L.M. Montgomery Research Group

Lantern Hill (1990)

Cast and Credits

Produced by Lantern Hill Motion Pictures Inc. in association with the Disney Channel, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Wonderworks, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the with the participation of Telefilm Canada. Production Services provided by Sullivan Films Inc. Running time: 111 minutes. Disney Channel airdate: 27 Jan. 1990. CBC airdate: 30 Dec. 1990. PBS airdate: 2 Mar. 1991.

Mairon Bennett (Jane Stuart), Sam Waterston (Andrew Stuart), Colleen Dewhurst (Hepzibah), Zoe Caldwell (Mrs. Kennedy), Patricia Phillips (Robin Stuart), Vivian Reis (Aunt Irene), Joyce Campion (Violet Titus), Florence Paterson (Justina Titus), Robert Benson (William Kennedy), and Sarah Polley (Jody).

A Kevin Sullivan Production. Based on the novel Jane of Lantern Hill by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Screenplay by Fiona McHugh and Kevin Sullivan. Executives in Charge of Production: Cathy Johnson, Jim Burt, and Jay Rayvid. Line Producer: David Shepherd. Executive Producer: Trudy Grant. Produced and Directed by Kevin Sullivan.

Commentary and Synopsis

This two-hour film borrows more from the conventions of the hero’s quest than it does from Montgomery’s novel Jane of Lantern Hill: forced into exile at her wealthy grandmother’s house after her mother is hospitalized for polio, Jane Stuart is haunted by dreams of a past she cannot understand. Although she always presumed her father was dead, Jane soon learns that her parents are really separated and that her father is very much alive. Shortly thereafter, Jane is forced to meet the father she knows nothing about and live with him for three months in Prince Edward Island. Together with her sidekick Jody (Sarah Polley of Road to Avonlea) and the old mystic Hepzibah (Colleen Dewhurst of Anne of Green Gables), Jane investigates the causes of her parents’ separation and allows a restless ghost to finally rest in peace.

Toronto Star critic Jim Bawden reviewed the film. “When you think of it, Canadian author L.M. Montgomery wrote only one good novel in her life. Anne Of Green Gables was such a monumental hit, it forced her to rewrite the same story over and over again. Chances are you won’t have read the justly obscure Jane Of Lantern Hill, which features not one but two orphaned Anne-type characters and tosses in haunted houses in Prince Edward Island, too. Director Kevin Sullivan, who has just about exhausted the Montgomery oeuvre by now, manages to distract us from the story’s basic lunacy” (10).

The CBC postponed its initial broadcast of Lantern Hill for nearly a year because they feared overexposing Sarah Polley, the lead in Sullivan’s weekly series Road to Avonlea, which premiered on 7 Jan. 1990. The film is the recipient of two Gemini Awards, one for Best Supporting Actress (Polley) and one for Best Costume Design (Martha Mann). Colleen Dewhurst was nominated for both a CableAce Award and an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress.