| The Magic of Ordinary Days | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Period romance |
| Created by | Hallmark Hall of Fame |
| Based on | The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel |
| Written by | Camille Thomasson |
| Directed by | Brent Shields |
| Starring | Keri Russell Skeet Ulrich Mare Winningham |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Andrew Gottlieb |
| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | January 30, 2005 (2005-01-30) |
The Magic of Ordinary Days is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production based on a novel of the same name by Ann Howard Creel and adapted as a teleplay by Camille Thomasson. It was directed by Brent Shields, produced by Andrew Gottlieb and stars Keri Russell, Skeet Ulrich, and Mare Winningham.
The film first aired on CBS on January 30, 2005, and received an encore broadcast on the same network exactly five years later.
Plot
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Set during World War II, Olivia "Livy" Dunne is a Denver minister's young daughter who has become pregnant by a United States Navy flight instructor on furlough. Embarrassed by his daughter's out of wedlock pregnancy, her father quietly arranges for her to marry.
Livy is sent to a rural southeastern Colorado town to marry Ray Singleton, who operates his family farm. Hearing of Livy's dilemma, Ray agrees to marry without even having met her. Unbeknownst to Livy, he has lost both of his parents and his younger brother during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Though young, handsome and a family man, Ray has little opportunity to find a wife in this remote region. His sister Martha, her husband and their three children are the only family he has left.
Ray and Livy are very different. Livy studied archeology in graduate school, knows nothing of cooking or farming and is not particularly religious. Ray is a man of few words. A hard worker, he is kind, honest and patient. His daily activity is focused on working his family's farm. Livy and Ray strive hard to be polite and courteous to each other, but are awkward in each other's company.
Though agreeing to marry for her father, Livy never intended to remain. She secretly writes to United States Navy Lieutenant Edward Brown, her baby's father. A visit by her sister brings sharp contrast between the life Livy came from and the life she is living now, but it is also apparent how much Livy has changed her view of her surroundings. Her sister has no news of Lt. Brown, who has yet to answer Livy's letters. As her husband has been called up to serve, her sister is lonely. She asks Livy to leave Ray to come stay with her in Denver, suggesting they make up stories of him drinking and being violent to justify it. Livy cannot do this, as he is a decent man.
As most young men are at war, Ray's farm is lacking in farm hands. The farm is supplemented by Japanese Americans internees from nearby Camp Amache. Livy, feeling isolated and alone, befriends two sisters from the camp, Florence and Rose Umahara. Both are well-educated, and she finds familiarity and comfort in their friendship.
Livy comes to value the life people like Martha and Ray lead. The love and forbearance shown to her stand in marked contrast with what she had known since her mother's passing. With the baby coming, she finally hears back from the lieutenant. Ray is hurt to discover that she has continued to write to the lieutenant and angrily leaves to work the night shift at the beet factory. Livy reads the letter from Lt. Brown who insists he couldn't be the father. Livy confides to Martha that she has hurt Ray. Feeling guilty, she plans to leave for Denver shortly before the baby's birth. Knowing she's determined to leave him, Ray tells her he loves her and gives her his mother's wedding ring.
As a favor to the Umahara sisters, Livy promised to meet Florence's boyfriend. As she's driving to meet them, she admires the wedding ring and realizes that she has fallen in love with Ray. When she meets Florence's secret boyfriend, she realizes he is a German POW wearing a uniform that Florence made for him to pass off as an American. Livy tells Florence that she could be arrested if she's caught trying to help a German POW escape and convinces her to forget him. She drops off the sisters at their camp and drives off with the POW taking him to her home. She has him change his clothes with Ray's clothing. She then deliberately leaves the keys by the door and goes into the kitchen allowing him steal her truck and drive off.
Once he leaves, her water breaks. She quickly phones the police to report her truck stolen by a German POW so they can arrest him, and also asks for a doctor as she has begun labor. She burns the uniform and throws the locket with Lt. Brown's photo into the fire. As she watches it burn, Ray arrives and she tells him she is in labor. A few hours later, she gives birth to a boy. Livy and Ray share a tender kiss, finally recognizing that they are in love with each other. A few months later, she has a baby shower where she receives a blanket from the Umahara sisters with the name Daniel embroidered on it, implying that she has named her son after Ray's deceased younger brother.
Later, Livy holds hands with Ray as he carries little Daniel out of their house on their first archeological dig as family on their family farm.
Cast
- Keri Russell as Olivia 'Livy' Dunne-Singleton
- Skeet Ulrich as Ray Singleton
- Mare Winningham as Martha
- Tania Gunadi as Florence
- Gwendoline Yeo as Rose
- Steve Strachan as Hank
- Katie Keating as Ruth
- Ken Pogue as Reverend Case
- Eric Winter as Walter
- Jane McGregor as Abby
- Daryl Shuttleworth as Reverend Dunne
- Brayden Bullen as Hank Jr.
- Sam Dyer as Chester
- Mary Black as Marian Case
- Jackie Robbins as Mrs. Pratt
- Joyce Robbins as Mrs. Parker
- Karl Roth as Slim
- Andy Maton as Dr. McCutcheon
- Roger Haskett as Telephone Man
- Kira Bradley as Librarian
- Tom Carey as Shop Keeper
- Calvin Vollrath as Fiddler at Dance (uncredited)
Reception
The premiere broadcast on CBS in 2005 attracted 18.7 million viewers, making it the highest-rated television film since the 2001-02 season. According to the author of the original novel, "as of early 2009, the screenplay for a sequel has been written and approved. Hallmark Hall of Fame is waiting for principal actors to become available to begin production and filming."
In 2005, Robert Bianco of USA Today gave the film 
(3½ out of 4 stars), saying:
If only TV movies this good were ordinary events....Days does sometimes stress a link between "country" and "uncomplicated" that probably never existed. But underneath the contrasts between Ray's simple ways and Livvy's more cultured upbringing is a binding, universal message about the need to accept the consequences of our acts. An ordinary lesson, perhaps, but it takes an extraordinary movie to make us listen.
References
- ^ Full cast and crew for The Magic of Ordinary Days. - IMDb.
- Hallmark Hall of Fame's Acclaimed The Magic of Ordinary Days Is Special Encore Presentation on CBS, a January 7, 2010 press release from the Hallmark website
- Erickson, Hal. - The Magic of Ordinary Days. - All Movie Guide at Allmovie.
- Hallmark makes magic, a January 27, 2005 review from USA Today