiful. Ms Fairfield played an excellent role.

Had to stop watching snd turn it off don't wast your time.