''The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel'' is a 1979 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

medical drama film directed by Guy Green, starring

Lindsay Wagner Lindsay Jean Wagner (born June 22, 1949) is an American film and television actress, model, author, singer, and acting coach. Wagner is best known for her leading role in the American science-fiction television series ''The Bionic Woman'' (1976 ...

and

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

(credited as Miss Jane Wyman) with a supporting cast including

Andrew Duggan Andrew Duggan (December 28, 1923 – May 15, 1988) was an American character actor. His work includes 185 screen credits between 1949 and 1987 for roles in both film and television, as well a number more on stage. Background Duggan was born in ...

Gary Lockwood Gary Lockwood (born John Gary Yurosek; February 21, 1937) is an American actor. Lockwood is best known for his roles as astronaut Frank Poole in the film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), and as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the '' Star ...

Brock Peters Brock Peters (born George Fisher; July 2, 1927 – August 23, 2005) was an American actor and singer, best known for playing the villainous "Crown" in the 1959 film version of ''Porgy and Bess'', and the wrongfully convicted Tom Robinson in th ...

, John Reilly,

Dorothy McGuire Dorothy Hackett McGuire (June 14, 1916 – September 13, 2001) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actre ...

and

James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...

. The film was originally broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

on January 2, 1979.

Plot

In 1932, Meg Laurel, a bold-spirited doctor who graduates

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, gives up the comfort and security of her husband, home, and her practice in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Her mission is to return to her hometown in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

and help the Appalachian people using modern medical techniques she learned in the big city. Meg's quest meets bitter opposition, however, by those unprepared to give up their antiquated ways for her miracle drugs. Administering medical aid to the residents of Eagle's Nest is a dramatic struggle, as Meg becomes the rival of Granny Arrowroot, a local medicine woman who is not pleased with Meg's arrival and does not trust the modern science. Tragedy nears when one man's refusal to accept Meg's methods of doctoring for his ailing daughter almost brings ruin to Meg's plans and the death of his child.

Cast

as Meg Laurel *

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

as Granny Arrowroot *

as Judge Adamson *

as Harley Moon *

as Joe * John Reilly as Thom Laurel *

Charles Tyner Charles Tyner (June 8, 1923 – November 8, 2017) was an American film, television and stage character actor best known, principally, for his performances in the films ''Harold and Maude'' (1971), '' Emperor of the North Pole'' (1973), '' The Long ...

as Doug Slocumb *

as Sin Eater *

as Effie Webb *

Woodrow Parfrey Sydney Woodrow Parfrey (October 5, 1922 – July 29, 1984) was an American film and television actor from the 1950s to the early 1980s. He is often remembered as "one of TV's great slimeball villains". Early life Parfrey was born on October 5, ...

as Messerschmidt *

Peggy Walton-Walker Peggy Walton-Walker is an American film and television actress. Early years She was born Peggy Jean Walton in 1943 in Charleston, South Carolina. Walton-Walker attended Vigor High School in Prichard, Alabama, where she graduated in 1961. She w ...

as Mrs. Slocumb *

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM) KATH (910 kHz) is an ...

as Becca *

Tracey Gold Tracey Gold (born May 16, 1969) is an American actress and former child star known for playing Carol Seaver on the 1980s sitcom ''Growing Pains''. Acting career Tracey Gold became an actress at the age of four, first appearing in a Pepsi print ...

as Laurie Mae Moon

Home media

On March 4, 2011, ''The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in Region 1. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively in the US as part of the

Sony Pictures Choice Collection Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...

in partnership with Warner Bros. online store.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel, The 1979 television films 1979 films 1979 drama films American drama films 1970s English-language films CBS network films Films set in the 1930s Films set in 1932 Films set in Appalachia Medical-themed films Fictional physicians Films shot in California Films directed by Guy Green Films scored by Gerald Fried 1970s American films