ON A LARK, SHE DECIDES TO CONQUER THE WORLD.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

Willa Cather's ``The Song of the Lark'' is considered by some to be one of the author's more difficult works, but the folks behind ``Masterpiece Theatre's American Collection's'' adaptation seem to find an accessible enough way to engage audiences: They transform the protagonist into a standard-issue Disney heroine.

Consider: We first see our headstrong young beauty roaming through wide-open fields to swirling music; she spouts things like, ``I don't see how anybody can sleep when there's so much to be awake for,'' and, ``Living is too much trouble unless you can get something really big from it.'' Her sister unappreciatively grouses, ``People talk about her,'' but the men who encounter her burble rapturous praise along the lines of, ``Big dreams fit a person like you,'' ``You're an uncommon person in a common, common world,'' and ``What good is all this drudgery if I cannot sometimes see a wild bird fly and wave my hand to her?'' The key phrase she hears is: ``The whole world's gonna be good to you.''

Said heroine is Thea Kronborg (Alison Elliott), a child of the boondocks of Moonstone, Colo., determined to make it in the world. She embraces music and the arts with a voraciousness that's remarkable given her humble surroundings; she also has man after man aching to help her find her muse.

One, a modest suitor, is killed in an accident; his life insurance policy gives her money to study piano in Chicago. Her teacher discovers her true gift is her voice and recommends her to the sort of imperious opera instructor who seemingly dismisses her audition with a brusque, ``I may be able to do something for you.''

Cather's novel, published in 1915, was about a woman making her way in a world that didn't know what to make of such ambitious women; here, there's no question - it helps her along. When, late in the film, Thea protests, ``I'm not used to getting things for nothing,'' it feels utterly false; she's been passed from benefactor to benefactor throughout the entire proceedings.

The film has the usual professional sheen and sturdy if uninspired performances (Elliott's vocal pyrotechnics - she's an ace at lip-syncing - are wonderfully provided by Lori Stinson). But outside of a secret one of her admirers harbors, there's precious little drama here; it's a standard-issue success story with virtually no obstacles separating Thea from her inevitable glory.

``THE SONG OF THE LARK''

What: ``Masterpiece Theatre's American Collection'' adaptation of the Willa Cather novel about a young woman's path to becoming an opera singer.

The stars: Alison Elliott, Arliss Howard, Maximilian Schell, Tony Goldwyn, Norman Lloyd, Robert Floyd.

Where: KCET.

When: 8 tonight; also Sunday.

Our rating: Two stars

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Alison Elliott portrays an ambitious early-20th-century woman who encounters little resistance to her dreams, Maximilian Schell notwithstanding, in ``Masterpiece Theatre's'' ``The Song of the Lark.''