The Magic of Ordinary Days

The Magic of Ordinary Days is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production based on a novel of the same name by Ann Howard Creel and adapted as a teleplay by Camille Thomasson. It was directed by Brent Shields, produced by Andrew Gottlieb and stars Keri Russell, Skeet Ulrich, and Mare Winningham. The film first aired on CBS on January 30, 2005, and received an encore broadcast on the same network exactly five years later. Set during WWII, Olivia Dunne ‘Livy’ is a young Denver woman who has become pregnant by a naval flight instructor on furlough. Embarrassed by his daughter's out of wedlock pregnancy, her father quietly arranges for her to marry. Livy is sent to a rural southeastern Colorado town to marry Ray Singleton, who operates his family farm. Hearing of Livy's dilemma from his pastor, Ray is moved and agrees to marry without even having met her. Unbeknownst to Livy, he has lost both of his parents, and also his younger brother, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Though young, handsome and a family man at heart, Ray has little opportunity to find a wife in this remote region. His sister Martha, her husband and their three children are the only family he has left. Ray and Livy are very different. Livy has a good education and until recently had been studying archeology in graduate school. She knows nothing of cooking or farming and is not particularly religious. Livy has felt bereft and lonely since her mom's death. Ray is a man of few words. A hard worker, he is kind, honest and patient. Family life and faith in God have been the central features of Ray's life. His daily activity is focused on working his family's farm. Livy and Ray strive hard to be polite and courteous to each other, but are nevertheless awkward in each other's company. Though agreeing to marry for her father, Livy never intended to remain. She secretly writes to Lieutenant Edward Brown, the baby's father. A visit by her sister brings sharp contrast between the life Livy came from and the life she is living now, but it is also apparent how much Livy has changed her view of her surroundings.