A nurse doesn’t realize she’s at a mid-life crisis. Alaska is offering free homesteads and it’s about to disrupt her postwar life acceptable to most people.

SYNOPSIS:

Paula Porter is a nurse outside of Detroit. Her husband Stan has recently started a new job in a small company town with a foundry that employs the town’s predominantly black population. Paula and Stan’s pride and joy is their son Nick, 18, only a few months away from graduating high school. They’re looking for new home closer to Stan’s work.

Paula is under added stress at the hospital due to another nurse who continues to make advances towards her and won’t take no for answer. Her friend Cindy is aware of the situation. In 1958, it’s not discussed at your work place and no wants to be shamed in public. Paula is self-tranquilizing from the hospital inventory of meds. She confesses to Cindy at the end of their work day that see knows she’s “blue” but doesn’t know why. They kid each other about going home to their second job in preparing dinner for their working husband and families. It’s not really that funny anymore to Paula.

At the same time in Alaskan territory, the folks are excited as they are about to become a state. It’s long on potential and short on people to develop it. Key politicians and Anchorage business leaders have plan to attract people, promote the state, and maybe make a little money along the way: Promote Alaska as the “Last Frontier” to the folks in the lower 48. All they have to do is come to Alaska and the government will give you a land grant. All you got to do is farm it for twenty years and it’s yours.

Thomas Rawlins from the Alaskan group arrives in Detroit to begin to publicize the homestead campaign in the press, and plan for a sales session at a local hotel the following week.

Paula is coming to the realization that at 36, this could be it. No new horizon. Married and working for another 20 years. For Stan, this is success. A good life now for children of the Depression. Neither one really had a childhood. These events and a war have a large imprint of their psyches. Their different perspectives begin to be revealed as incidents begin to impact their plans, and disrupt their search for the new home for them. Stan is reserve and has a strong sense of right and wrong. Having lunch across from the factory, he’s observant of the bruise on a waitress’s arm is no accident. The local town cop is a little too nosy about Stan. When Paula and he attend his son’s Friday night football game, he discovers one of his new company’s mechanics has a nephew who is the reason his son sits more than plays. Stan doesn’t care about his race or his son’s lack of playing time. Stan does care when he joins Paula in the bleachers when another white football dad loudly tells Paula that Stan shouldn’t be socializing with niggers. Stan invites the football dad to meet him behind the bleachers immediately. The pre-game action there gets everyone’s attention.

The following morning Paula discovers the article on free land in Alaska. She wants to learn more. So do a few other characters with good and bad intentions. It all leads to Stan confronting Paula into making a life and heart-breaking change decision.

CHEECHAKO - THE PILOT