The Awakening Land

Elizabeth Montgomery gave a surprisingly impressive performance in this story from a rarely covered period of US history, back when the edge of the American frontier was just over the Appalachians. In the unlikely event that this is ever shown again or otherwise becomes available, don't miss it... and let me know so I can see it again.

I enjoyed this miniseries so much when I was a teen. It was great, seeing Elizabeth Montgomery's real talent, so much more evident than in "Bewitched." I read Conrad Richter's trilogy and it was good to imagine the characters in the stories.

Later, when the Internet was available, I found a company in California that had "The Awakening Land" for sale, converted from VHS tape to DVD. They did advise me that the picture would not be very sharp (not HD) but they had it without the commercials.

I gladly paid the price they asked, and I watch it occasionally when there isn't anything worth watching on TV. A wonderful story of pioneer life, how they struggled and made good.

Based on Conrad Richter's ambitions trilogy, The Awakening Land is one of the finest TV mini-series ever produced for American television. Set in the Ohio frontier ca. 1790-1820, we see an American community form in the wilderness though the life of Sayward Luckett, a poor, uneducated pioneer woman blessed with great gifts of intelligence and courage. Through her often troubled marriage with Portious Wheeler, an eccentric and ambition New Englander, we see the clash and melding of the receding frontier with advancing "modern" civilization. Elizabeth Montgomery's portrayal of Sayward, a woman simultaneously simple but resourceful and intelligent, is surely the highlight of her rather underrated acting career.

The production has been treated shabbily by its owners since its premier in 1978. After years of silence, it was finally re-run in the early 1990s (I suspect owing to the fame of "Medicine Woman" Jane Seymour, who has a supporting role as Sayward's younger sister in "The Awakening Land") but I don't believe it was ever available to consumers on VHS. If it appeared on DVD I would snap it up in a minute.

Filmed in and around Springfield, Illinois, and the nearby reconstructed frontier village of New Salem, the mini-series is also notable for its setting in a time and place in American history rarely seen in movies or TV: the frontier period in the Midwest. One suspects the production aspired to be another "Roots," but even though it didn't match that show's rating, "The Awakening Land" excelled it in emotional sophistication and often in historical accuracy.

This mini series was based upon a series of books, The Trees, The Fields and The Town, by Conrad Richter, who also wrote A Light in the Forest. I am in the process of re-reading them, and I 'see' many of the scenes I remember from the show.

This mini series was also one of my favorites, I keep wishing that it would be released on Video/DVD.

Elizabeth Montgomery did a good job of playing "Saird", the woodsy who was responsible for building a town. Hal Holbrook was believable as the Solitary. What surprised me was reading that William Macy played Will Beagle, the Bound Boy.

How many mini-series have generational staying power? Roots? OK, what else? In my case "The Awakening Land" stands by itself in this regard. The characters may be fictional, but they're woven so well with the known history of the region and era that they *might be* real. For my money this stands as perhaps Elizabeth Montgomery's most enduring performance. Its certainly the one I'll remember her for.