The Pre-Series Movies
The Waltons was a successful and fondly remembered American television
drama series which was screened on CBS between 1972 and 1981. Produced by
Lorimar Productions, it ran to over 200 hour-long episodes and several
feature-length specials. The show followed the life of a large family living in
the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia from the middle of the Great Depression
through till the immediate post-war years of the 1940s. Subsequently, several
follow-up telemovies extended the timeline through to the late 1960s.
The creator of The Waltons was called Earl Hamner. In fact, the TV
show The Waltons was actually the last entry in a number of screen and
literary works which were based, to a greater or less extent, on Hamner own
experiences growing up in the 1930s. At that time, Hamner lived together with
his family – including his seven brothers and sisters: Cliff, Marion, Audrey,
Paul, Bill, Jim and Nancy – in a white, clapboard
house in the small town of Schuyler, Nelson County, Virginia.
Though it was the middle of the Depression, the Hamner family didn’t have it
quite as bad as one might think. The countryside provided much of
what city folks had to pay for – the mountains were a rich, and free source of
game, fish and wild fruit. The ample space available provided easy opportunity
to keep chickens, pigs and a cow or two. And any excess produce could
always be bartered with neighbors for other goods and services that were needed.
Aspiring author Hamner had kept his own private journal during his childhood,
documenting the day-to-day happenings within his family and all the assorted
interactions and gossip involving the neighbors living nearby.
Spencer’s Mountain
Written for the screen by Delmer Daves, based on the novel by Earl Hamner Jr.
Directed by Delmer Daves
Music by Max Steiner
Released May 16, 1963 (US)
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, A Delmer Daves Production. Starring: Henry
Fonda1, Maureen O'Hara2, James MacArthur3,
Donald Crisp4, Wally Cox5.
Introducing: Mimsy Farmer6. With: Virginia Gregg7,
Lillian Bronson8, Whit
Bissell9, Hayden Rorke10, Kathy Bennett11,
Dub Taylor12, Hope Summers13, Ken
Mayer14.
1 Clay Spencer.
2 Olivia Spencer.
3 Clay-Boy Spencer.
4 Grandpa Spencer.
5 Preacher Clyde Goodson.
6 Claris Coleman.
7 Miss Parker.
8 Grandma Spencer.
9 Dr. Amos Campbell.
10 Colonel Coleman.
11 Minnie-Cora Cook.
12 Percy Cook.
13 Mother Ida.
14 Mr. John.
Technicolor®. Filmed in Panavision®.
Charles Lawton A.S.C. (Director of Photography), Carl Anderson (Art Director),
David Wages
(Film Editor), M. A. Merrick (Sound), Ralph S. Hurst (Set Decorator),
Bert
Steinberger (Dialogue Supervisor), Robert Totten (Second Unit Director),
H. F. Koenekamp A.S.C. (Second Unit Director of Photography), Phil Rawlins (Second
Unit Assistant Director), Our thanks to the National Park Service Grand Teton
National Park Wyoming for their help and cooperation, Marjorie Best (Costume
Designer), Jean Burt Reilly C.H.S. (Supervising Hair Stylist), Gordon
Bau S.M.A.
(Makeup Supervisor), Murray Cutter (Orchestrations), Gil Kissel (Assistant
Director), RCA Sound Recording, A Warner Bros. – First National Picture.
© Copyright MCMLXIII [1963] Warner Bros. Pictures
Inc.
William Breen (Mountain Boy), Veronica Cartwright (Becky
Spencer), Michele Daves (Donnie Spencer), Bronwyn FitzSimons
(Dean's Secretary), Med Flory (Spencer Brother), Victor French
(Spencer Brother), Michael Greene (Spencer Brother), Mike Henry
(Spencer Brother), Robert 'Buzz' Henry (Ambulance Driver), Kym Karath
(Pattie-Cake Spencer), Rory Mallinson (Cop), Larry D. Mann
(Spencer Brother), Barbara McNair (Graduation Singer), James O'Hara
(Spencer Brother), Ray Savage (Spencer Brother), Gary Young (Matt
Spencer), Michael Young (Mark Spencer), Ricky Young (Luke
Spencer), Rocky Young (John Spencer), Susan Young (Shirley
Spencer), unknown (Dean Beck).15
15 All actors given in this paragraph are uncredited on the movie's
titles: the information has been taken from the Internet Movie Database and has
not been verified. There are also other speaking roles which do not seem to be
credited on the Database.
