Mom-Daughter Team Takes ‘Lark’ Under Its Wings
For 22 years, Dorothea G. Petrie has produced or executive- produced such acclaimed TV movies as “Caroline?,” “Foxfire,” “Love Is Never Silent,” “Angel Dusted” and “Orphan Train.”
Petrie has now teamed up with her daughter June, an independent filmmaker, to produce “The Song of the Lark,” which airs tonight on “Masterpiece Theatre’s America Collection” on KCET and KVCR.
Based on Willa Cather’s 1915 novel, the drama stars Alison Elliott as a beautiful, talented young woman living in rural Colorado in the 1890s who dreams of becoming a classical pianist. When she moves to Chicago to continue her studies, she discovers that it is her voice that is her greatest instrument.
For the Petries, movies are truly a family business. Dorothea G. Petrie is married to veteran director Daniel Petrie (“Inherit the Wind,” “Sybil”) and is the mother of screenwriter and former Writers Guild president Daniel Petrie Jr. (“Beverly Hills Cop”) and feature film director Donald Petrie (“Miss Congeniality”). June’s twin sister, Mary, is a writer.
The mother-and-daughter producing stint went so well on “Song of the Lark” that the Petries have several projects in the offing. They recently talked about their experiences with “Song of the Lark” and their relationship.
Question: Had you been looking for a project to work on together?
Dorothea Petrie: No. We hadn’t even thought about it until I accepted this and was telling her about it. June comes from a literary background. She worked at Doubleday and was a story editor for MGM. I said, would you like to [produce it with me], and she accepted. We made a very good team. We both went into it with some trepidation. A mother-daughter relationship is more important than any film.
June Petrie: It really did come about without any forethought. I said it’s just wonderful Dorothea was [offered] “Lark” to produce and was contemplating whether or not to do it.
DP: I tell you why I was hesitating at first. I don’t know if you have read this book, but it’s 400-some pages. I thought, how can I do it justice in a two-hour film? You can pick any of her characters and do a complete script on them because she writes so beautifully. I thought, “I don’t want to botch anything like this.” And June said, “Let’s do it.”
Q: How did you divvy up your producing duties? Or did you?
JP: One of the things I found kind of interesting between us is that certain members of the cast, just because of their age, would gravitate to someone older or someone younger. The generational distance between us proved to be very helpful. . . . Before we produced this film, I co-produced one other film. It was an independent film called “The Joy Riders.” It was a very small film with limited distribution. I am still very proud of it. But during production, there were several different challenges on that picture. When I would call Dorothea, we would discuss them and she would give me advice. [She looks at her mother.] Maybe the reason you said, “Would you like to do this with me?” is that you know that I was a very hard worker.
DP: Not only that, she’s smarter than I am.
JP: Dorothea’s reputation precedes her. I didn’t have a particular reputation that I was bringing on the set. So some people came to me, whereas they might have been nervous to come to Dorothea. Yet, what I learned is that when she walks on a set there is such grace. People really look up to her because she treats every person on the set equally.
DP: I love it when the dolly pusher or whoever says, “I think our film is going to be great.” Our film--that’s the goal.
Question: Did your mother-daughter relationship ever come up during the production?
JP: I would be reviewing my script and there would be a little note or an article clipped containing some very interesting advice from Mom. So throughout the day I would be jerked out of the reality of what we were doing [on the set] and back into the mother-daughter relationship.
Question: Dorothea, how did you get into producing?
DP: I have always had a hand in [the business]. But we moved about 18 times because we wanted to stay together as a family. We had a home in New York. We always took the children with us. When we were in London, I read for a producer and recommended things that would go on Broadway. When we moved out here, I started as a reader. I was offered a job at CBS as an assistant to the head of movies, but I said I have to be home by 3 p.m. I didn’t hear from them again.
When the boys were in college and the girls were in high school and getting ready to go [to college], I felt I was ready to strike out on my own. Of course, everybody just assumed that I would have [husband] Dan direct and do everything and I’d come in on his coattails. That is what I was very anxious not to have happen. He has a wonderful reputation and I had to stand on my own.
JP: From my perception as a kid, she was always home when I came home from school. So it was a wonderful thing when I was in college to call home and be given the number of the stage and have Mom pick up. I would be desperate to tell her about a great date, and here is Mom suddenly the career woman. I have three children, so I look to her as a model.
