Around our house we are big on themes, and we like to make ordinary days fun, which is why we observe things like Old Movie Mondays (old movies from the 50's, 60's and 70's), Time Warp Tuesdays (videos on You Tube that focus on life in the 50's, 60's and 70'), and Throwback Thursday (1 1/2 to 2 hours of vintage 60's/70's sitcoms). Friday is Family Game Night (newly reinstituted) and we leave a few days open for other selections. We also often don't observe each of these themes every week, but they do sort of serve as a guideline to aide us in the often asked question, "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO WATCH?".
Christy is based on the 1967 novel Christy, written by Catherine Marshall, the widow of Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall (who was immortalized by Richard Todd in the 1955 feature film, A Man Called Peter). The novel, inspired by Marshall’s mother’s adventures in the mountains of Tennessee, tells the story of Christy Huddleston, a young woman who goes to Tennessee to help teach the impoverished children of the highlanders. In the television series, which takes place in 1912 Tennessee, Christy (portrayed by Kellie Martin), is inspired by a visit from Miss Alice Henderson (portrayed byTyne Daly), and against her family's objections, packs up and goes to Miss Alice’s Quaker missionary located in the fictional village of Cutter Gap. There, the naive but strong-willed Christy witnesses first hand the poverty, relative ignorance and superstition of the farmers and miners who work there, but she also falls in love with the beauty of the Smokey
Last night we watched what was the two-hour pilot episode when Christy firsts arrives to teach school at the mission and is immediately faced with obstacles. The church building where school is held during the week isn't completed. There are very few books and they are in bad repair, and she is shocked to find that none of the children are own a pair of shoes. There are ongoing fueds between families which results in bullying, and Christy is shocked at the conditions she finds her students living in when she visits their houses. It's quite the culture shock, and for a brief moment, she almost decides to leave. But then on the very morning when she's about to give up and quietly slip away, one of her young students, Mountie O'Teale, who up to that point had not spoken a word, finds her sewing buttons on her coat and says, "buttons". That is the moment that changes everything for Christy and she realizes that in spite of the hardships, she really is reaching the children and making a difference in their lives. Mountie is probably my favorite of the stidents, but I'm also very fond of two of the little boys, Little Burl Allen, who 'came to exchange howdies with you", and Sam Houston Holcombe, who teaches Christy that in the highlands of the Smokey Mountians, houses don't have addresses, at least, not in 1912.
In the series Ruby Mae is an orphan who lives and works in the kitckitchen at the mission. and Christy's influence transforms Ruby into a lovely and capable young woman.
There are also a couple of love interests, Rev. David Grantland, who is based on Catherine Marshall's husband, Peter, and Dr. Neil MacNeill, who has lived with this community almost all of his life with the exception of a brief period when he went to school to get his degree. Christy is non-committal in the series, likely because it unfortunately didn't last long, but there were three additional movies made after the series ended (Christy is portrayed by Lauren Lee Smith), and in one of them she marries Neil. I've never seen those movies. I was disappointed that Kellie Martin didn't reprise her role, but many of the other cast members did, so perhaps it's worth giving them a try.
If you are interested in the series or the other movies, you can find them linked below.
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