As the patriarch of a large and growing family living in the
Grand Teton mountains of Wyoming, Clay Spencer is fiercely
independent, yet dedicated to his family. While he resists the
influence of religion, he struggles to allow his son to attend
college, and to build a new home for his family.
In 1961, having only achieved sporadic success in his chosen career as a screen
writer, Hamner revisited his early journals with the intention of adapting them
into a full novel. The resulting book, Spencer's Mountain, followed a
couple of years in the life of 15-year-old Clay-Boy Spencer (a character
loosely based on Earl Hamner himself) living in the fictional village of New
Dominion, Virginia.
The novel met with good reviews and soon after the film rights were bought up
by Warner Brothers. Warner's cast Henry Fonda in the starring role of the family
patriarch, Clay Spencer. Co-starring were Maureen O'Hara as Clay's wife, Olivia,
and James MacArthur (later to become famous as "Book 'Em" Danno in Hawaii
Five-O) as Earl Hamner's fictional counterpart, Clay-Boy. Clay-Boy's love interest,
Claris, was to be played by Mimsy Farmer, later to work mainly in European
cinema.
In writing the movie's script, some portions of the book were passed over for
being too racy for cinema of the time. Earl Hamner has been critical of the
movie for "sexing up" his book but, in fact, the opposite is true: a quite
explicit sex scene from the book – in which Clay-Boy loses his virginity to his
sometime girlfriend Claris – is heavily truncated, and then also a later scene
where she claims to have fallen pregnant.
Also cut from the movie was an extended sequence where Clay-Boy has his first
experience of shooting game (here a deer, but the idea would later be reworked to
involve a wild turkey in the early The Waltons episode, The Hunt).
Another deletion involves Clay-Boy visiting two elderly hooch-brewing sisters.
Yes, the fondly remembered Baldwin ladies and their
"recipe" started here... but sadly at this stage they never made it from the
book to the screen (though they are mentioned in the movie). Our first
face-to-face meeting with the sisters (who were in fact,
inspired by a real-life mother and daughter from Hamner's boyhood)
would be postponed until The Homecoming telemovie, below. Luckily one
sequence – later to become the one of the best-remembered facets of The Waltons
TV series – was left in the script. We hear the family calling out goodnight to
each other (in numerous permutations) before finally extinguishing their bedroom
lights: a real family ritual from Hamner's childhood.
Authentic shooting in Virginia was considered out of the question due to the
distance factor, so the setting of the movie was transferred to the impressive
Grand Teton mountains in Wyoming. The location filming was carried out in the
small town of Jackson Hole over four weeks during June and early July 1962, with many of the local inhabitants willingly joining in as extras to swell out
the crowd scenes. The time period of the movie was also brought forward to
modern times (as of 1962), though due to the largely timeless nature of the locations and
costumes, this isn't really too obvious to the viewer.
Following this, the cast returned to Hollywood for another four weeks to film
the interiors. After the months of post-production, the cast travelled back to
Jackson Hole in the May of 1963 for a lavish three-day press premiere. During
this time, the Jackson townsfolk held a ceremony, attended by the cast, in which
they named one of the nearby mountains Spencer's Mountain, in honor of
the movie.
Contemporary reviews of the movie ranged from lukewarm to positive and, to my
mind, although it's reasonable enough viewing, it can hardly be called a
classic. Henry Fonda himself subsequently made no secret of the fact that he
didn't regard the movie as one of the better entries on his CV. In fact he would even later claim
that once he had read the eventual script he regretted ever signing his contract.
The main problem with the movie is insufficient "gee-whiz" factor. The
audience waits in vain for something big to happen, but it never does.
Unfortunately, one of the most significant moments of the story – Clay-Boy's
grandfather getting hit and killed by a falling tree – comes over as a bit
comical, as we see a dummy of the actor getting squashed in a rather
Monty Python-esque manner. Also, though the cast generally turn in
competent performances, Maureen O'Hara's Irish accent does seem variable at
times. And while mentioning matters of sound, the quality of the sound editing
on this movie is very dubious at times, even given the standards of the day.
