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Customer Reviews of Christy

Tender Drama
This gentle and heartfelt drama is a wholesome film of substance. Based on the cherished book by Catherine Marshall of her mother's time in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains in 1912 it is the story of a young and exuberant city girl who comes to teach in the poverty-striken Cutter Gap and the manner in which it changes her life forever.

The book was warm and wonderful and I had my doubts that feeling could truly be captured on film or television but was truly suprised when this came out. It is faithful in conveying both the feelings and the atmosphere of the book and for many, including myself, Kellie Martin will always be Christy Huddelson. Her wide eyed and hopeful performance is perfect and Tyne Daly adds some depth as a Quaker woman who has seen heartahe before and had the strength to go on.

The wonderful Tess Harper (Tender Mercies, The Man in the Moon) portrays the sensible and delicate Fairlight Spencer, who offers Christy the most cherished gift of these great mountains; her friendship. There is a wholesome and romantic glow to this movie as the hardships these people experience in their lives every day and the sometimes illegal means they use to survive (moonshine) comes into conflict with the teachings of the young Minister David (Randall Batinkoff) who is smitten with Christy.

But the doctor who understands the people of Cutter Gap better may be the one she will find love with if she can hold on to the joy that brought her here. Stewart Finlay-McLennan has a nice turn as Neil, the doctor who may have some feelings of his own about Christy. But it is the children and their teacher who take center stage as Christy faces opposition which keeps some of the children away. None of them have shoes and sometimes have little to eat but some of them do have a thirst for knowledge.

Her greatest challenge is a little girl who does not speak and an older boy who's father is the worst of the moonshiners. He acts like a bully because it is what he's been taught but when she catches him reading David Copperfield and talking angrily about making something of himself from nothing she knows there is hope. The attemted destruction of the schoolhouse brings everything to a point where she will have to decide once and for all to either stay or leave forever.

The greens and blues of the beautiful Smoky Mountains have been perfectly photographed by Mike Fash in director Michael Rhodes's warmhearted remembrance of this young and pretty teacher who came there and made a difference. Patricia Green co-produced and wrote the teleplay from Catherine Marshall's book and the affection everyone involved had for it comes across beautifully on screen.

This film will break your heart one moment and uplift your spirits the next. It was followed by a series but stands nicely on it's own as a warm and sometimes poignant examination of a life given to children. It is a wonderful film to own as you surely should....