Pioneer Woman (1973)

Joanna Pettet is Maggie Sergeant, about to break news of her pregnancy to her husband when he arrives home with a surprise of his own.

John Sergeant (William Shatner), a drug store clerk in a rented Indiana home, has just purchased 80 acres of Nebraska farmland.

Thrilled about the prospect of owning land of his own, he’ll be taking his wife and two children West.

Maggie is not thrilled. She doesn’t want to leave her family. She doesn’t want her children to abandon their schooling.

And she finds it impossible to tell her husband of her condition given the trip ahead.

So the Sergeant family heads West, only to encounter another surprise when they reach the land John has purchased.

Squatters are already there. In fact, they’ve been living there for seven years. And they have no intention of giving up their land.

In the scuffle that follows, John is nearly drowned, Maggie loses her baby. And they’re forced to sign over their property rights.

So they head to Wyoming and the promise of free land to anyone willing to tame it.

Joanna Pettet as Maggie Sergeant, bidding farewell to husband John (William Shatner) in Pioneer Woman (1973)

William Shatner as John Sergeant, announcing his purchase of land in Nebraska in Pioneer Woman (1973)

Review:

A quite somber tale that’s probably a truer reflection of the loneliness of frontier life than what you’ll see in many Westerns celebrating the frontier spirit.

Joanna Pettet turns in a fine performance as the woman narrating the story. She admires her husband’s work ethic, though the rigors leave little time for the companionship she’d like to enjoy with him.

William Shatner made this film post-Star Trek. David Janssen turns in a much better performance as the rancher who tolerates and only occasionally helps those settling around his grazing cattle.

The highlight of the film is a desperate battle against a prairie fire that threatens the Sergeants’ first wheat crop. And, in the process, threatens Maggie’s dreams of heading back East.

And, yep, that’s future film star Helen Hunt in the role of the daughter. She was 10 when this film was released and it marked her movie debut.

David Janssen as Robert Douglas, the rancher barely tolerate of Wyoming settlers in Pioneer Woman (1973)

Lance LeGault as Joe Wormser, welcoming the Sergeant family to Wyoming in Pioneer Woman (1973)

Directed by:
Buzz Kulik

Cast:
Joanna Pettet … Maggie Sergeant
William Shatner … John Sergeant
David Janssen … Robert Douglas
Lance LeGault … Joe Wormser
Helen Hunt … Sarah Sergeant
Russell Baer … Jeremy Sergeant
Linda Kupececk … Phillippa Wormser
Lloyd Berry … Slim Hall
John Scott Martin … Jake
Robert Koons … William Seymour
Agatha Mercer … Trudy Seymour
Les Kimber … Jordan Seymour
John Murrell … Henry Seymour

Runtime: 75 min.

Russell Baer as Jeremy Sergeant, encouraging his mother as she practices shooting in Pioneer Woman (1973)

Helen Hunt as Sarah Sergeant, fascinated with fossils, but not with fishing in Pioneer Woman (1973)

Memorable lines:

Maggie Sergeant: “Phillippa, don’t forget yourself and do anything foolish. A baby matters too much.”

John Sergeant: “So often, I said, ‘Grow up, Maggie.’ And all along, you already had.”

Maggie Sergeant: “Can there be a lonelier place in this world?”

Joanna Pettet as Maggie Sergeant, realizing her husband John (William Shatner) is about to turn their life upside down in Pioneer Woman (1973)

David Janssen as Robert Douglas, delivering bad news to Joanna Pettet as Maggie Sergeant in Pioneer Woman (1973)

William Shatner as John Sergeant, finally reaching a spot where he can own land in Wyoming in Pioneer Woman (1973)

Joanna Pettet as Maggie Sergeant, taking aim at a cow trampling her wheat crop in Pioneer Woman (1973)