Spitfire (1934)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

Lula Vollmer (play)
Jane Murfin (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 March 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Mountain girl Trigger Hicks, a fierce loner equally handy with a rock or a prayer, is in danger of having...

Plot Keywords:

Engineer | Dam | Baby | Prayer | Bible

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Trigger Hicks
Robert Young	...	John Stafford
Ralph Bellamy	...	George Fleetwood
Martha Sleeper	...	Eleanor Stafford
Louis Mason	...	Bill Grayson
Sara Haden	...	Etta Dawson (as Sarah Haden)
Virginia Howell	...	Granny Raines
Sidney Toler	...	Mr. Jim Sawyer
Will Geer	...	West Fry (as High Ghere)
John Beck	...	Jake Hawkins
Therese Wittler	...	Mrs. Jim Sawyer

Runtime:

USA:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1334-R, 29 August 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Hemet, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The rights to the play "Trigger" were purchased with Dorothy Jordan in mind for the lead. However, Katharine Hepburn agreed to star on the condition that she could leave for New York on November 16, 1933 to appear in the play "The Lake". Shooting of the two final scenes ran about 6 hours late on November 15, 1933, but director John Cromwell was dissatisfied with the results and wanted to reshoot them. Miss Hepburn refused at first, citing the terms of her contract. She then demanded, and received, $10,000 (in addition to her $50,000 salary) to stay an extra day for the reshoot.

Quotes:

John Stafford: You trust me, don't you?
Trigger Hicks: Don't trust no man farther than a shotgun can hit.
John Stafford: Oh, you never loved a man, then, did you?
Trigger Hicks: Sure, I've loved a heap of 'em. The more I love 'em, the less I trust 'em.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Katharine Hepburn: All About Me (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

At The Cross

Flawed, but a real gem

Other reviewers seem to be comparing this delightful old film with standard streamlined products of the 40s and later. But "Spitfire" belongs to an older tradition, and it's a rare example of theatrical naturalism translated to film. Naturalism was always a dicey affair, attempting to study real (i.e., non-glamorous) people in folksy environments, and usually failing because written by authors of "a class above" for sensational purposes. I found this quaint vision of hill folk very appealing, representing a kind of nostalgia for Americana imagined although never real--yet nevertheless enjoyed by mainstream audiences. The young Hepburn gives an awkward but dazzling performance, fully inhabiting her naïve, sentimentalized Trigger Hicks, delivering her lines in a vigorous and truly delicious stage "Hillbilly" dialect. Don't miss a chance to travel on this strange, charming time machine.