Love Comes Softly
Genre	Christian drama
Directed by	Michael Landon Jr.
Produced by	Kevin Bocarde Kyle Clark
Written by	Cindy Kelly Michael Landon Jr. Janette Oke
Starring	Katherine Heigl Dale Midkiff Skye McCole Bartusiak Corbin Bernsen Theresa Russell
Music by	William Ashford Ken Thorne
Editing by	Colleen Halsey
Country	United States
Language	English
Original channel	Hallmark Channel
Release date	April 13, 2003
Running time	88 min.
Followed by	Love's Enduring Promise

Love Comes Softly is a 2003 Christian drama television movie set in the 19th century, based on a series of books by Janette Oke. It originally aired on Hallmark Channel in 2003. It was directed by Michael Landon Jr., and stars Katherine Heigl as a young woman named Marty Claridge.

It is the first in a series of television movies made for Hallmark Channel based on the books and produced for Hallmark by Larry Levinson Productions. The rest of the films to follow are: Love's Enduring Promise (2004), Love's Long Journey (2005), Love's Abiding Joy (2006), Love's Unending Legacy (2007), Love's Unfolding Dream (2007), and Love Takes Wing (April 4, 2009), and Love Finds a Home (April 11, 2009), as well as two prequels, Love Begins, Love's Everlasting Courage (both 2011), and Love's Christmas Journey (November 5, 2011).^[1][2][3]

Plot

Marty Claridge (Katherine Heigl) has just moved out to the West with her husband Aaron Claridge (Oliver Macready), who dies shortly after. With no other options, she accepts the arrangement offered by widower Clark Davis (Dale Midkiff), who offers to give her a place to stay for the winter and provides her with the fare for the wagon train heading back East in the spring. In exchange, they agree to get married, and he wants her to provide a maternal influence for his young daughter Missy (Skye McCole Bartusiak). The two do not live together as husband and wife but keep separate quarters. Marty, while expecting her late husband's baby, is even more in need of a warm place to stay. Still, it is not an ideal arrangement for any of them, and at first Marty and Missie do not get along. Marty learns more about "Clark's God" than she ever dreamed, and as the Winter season passes, they all start to feel more like a family, and finally Marty and Clark come to realize they're in love.

Cast

Differences from the novel

• In the book "Love Comes Softly", Missie is a toddler, around 2 years old, whereas in the movie she is 9. Clark and Marty are also older in the film than they are depicted in the book.
• Marty's husband is named Clem in the novel, but is named Aaron in the film.
• The Grahams have a grand total of 13 (11 living, 2 deceased) children in the novel. Ben Graham was a widower with 4 children, and Sarah Graham was a widow with 3, one that died at 7 years old. They then had 6 together, one having died as a baby. This is mentioned in Chapter 11 of the book. In the film, they only have 4; Ben with two sons, Sarah with two daughters. Also, Sarah Graham's first name is not given in the novel. In it, She is referred to as Ma Graham. Laura is also said to be Sarah's daughter in the film, but in the novel, she is Ben's daughter.
• Marty names her baby Claridge Luke in the book, but he's named Aaron Luke in the Film.

Awards

The following people took home a Camie Award in 2003 for their part in the film:

• Michael Landon Jr. (director/writer)
• Cindy Kelley (writer)
• Janette Oke (original story)
• Larry Levinson (executive producer)
• Robert Halmi Jr. (executive producer)
• Dale Midkiff (actor)
• Katherine Heigl (actress)
• Skye McCole Bartusiak (actress)

In 2004 Dale Midkiff won the Grace Award from MovieGuide for Most Inspirational Television Acting.

References

External links

• Love Comes Softly Series site at Hallmark Channel
• Love Comes Softly at the Internet Movie Database
• Love Comes Softly at AllRovi