The Homecoming: A Christmas Story
Teleplay by Earl Hamner Jr. from his novel entitled The Homecoming
Directed by Fielder Cook
Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith
Broadcast December 19, 1971 (CBS)
Starring: Patricia Neal1, Richard Thomas2,
Edgar Bergen3, Ellen Corby4, Dorothy
Stickney5, Josephine Hutchinson6, William
Windom7 and Cleavon Little as Hawthorne Dooley. Executive
Producer: Lee Rich. Producer: Robert Jacks.
1 Olivia Walton.
2 John-Boy Walton.
3 Grandpa Walton.
4 Grandma Walton.
5 Emily Baldwin.
6 Mamie Baldwin.
7 Charlie Sneed.
Earl Rath (Director of Photography), Robert E. Smith
(Production Designer), Neil T. Maffeo (Unit Production Manager), Max
Stein (Assistant Director), James G. Cane (Set Decorator), Pam
Polifroni (Casting), Marjorie Fowler A.C.E. (Film Editor), Gene
Fowler Jr. A.C.E. (Film Editor), Harold Lewis (Sound Mixer), Bob
Harris Jr. (Costumes), Betsy Cox (Costumes), Bob Sidell
(Makeup), Dione Taylor (Hair Stylist), Portions of the Fibber McGee
and Molly Program Courtesy of NBC Radio, Edward O. Denault
(Production Manager), Morton Stevens (Music Supervision), Exteriors
Filmed in Teton National Forest, A CBS Television Network Production,
Filmed at CBS Studio Center Studio City California.
© MCMLXXI [1971] Columbia Broadcasting System Inc.
Special Guest Star: Andrew Duggan (John Walton). Co-Starring: David
Huddleston (Sheriff Ep Bridges), Woodrow Parfrey (Ike Godsey),
Sally Chamberlin (City Lady). Jon Walmsley (Jason), Judy Norton
(Mary Ellen), Mary McDonough (Erin), Eric Scott (Ben), David
Harper (Jim-Bob), Kami Cotler (Elizabeth), David Livingston (Claudie),
Betty Carter (Emmarine), Kent Williams (Shepherd #1), Roderick
Bingley (Shepherd #2), Rodney Bingley (Shepherd #3), Miyoshi
Williams (Angel), Clarence Landry (Santa Claus), Carrie Hamner
(Young girl listening to City Lady)8, Scott Hamner
(Young boy listening to City Lady)8.
8 Uncredited on titles. Carrie Hamner is Earl Hamner's daughter;
Scott, his son. Scott would later write for The Waltons.
Christmas Eve 1933: the Walton children prepare for Christmas. They expect
their father home from work any time, but he fails to appear. Eldest son
John-Boy embarks on a mission to find him...
Hamner published a follow-up to Spencer's Mountain, entitled The
Homecoming, in 1970. Once again, the novel followed the lives of the Spencer
family but, although it was published after Spencer's Mountain, the
second book would actually seem to be a prequel to the first. Having said that, none of
the ages given for the various kids match up properly across the two books (e.g.
Pattie-Cake is three in The Homecoming and eight in Spencer's Mountain;
however, Luke is 10 in the former, but... eight in the latter!? Clay-Boy is 15 in both...).
Soon after publication, Spencer's Mountain attracted the eye of Phil Capice,
Vice-President of Specials and Movies at CBS who contracted fledgling production
company, Lorimar, to produce a TV movie of the book, to be run as a Christmas
special.
The rights to the use of the name "Spencer" went with the rights to the
earlier book and were still held by Warner Brothers. So, Lorimar found they had to
invent a whole new set of names. The family now became Walton. Father Clay
became John, and son Clay-Boy became John-Boy. Becky became Mary Ellen, Shirley
became Erin, John became Jason, Mark became Jim-Bob, and Pattie-Cake became
Elizabeth. Lorimar felt that there were too many kids in the original, so Matt
and Luke were conflated into a single character, Ben...
