Monday 28 March 2011

When Calls the Heart

A little while ago I came across another film that was in development which was based upon one of Janette Oke's novels. 'When Calls the Heart' is the first book in Janette's Canadian West Series. I was particularly excited to hear of this as I loved the series as books. I think it is fantastic to see more and more Christian books being adapted into movies.


The Cast includes:

Maggie Grace as Elizabeth Thacher
Stephan Amell as Wynn Delaney

and is said to be directed by Michael Landon Jr
"When Calls the Heart" tells the story of Elizabeth Thatcher (Maggie Grace), a cultured, young Toronto schoolteacher who in 1910 bids farewell to her father (Peter Coyote) to take a teaching position out west in the hardscrabble Alberta prairie. Despite the many hardships of her new frontier life, she cares deeply for her schoolchildren. But she has closed her heart to love - until she meets Wynn Delaney (Stephen Amell), a member of the Royal North-West Mounted Police."

Unfortunately there is no longer an Imdb link to this film, and there is not alot of information on this made for TV movie. Filming in Canada has been confirmed (and the movie is said to have been completed in 2010) However a release date or trailer is not avaliable. Hopefully we will hear more about this film soon.

Here are several pictures I have found

Although hard to see this production still shows
 Elizabeth Thatcher (Maggie Grace) with
Wynn Delaney (Stephen Amell)

Maggie Smith on set with Natasha Calis



7 comments:

Miss Laurie said...

I think I read most of this book, the plot sounds familiar! Maybe they plan to release it after they do the other two in the Love Comes Softly series. It is neat that more Christian books are being adapted, but I don't like all the changes they make. It took me a long time to be able to watch the Love Comes Softly films because they were so different from the books I loved reading as a young teen.
Hallmark is doing a book by Beverly Lewis 'The Shunning' as a film. I've already seen the trailer for that and it looks good, I don't think I've read any of her books.

Thanks for posting about this!
~Miss Laurie
Old-Fashioned Charm

Mel said...

You could be absolutely right, it would make sense if they would like to wait until the other two are released. I also read the 'Love Comes Softly series' as a young girl. I fell in love with Willie Lahaye in particular (My name is Melissa and there was a time where I made EVERYONE call me Missie because I thought it meant I could marry Willie). I couldn't take it when the films killed him off :)
I do enjoy them now though once I told myself to watch them just as movies not as movies adapted from books.

I haven't read any of Beverly Lewis' books, but my sister has and she really enjoys them. I have seen the trailer for 'The Shunning' and it does look really good. I am really hoping that they will make some movies based on some Lori Wick books. I think she is an incredible writer!

Thank you for your wonderful comments, they brighten my day :)
Mel

Unknown said...

I too am looking forward to seeing this movie(and its sequel)! I simply hope more people would be more informative about movies such as this. Wholesome and Christian entertainment has always been on my heart, and therefore it saddens me when less people speak of these productions. But thank you, Mel, for being a voice for these movies!

P.S. - I too have a blog, and it is dedicated to informing people about good, Christian entertainment: www.kimberlygschristianentselect.blogspot.com

Mel said...

Hi Kimberly,

It's lovely to hear from others who have a passion for these lovely films. In case you wished to know more about these films I thought I'd let you know I also wrote a follow-up post to this film series about a month or so ago here: http://butwhenayoungladyistobeaheroine.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/update-film-adaptations-of-janette-okes.html

Thank you for linking me to your blog. I followed it and I think that it is a lovely blog. I look forward to your future posts :)

Anonymous said...

I see that Natasha Calis is in this movie. She is such a great actress and has done a lot in her relatively short career. She is the star of a great movie that just came out called "The Possession" and was GREAT as the young girl at the center of the movie. She looks young in this movie, so she must have done it a while ago. I can only imagine how great she is in this movie. Really looking forward to seeing it.

Andrea Schartz said...

I cannot wait for this movie. I hope they don't change a lot! Although I'm from the states, my grandma grew up in the "north" of Alberta and I recognize all the places in the book - shoot I've been to all the cities in the book! I used to travel with my grandparents every summer to visit with my Canadian family;Elizabeth reminds me so much of my great-grandma and the stories she told me. Ughh can't wait!!

Andrea Schartz said...

I cannot wait for this movie. I hope they don't change a lot! Although I'm from the states, my grandma grew up in the "north" of Alberta and I recognize all the places in the book - shoot I've been to all the cities in the book! I used to travel with my grandparents every summer to visit with my Canadian family;Elizabeth reminds me so much of my great-grandma and the stories she told me. Ughh can't wait!!