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ACTOR
John WayneBetty FieldHarry CareyBeulah Bondi
DIRECTOR
Henry Hathaway
SYNOPSICS
The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) is a English movie. Henry Hathaway has directed this movie. John Wayne,Betty Field,Harry Carey,Beulah Bondi are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1941. The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) is considered one of the best Adventure,Drama,Romance,Western movie in India and around the world.
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The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) Reviews
A lyric piece of film making.
This is John Wayne's first color film and my only complaint is that the cinematographer failed to pick up the unique almost purple color of his eyes! Taken from a much-loved novel of the time, The Shepard of the Hills tells a simple story exceptionally well. An older man appears at a cabin door and gives aid without a question as to how the accident happened. He saves a child. He wants to purchase a piece of property and settle down. The mountain people of the Ozark region do not welcome strangers, yet this man seems to fit in with his quiet ways and his vast knowledge of the outside world most of the mountain people have never seen. Harry Carey is this quiet man. He is splendid in every scene. John Wayne plays 'Young Matt Matthews'a young man still mourning his mother and who has sworn a blood oath to kill the man responsible, his father. Betty Field is marvelous as 'Young Matt's' girlfriend. Harry Carey thoughtful and quietly charming at 'Mr. Howard', the Shepard of the Hills, as his new neighbors call him. Beula Bondi is fascinating as 'Aunt Molly' and Margery Main shines as the blind woman that 'Mr. Howard' sends to the city to have her sight restored. Many of the scenes are extraordinary for their detail and sense of authenticity. Some are incredibly beautiful. For example, when 'Mr. Howard' meets the young man who was struck by lightning and can no longer speak. A thoroughly absorbing and skillfully made film well worth watching again and again.
A film of great beauty and great, understated acting!
A marvelous, if little known, early John Wayne film. There are so many wonderful moments in this film that I can only list a few: Harry Carey splendid as the mysterious man who comes to the Ozarks to purchase a piece of dirt land and settle down, and ends up purchasing Moanin' Meadow. A gorgeous, seamless, seemingly effortless piece of acting. Betty Field, always in bare feet saying that she nearly stepped in a cloud and reveling in the mud between her bare toes. Marc Lawrence trying to catch dust motes in a sunbeam coming through a dirty windowpane. Beulah Bondi making a circle of candles and lamp oil!! Marjorie Main seeing for the first time in her life. And John Wayne moving from bewildered and embittered young man with a curse on him, to a man in love who can't express his feeling because of the curse, and finally coming to terms with his real, inner self for the first time in his life. Anyone who thinks John Wayne could not act, should see The Shepherd of the Hills. He is not only beautiful to look at, but he brings charm, power and sympathy to a very difficult role.
Fine character study
Fine adaptation of Harold Bell Wright's novel; lots of Hollywood character actors in this one. Marjorie Main, Fuzzy Knight, Ward Bond, John Qualen, and a whole slew of others. John Wayne plays the son of a woman wronged, at least in the eyes of the Ozarks people, whose only purpose in life is to kill the father that disgraced his mother and himself. Harry Carey Sr. plays the stranger, Mr. Howitt, who comes to the hills and leaves nothing but kindness and friendship in his wake. Betty Field is luminous as the girl who loves Wayne, but can't stop him from avenging his mother's disgrace. Beulah Bondi is Wayne's bitter and self-deceiving aunt, who raised him after his mother's death, and continually feeds his hate for his father. Marc Lawrence is the revelation in this film; known mostly for gangster roles, he is marvelous as the handicapped cousin of Wayne, and the catalyst for Bondi's eventual repentance. A wonderful, period film in gorgeous color, with a beautiful soundtrack. Harry Carey is so good in this that I'm surprised he isn't a more well known actor.
John Wayne's First Technicolor Film
THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS was made into a silent film in 1919. Harold Bell Wright, the author of the story, was a popular novelist of the day, and a number of his stories were turned into films. He usually concentrated on stories regarding people who lived in mountainous regions (one hesitates to call them hillbillies as they are usually shown to be non-stereotypes). As was mentioned in another of the comments here, Wright also wrote the story that was the basis for the Henry Fonda / Fred MacMurray film THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE. John Wayne is not the central figure of this film, although considered the star nowadays. In reality this film should be considered one of the best in the career of Harry Carey Sr. A leading movie cowboy actor in the silent period and early sound years, Carey had slowly moved into character parts after 1933. Possibly his best recalled non-western role is the Vice President of the United States in MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. As a Western star, he proved to be Wayne's own model of the perfect western film actor. In fact, in the shooting of John Ford's THE SEARCHERS, Wayne purposely honored Carey by copying a mannerism he had (holding his arm with his hand in a particular position) in Wayne's last visible moment in that film. In the movie Wayne is a member of a family centered around James Barton and Beulah Bondi (Wayne's blood aunt), and his cousin Marc Lawrence. Bondi has never forgiven Wayne's father for abandoning the family, and indirectly causing the death of her sister. She has instilled in Wayne a hatred of the father. At the same time, the death of the sister is tied to the other tragedy of the family - that Lawrence is a mute. He has been unable to speak since he survived the fire that killed his aunt (Wayne' mother). The only one who occasionally stands up against Bondi's vicious hatred is Barton, but he admits in his best scene in the film that he really lacks the nerve to openly condemn her behavior. This is a great film for character actors. Besides Barton, Bondi, and Lawrence, please take note of Marjorie Main in one of her most prescient performances. She is blind, and she requires expensive surgery to have a chance for the restoration of her sight. At a critical moment Carey will lend her the money for that surgery. When her eyesight is restored everyone in the community rejoices, until Main recognizes somebody in the crowd she did not expect to ever see again. Her comment when she reveals this person's identity, and realizes the tragedy she may have unwittingly caused, is devastating in it's simplicity and ironic truth. Carey is a newly arrived rancher in the area, who (as witness his assistance to Main) gets involved trying to do good for his neighbors. And all usually benefit. Yet he too has his secrets, and they nearly rip him and several others apart. THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS is a movie about redemption and forgiveness, and it's cast shows the difficulties faced by common people when presented with these seemingly simple acts of behavior. All of the stars of the movie gave first rate performances in it, and for Wayne it was the first big follow-up to his overnight success in STAGECOACH. But the best performance remains Carey's, who in the end has to commit an act of violence in order to try to save his last chance for acceptance from those who count the most.
Surprisingly good
**possible spoilers** Although it has John Wayne in the cast it is not really a western. It is more a study of the Ozarks and the people who live there. Although some scenes are filmed in the studio you do get a feeling of the landscape of the area and the kind of people it produces; sturdy, suspicious, superstitious, kindly, ignorant and wise. Much like any isolated community around the world. The film is surprisingly good. The acting is solid all round. John Wayne makes a good attempt at the Young Matt role, bringing out well the confusion and conflicts in his mind. Beulah Bondi is riveting as the bitter Aunt Mollie. Harry Carey is good as ever. Betty Field as Sammy Lane is excellent and it is her who holds the film together. It is through her eyes we mainly see things. She is also quite sexy in her tight jeans and short tops. Some of the scenes are exceptional; when Daniel Howitt is cashing a never seen before cheque, when Granny Becky has her eyes uncovered after an operation, when Young Matt talks about how love is so complicated, when Daniel Howitt takes possession of the old house in Moaning Meadow, when Aunt Mollie cremates her dead son and herself, when Pete the mute brother is discovered in a stream of light pouring through a window trying to catch dust motes. All directed without sentimentality but with real feeling. It is one of those films which did not promise much from the TV listings but actually delivers much more than one expects.