O Pioneers! (film)

*O Pioneers!*
O Pioneers!
	VHS cover
Genre	Drama
Based on	O Pioneers!; by Willa Cather
Teleplay by	Robert W. Lenski
Directed by	Glenn Jordan
Starring	Jessica Lange; David Strathairn; Tom Aldredge;
Music by	Bruce Broughton
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Craig Anderson
Producer	Glenn Jordan
Cinematography	Dick Bush
Editor	Scott Conrad
Running time	99 minutes
Production companies	Prairie Films; Craig Anderson Productions; Lorimar Television; Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions;
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	February 2, 1992

O Pioneers! is a 1992 American drama television film produced and directed by Glenn Jordan and written by Robert W. Lenski, based on the 1913 novel of the same title by Willa Cather. It originally aired as a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation on February 2, 1992 on CBS, and stars Jessica Lange. It was also the film debut for Anne Heche, who had a small supporting role in the film.

Plot summary

The film centers around a family of Swedish immigrants in Nebraska around the turn of the 20th century. The family's father dies and leaves the family farm to his daughter. She does her best to make the farm work when many others are giving up and leaving.^[1]
Marie Shabata (czech Šabata) is Emil’s childhood friend and the object of his love. She comes from a Bohemian family and is beautiful, She runs off and marries Frank Shabata when she’s just eighteen, but comes to believe that she was not the right person for Frank. She comes to return Emil’s love, and though she tries (and fails) to resist her feelings.

Cast

Jessica Lange as Alexandra Bergson
David Strathairn as Carl Linstrum
Tom Aldredge as Ivar
Reed Diamond as Emil
Josh Hamilton as Young Carl Linstrum
Heather Graham as Young Alexandra Bergson
Anne Heche as Marie

Filming locations

Much of the filming was done on location in and around Johnstown, in northern Nebraska. Many of the buildings used are still in use today and retain the board sidewalks seen in sections of the film.^[2] Additional scenes were filmed in Clarkson, Nebraska, in the northeast part of the state, at what was then the city's library, as well as a small farmhouse north of town.