#christianhistorical,  BOOKS,  thoughts

TV Movies Based on Christian Historical Fiction!

Genres: Christian Fiction, Romance

I absolutely love to read historical fiction so anytime a favorite historical novel is brought to life on the small screen I’m thrilled especially when they are Hallmark movies! Every movie that I’ve ever watched on Hallmark I’ve really enjoyed but two of my very favorites are Love Comes Softly based on the prairie romance novel by Janette Oke and Hidden Places, the Depression Era novel by Lynn Austin. I’m sure most of you have read Love Comes Softly and a lot of you have probably read Hidden Places and hopefully enjoyed them as much as I did. When Hallmark announced that they were going to make these classic books into films I was so excited. Of course I knew that they weren’t going to be quite the same as the books themselves and they weren’t but I still enjoyed them.

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My favorite will always be the first Love Comes Softly film with Katherine Heigl and Dale Midkiff. I didn’t really the actors in the later films as much as I did these two, they just seemed to have the best chemistry and once you have a picture of what that character looks like it’s hard to make the transition when they introduce a new actor in the same role. The entire series is still really enjoyable however and captured the faith and love of Janette Oke’s books. My favorite scene is the bathtub scene (don’t worry it’s PG), I still laugh out loud every time I watch it! Do you have a favorite part?

Love Comes Softly, DVD

By Janette Oke / Word Entertainment Inc

Marty Claridge is a young woman reluctantly headed west with her husband, Aaron to start a new life. When Aaron dies suddenly, Marty is left far from home and in a sea of strangers. Adrift in her tragedy, Marty has no means of caring for herself until Clark Davis offers to marry her and care for her until she can return to the East. Clark needs a mother for his ten-year-old daughter who is determined to foil all of Marty’s attempts at kindness.

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Hidden Places was totally different than the book. A lot of reviews I’ve read complain that the best parts of the book are not in the film and I definitely see where they are coming from. I missed the back story of Aunt “Batty” that was in the book but I loved her character as played by Shirley Jones in the film. She really did Aunt Batty justice! Again a pretty good film with a tad bit of mystery and a sweet romance!

Hidden Places, DVD

By Gaiam Americas

Widow Eliza Wyatt is desperate. The bank is about to foreclose on Wyatt Orchard, and she must bring in the harvest before she loses everything. She’s hoping for a miracle. Is down-on-his-luck veteran Gabe Harper the answer to her prayers? Based on Lynn Austin’s award-winning novel, this powerful film stars Sydney Penny, Jason Gedrick, and Oscar-winner Shirley Jones. Special features includes discussion guide, and an excerpt from Lynn Austin’s upcoming book&#151A Woman’s Place. Approx. 86 minutes.

Do you enjoy films based on books? What are some of your favorites? On the flip side are there any to avoid? I wanna know! 🙂


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23 Comments

  • Margaret Chind

    I love watching movies like this. That would be a great list of movies based on the books in Christian Historical Fiction. I know I’ve tried to find some before, but it seems like I never really know what’s out there. Any good list suggestions? (I could make another page here…)

  • Joy @ Edgy Inspirational Romance

    Oooh, I loved the Love Comes Softly movies! I’ve read the book Hidden Places but I had no idea they had a movie out for that one. I’ll have to look it up.

  • Laura Frantz

    Hi Margaret and Renee,
    Great post! And I so agree with you about LCS – there was such a tenderness and freshness to that first film. And you’ve taught me something here – I never knew about HIdden Places. Looks so good! I just read my first Lynn Austin novel and loved the spiritual thread. Bless u both!!

  • Julia

    Love Love Comes Softly, although I don’t think I’ve seen all of them yet. I didn’t know there was a Lynn Austin movie. I’ve read and enjoyed a few of her books so this sounds right up my alley.

    I think my all-time favorite is Pride & Prejudice (A&E Version with Jennifer Ehle & Collin Firth). And all the Avonlea movies starring Megan Follows. .

  • Susan

    Wonderful guest post! Both of these seem like really good books/movies! I have seen so many books turned into movies. One of the earliest that I truly enjoyed was Gone with the Wind.

  • Renee Ann

    Great review of two lovely movies, Renee! I enjoyed both of these and all of the movies you, Laura, and Julia mentioned–especially Megan Follows as Anne of Green Gables. (She breaks my heart!) Also, I think I love every version of Little Women I’ve ever seen and a sweet movie called The Magic of Ordinary Days.

    Some other good films based specifically on Christian books but not all historical are The Last Sin Eater (Francine Rivers, historical), A Vow to Cherish (Deborah Raney), Saving Sarah Cain (Beverly Lewis), and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.

  • Kate

    Great post, but i’m not sure most books translate well to movies, no matter how fastidious the directors are. I will admit that I am not married to only Christian Historical Fiction, since I love books like Blood Soup by Kelly A. Harmon , but it is always good for an uplifting reads.

  • Christy Janes

    Great post, Renee!! 🙂 I agree with you and everyone else about the first movie being THE best of the entire series. The second one was good, too, and KH was still apart of the main cast. My favorite scene of LCS was the skunk in the barn, and the follow-up tomato bath!

    @Margaret Chind I saw The Last Sin Eater as well, and I really wasn’t a fan of it. Not long after I saw it, I listened to an audio book, and still couldn’t connect with the story at all. Unfortunately, that has to be my least favorite Francine Rivers story.

  • Amber Stokes

    OK, I just have to leave a comment! 😉 I haven’t seen Hidden Places, but I LOVED Love Comes Softly (I have all 8 of the movies, but the first three/four are by far my favorite!)!

    I agree with you, Renee, that North & South is just one you want to keep–soooooo good!

    And I actually LOVED both the book and the movie for The Last Sin Eater. That story is so amazing, and the movie does a great job of portraying what the book says, in my opinion. 🙂

    Though None Go With Me makes me cry pretty much every time I see it! Oh, so powerful!

    Saving Sarah Cain was good, too, although perhaps not my favorite.

    The Anne of Green Gables movies and the Avonlea series are AMAZING and incomparable to any other series, in my opinion. 😉

    I do love the Christy T.V. series, as well, based on the book by Catherine Marshall (which I started but have never finished yet).

    Ummm…is there anything more I should say? 😉 Sorry for going on like that, but I thought I would share some of my opinions! Thanks for starting such a fun discussion, Renee!

    ~Amber

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