|
Character name in
Spencer's Mountain (book & movie) and The Homecoming
(book only) |
Character
name in The Homecoming movie and
The Waltons |
Name of real-life
Hamner sibling |
Actor in
The Homecoming and
The Waltons |
| Clay-Boy |
John-Boy |
Earl |
Richard Thomas |
| John |
Jason1 |
Cliff |
Jon Walmsley |
| Becky |
Mary Ellen |
Marion |
Judy Norton |
| Shirley |
Erin |
Audrey |
Mary McDonough |
| Matt |
Ben2 |
Paul |
Eric Scott |
| Luke |
Bill |
| Mark |
Jim-Bob |
Jim |
David Harper |
| Pattie-Cake |
Elizabeth |
Nancy |
Kami Cotler |
| Donnie3 |
- |
- |
- |
| Franklin Delano3 |
- |
- |
- |
| Eleanor3 |
- |
- |
- |
1 The musical ability was "transplanted" from the Jim-Bob character (representing
Jim Hamner) to Jason for the purposes of the TV show.
2 The separate Luke character was to originally have been called
Stuart in The Waltons.
3 Baby characters only in Spencer's Mountain (Donnie, book and
film; twins Franklin Delano and Eleanor, book only).
The Hamner siblings. Top row (l-r): Nancy, Jim,
Bill, Paul.
Bottom row (l-r): Audrey, Marion, Cliff, Earl.
The script of The Homecoming was written to follow the original book
quite closely. The main exception was an encounter between Clay-Boy/John-Boy and a
trapped deer out on the mountain which was deleted as too complicated to film.
The screen version also added some extra suspense with the family fearing that
father John has been involved in a possibly fatal bus crash – there is no crash
mentioned in the novel.
Filming was set for the fall of 1971. Lorimar copied the idea of relocating the
setting from Virginia
to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, just as the producers of Spencer's Mountain
had done. The town used for the filming of the location exteriors was again
Jackson Hole. Back in California, the interiors were shot at the CBS studio on Radford Avenue, Studio
City.
Most people viewing the The Homecoming today are looking at the
situation in reverse, as it were, and coming to it more familiar with the later
The Waltons TV series into which it evolved. For such viewers, all the
kids are instantly recognizable: they are all played by the same actors who
would go onto the series proper (though Ben, Jason and Erin aren't actually
given all that much to do in The Homecoming). Ellen Corby as grandmother
Esther Walton is also there, too. But that's really where the similarities stop.
Along with the smaller roles like Ike, the Baldwin ladies and Sheriff Ep
Bridges, both (Grandpa) Zebulon Walton and (Pa) John Walton are played by
different actors (Edgar Bergen and Andrew Duggan, respectively). But it's Olivia
Walton, played by Patricia O'Neal, who is the biggest shock to the system for
viewers more familiar with Michael Learned's later version of the same character.
O'Neal's much rougher, less gentle "Livy" sounds like she regularly gets
through a whole bottle of neat moonshine – and 60 smokes – a day!
Adherents of The Waltons series will also notice that the kids are a
little bit naughtier in this "pilot" movie. They talk about breasts (Mary Ellen
wonders why hers aren't growing) and call each other "piss ants" – it's
difficult to imagine either of those being allowed in one of the resulting
series' scripts! Although in common with the series, the seventies
haircuts (particularly David Harper's as Jim-Bob) do tend to date the visual
look of the piece.
The Homecoming was shown on CBS on Christmas Eve 1971 and achieved an
impressed 39% audience share. CBS ordered a full series from Lorimar,
particularly happy with the viewing figures and the effective set of child
actors who had been selected.
However, CBS were more uneasy about some of the adult roles. Worried about
Patricia Neal's health (she had earlier suffered a severe stroke), they
suggested the role of the mother be both recast and softened, despite the fact
that Neal had won a Golden Globe for her performance; the part ultimately
went to Michael Learned. Similarly, Edgar Bergen was really not strong enough to
stand the rigors of shooting a weekly show and he was replaced as the
grandfather by Will Geer.
According to legend, Henry Fonda (despite being far too old for the role) was
approached to play the father, John Walton, but responded, "I'm too old to play
second fiddle to a 15-year-old kid," and declined. The somewhat younger
Ralph Waite was signed on for the part instead.
There was absolutely no way a weekly show could afford the time or money to location in Virginia (or Wyoming come to that), so locations in and around
southern California would have to suffice, despite some differences in
the native vegetation. Also, other actors who lived in California – and thus close to
the studios – would have to be found to replace those playing the smaller parts
(such as Ike and the Baldwin sisters),
most of whom lived further afield.
