At the Edge of the Orchard

John Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed) makes a cameo appearance in Chevalier's new historical (following The Last Runaway), but this is not the Disney version of frontier life. James Goodenough has moved his family to northwest Ohio in the 1830s. He is determined to grow apples, as he did in Connecticut, but circumstances have forced the family to live on the edge of the Black Swamp, a bad place for an orchard. In an intriguing twist, in this fractious family it is James's wife, Sadie, who is a belligerent drunk, addicted to hard cider and applejack. This situation can only end in tragedy, and when it does, youngest son Robert heads West while still a child. The story of his adventures alternates between the hardscrabble years in Ohio and his subsequent wanderings, which lead him to California during the Gold Rush, though he finds work prospecting for seeds instead. His benefactor is an eccentric Englishman who collects redwood seeds and seedlings for the estates of his wealthy British patrons.