Based on
Catherine Marshall's novel
Christy and the follow-up of the TV series
Christy, this Pax television adaptation features
Lauren Lee Smith as the 19-year-old schoolteacher who flounders and perseveres in an isolated mountain community in the early 20th century. Set against the backdrop of Tennessee's
Great Smoky Mountains, this film begins with an elderly Christy (played by Sheila Moore) returning to the long-abandoned mission where she once taught.
Claudette Mink appears as a fictional version of pioneering pilot
Harriet Quimby. It premiered on the
Pax television network in the United States on November 19, 2000. Developed for television by
executive producer Tom Blomquist the film was the first of three
Christy films to continue and resolve the storylines presented in the original CBS series and the novel.
Return to Cutter Gap re-established the themes and characters of the previous
Christy productions for longtime fans and newcomers, alike. ==DVD release==