A Christmas Knight on Roan Mountain

Synopsis

It's December, 1960. Marlena Brinkley, a divorced Knoxville socialite, drives up Roan Mountain to check out her newly inherited Christmas tree farm. Going too fast on a steep snow laden logging road, she slides her fancy foreign car into a ditch. It's wrecked and won't budge. As it gets dark Marlena panics. Ross Pritchard manages the Brinkley Christmas Tree Farm. He wants to have his own farm, and marry Ava, his long time sweetheart. Ross loves "his" trees, and his dog, and quotes Shakespeare to both. While delivering trees off the mountain, Ross finds Marlena. Half-frozen, she rushes into his arms, exclaiming"You're my knight in shining armor!" There are no motels for miles, so he takes her to his home that he shares with his invalid mother. Marlena finds herself in a different world, where no one curses, no one drinks, (a night cap is actually a bedtime cap) and they cook and heat with wood stoves and fireplaces, but Marlena is very much attracted to Ross Frustrated after years of waiting for Ross, Ava decides to go off the mountain and visit old friends in Knoxville hoping to find a way to get on with her life without him. Right before leaving Ava learns there's a blond woman seen hanging onto Ross's every move. She stoically goes anyway. The local women realize it's Ross Marlena is interested in, not the tree farm. Ross's sister convinces her truck driving but mechanically gifted husband to fix Marlena's car to get her off the mountain. Ross is flattered by Marlena's attention. If he gives in, he senses he can get the farm he's always wanted, just not Ava. Marlena is at the point of seducing Ross, but she gets an eye opening lesson about mountain life as well as the bond between Ross and Ava from David, Ross's young nephew. Marlena abruptly leaves the mountain, but leaves a note for Ross. In Knoxville, Ava reconnects with an old acquaintance, but when he comes on too strong, she realizes she has always loved Ross. She abruptly goes home. Ross reads the note and takes off for Knoxville . When Ava learns Ross has followed Marlena, she resigns herself to losing him. On Christmas Eve, Ava dutifully directs the annual Christmas play hiding her sadness. After the play, and in an empty church, Ross suddenly appears and whisks Ava away promising her a surprise. He takes her to the farm and proposes under a sign that reads "Pritchard's Christmas Tree Farm. Marlena sold him the farm for a pittance, a share of future profits, and a Christmas tree every December.