DVD Review: The Waltons: Movie Collection

Written by Hombre Divertido

On January 26th Warner Home Video released The Waltons: Movie Collection. The collection consists of six made-for-TV movies that span the life of this classic family television from 1947 to 1969. Though these movies are generally considered “reunion” films, the differences between the first three and final three are significant.

The set opens with A Wedding on Walton’s Mountain which aired on February 22nd, 1982, just a little over seven months after the final episode of the series, and unfortunately picks up where the series left off in 1947. Sans Michael Learned (Olivia) and Richard Thomas (John-Boy), the story revolves around the impending nuptials of Erin (Mary Beth McDonough) to Paul Northridge (Morgan Stevens channeling a young Michael Biehn) and how the return of Erin’s former love interest Ashley Longworth Jr. (Louis Welch takes over for Jonathan Frakes and over plays the confidence and smugness of the character) stirs things up. Unfortunately the Erin love triangle is not enough to carry the film, and thus there are numerous sub-plots, all of which are poorly written.

The Waltons was cancelled after nine seasons due to the lack of quality that it had established early in its run. The cast of children had grown, but their acting abilities were still raw, and they were simply not up to the task of carrying the series that now rested on their shoulders in the absence of the talented Thomas and Learned who had been a source of stability in the series. Ralph Waite (John) is a fine actor, but he had been relegated to the role of family advisor by the time the series ended. The writers had simply run out of ideas and the stories had become trite. To produce a movie so soon after the cancellation served no purpose other than to confirm the decision to end the series run.

Despite the poor quality of A Wedding, fans looking for a true reunion tuned in, and CBS followed it with Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain three months later, and a Thanksgiving outing on November 22nd titled A Day of Thanks on Walton’s Mountain. Like A Wedding the two films were still set in 1947, and continued with the same cast though Michael Learned makes an all-too-brief appearance in the Mother's Day-themed film considering the title. John-Boy does appear in Day of Thanks but Robert Wightman, who was never able to capture the subtle intelligence, creativity, and vulnerability that Richard Thomas brought to the role, portrays him.

Article Author: Cinema Sentries

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