Beyond the Prairie, Part 2: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (2002) (TV)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Marcus Cole

Writer (WGA):

Stephen Harrigan (written by)

Release Date:

17 March 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Biography

Tagline:

She didn't just write "The Little House On The Prairie"... she lived it.

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

Meredith Monroe	...	Laura Ingalls Wilder
Walton Goggins	...	Almanzo Wilder
Thomas Ian Griffith	...	Cornelius Loudermilk
Skye McCole Bartusiak	...	Rose Wilder
Tess Harper	...	Older Laura Ingalls Wilder (voice)
Lindsay Crouse	...	Caroline Ingalls
Richard Thomas	...	Charles Ingalls
Joe Stevens	...	George Magnuson
Heather Kafka	...	Beth Magnuson
Cody Linley	...	Charlie Magnuson
Marco Perella	...	Grady
Christina Stojanovich	...	Rose at 14
Konstantin Selivanov	...	Mikhail
Mark Voges	...	Backtracker
Charles Sanders	...	Professor Kaye

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Company:

Columbia TriStar Television

Movie Connections:

Follows Little House on the Prairie (1974) (TV)

Everyone needs a good family film once in awhile

This is the sequel to "Beyond The Prairie, The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder", the lady who at age 65 began writing the first of 8 books about her childhood in the Dakotas in the 1870's known as the "Little House" books. I grew up watching the tv series based on those books, "Little House on the Prairie", and continue to enjoy the true stories of Wilder in these films about her young adult life. Meredith Monroe's Wilder ages about ten years in this sequel as she & her husband Almanzo and daughter Rose move to Missouri to raise apples. They settled there and eventually built a bigger house. Along the way, Laura's very bright & pretty daughter is bullied by jealous local kids who've forgotten their roots and Almanzo's health fails, leaving Laura to farm their new land pretty much on her own. She finds help in the form of a widowed farmer who has been through the same kind of misery she had in the first installment of this film (which ought to become a series on CBS, the network where the movies premiered): failed crops and a burnt house.

There are miles of beautiful scenery to be had in this film, unspoiled wilderness most likely created within a computer in regards to an early scene with hundreds of covered wagons. Monroe isn't a great actress but she's likeable and conveys enough strength of Wilder's character to keep you interested.