FAQ

Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End is the third movie in a trilogy of movies based on a series of children's books by American author Patricia MacLachlan. The first movie, Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991) (1991) was adapted from a 1985 book of the same name. The second movie, Skylark (1993) (1993) was adapted from MacLachlan's 1994 book of the same name. This movie, Winter's End is based on the third book in the series, Caleb's Story (2001). There are two more books in the series: More Perfect Than the Moon (2004) and Grandfather's Dance (2006).

At the beginning of the movie, it says that the story is taking place in 1918.

Yes. Sarah Witting (nèe Wheaton) is once again played by Glenn Close, and Christopher Walken plays her husband Jacob. Their two children, Anna and Caleb, are played respectively by Lexi Randall and Christopher Bell. A new member of the family, Sarah and Jacob's daughter Cassie, is played by Emily Osment. In addition, the Witting family is joined by Jacob's father John (Jack Palance) when he shows up years after abandoning his family and leaving Jacob to believe that he was dead.

John's explanation to Jacob is that his wife didn't like living on the Kansas prairie and blamed him for destroying her chances at a better life. John felt that his wife and child would be better off without him, and so he took to the road.

He doesn't give a blow-by-blow accounting, but he does explain that he moved around a lot and never really found another place to call "home." He mentions in passing that he worked as a medic in the Spanish War, as a cook on a ranch in Oregon, and as a farmhand on a cattle ranch in Wyoming.

The winter draws to an end, and spring arrives. In the interim, Anna learns that her boyfriend Justin (Calen Pick) has been wounded in the war and sent to a hospital in New York. On Easter day, Justin comes home. In the final scene, Jacob and Sarah hear a meadowlark singing, and the entire family -- Jacob, Sarah, Anna, Caleb, Cassie, John, Justin, Justin's father, and Nick the dog -- go into the house to sit down to their Easter dinner.

The actual house exteriors and interiors, barn(s) and scenes around the homestead are filmed at 4171 West 285th Street, Osage City, Kansas. The owners of the home actually purchased the homestead BECAUSE of this movie! They love showing guests around the property and allow them to take pictures. The place is about 90% the way it looked in the movie, except the original home owners had the movie crew change a few things back after they were done filming, and the windmill has fallen down. Also, there is a new barn on site since the original barn burned during the second movie.