Masterpiece Theatre | American Collection | The Song of the Lark

Essays + Interviews [imagemap with 9 links]

The Making of The Song of the Lark
The producers envisioned a singular film emerging from Cather's novel, and they discuss the challenges of that effort here.

"... Willa Cather wrote that she was not interested in the period of time after somebody became a great diva or a great star; she was interested in the struggle to become a great musician, or a great actor, or a great anything -- the struggle was what interested her...."

Bringing The Song of the Lark to Film
Screenwriter Joseph Maurer discusses the perils encountered and the inevitable compromises required in "making Thea sing out loud."

"... My immediate impression of Thea was that she was more bird of prey than lark, a clarification that Cather painstakingly makes in a later introduction to the novel. Thea is wild, driven, solitary, and, finally, magnificent. Yet somehow her struggle is a universal one. The quest to make the most of one's gift -- to excel with integrity -- occupies us all...."

Willa Cather 1873-1947
A brief introduction to the life of one of America's best-loved authors.

In her life and work, Willa Cather is remembered as a pioneer much like the women, artists, and immigrants she chronicled in her fiction. Determined to have her voice heard, Cather ignored conventional notions of a woman's place in society, living an independent life and remaining true to her artistic vision....