The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Grover Jones (screen play)
John Fox Jr. (based on the novel by)
(more)

Release Date:

13 March 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A feud, the origins of which can barely be remembered, has been boiling for decades between two sheltered mountain families...

Plot Keywords:

Remake | Beautiful Woman | Train | Feud | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Sylvia Sidney	...	June Tolliver
Fred MacMurray	...	Jack Hale
Henry Fonda	...	Dave Tolliver
Fred Stone	...	Judd Tolliver
Nigel Bruce	...	Thurber
Beulah Bondi	...	Melissa
Robert Barrat	...	Buck Falin
George 'Spanky' McFarland	...	Buddie Tolliver
Fuzzy Knight	...	Tater
Otto Fries	...	Corsey
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Sheriff
Alan Baxter	...	Clay Tolliver
Margaret Armstrong	...	Tolliver family member
Ricca Allen	...	Tolliver family member
Fern Emmett	...	Lena Tolliver
Richard Carle	...	Ezra Tolliver
Henry Brandon	...	Wade Falin
Philip Barker	...	Merd Falin
Bob Kortman	...	Gorley Falin
Charlotte Wynters	...	Jack Hale's
Frank Rice	...	Zeke
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Irving Bacon	...	Mailman
John Beck	...	Tolliver clan member
Hank Bell	...	Tolliver clan member
Clara Blandick	...	Landlady
James Burke	...	Leader
Fred Burns	...	Tolliver clan member
Powell Clayton	...	Dave at age 5
Jim Corey	...	Falin clan member
Jack Curtis	...	Store clerk
Lowell Drew	...	Bartender
George Ernest	...	Dave at age 10
Betty Farrington	...	Louisville teacher
Bud Geary	...	Tolliver clan member
John Larkin	...	Ebony
Edward LeSaint	...	Tolliver clan member
Bill McCormick	...	Falin clan member
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	Preacher
Charles Middleton	...	Blacksmith
Lee Phelps	...	Taylor
Russ Powell	...	Storekeeper
Tuffy	...	The Dog
Hilda Vaughn	...	Gaptown teacher
Jim Welch	...	Tolliver clan member
Norman Willis	...	Old Dave (in prologue)
Martin Beaumon	...	Lumberjack (uncredited)

Directed by
Henry Hathaway

Writing credits
Grover Jones		(screen play)
John Fox Jr.		(based on the novel by)
Harvey F. Thew		(adaptation) (as Harvey Thew) and
Horace McCoy		(adaptation)

Produced by
Walter Wanger	....	producer

Original Music by
Gerard Carbonara		(uncredited)
Hugo Friedhofer		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert C. Bruce
W. Howard Greene		(technicolor photography) (as Howard Greene)

Film Editing by
Robert Bischoff

Art Direction by
Hans Dreier		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Helen Taylor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Talmadge	....	assistant director

Art Department
Alexander Toluboff	....	settings designer

Sound Department
Hugo Grenzbach	....	sound

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bud Geary	....	stunts (uncredited)
Otto Metzetti	....	stunts (uncredited)
Victor Metzetti	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Talmadge	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Boris Morros	....	musical director

Other crew
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director
Adolph Zukor	....	presenter
Martin Beaumon	....	animal handler (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Walter Wanger Productions
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1936) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Paramount Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS) (For MCA Home Video)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Critics' Choice Video (video)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Continuity: The mud on June Tolliver changes thickness and shape between shots. It also changes from wet to dry and then back to wet.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Henry Fonda (1978) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Twilight on the Trail

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine features fine performances by Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Sylvia Sidney, and Spanky McFarland

Just watched this Technicolor Paramount feature (The first of the kind that was shot outdoors) on YouTube. While it had stars like Fred MacMurray, Henry Fonda, and Sylvia Sidney, the main reason I was interested in this movie was because of one Spanky McFarland, who at the time was still a member of "Our Gang". This was a compelling story of a couple of feuding families and one outsider played by MacMurray who's trying to build a railroad around both respective groups' areas. There's also a romantic rivalry between Fonda and MacMurray for Sidney. Also appearing were Beulah Bondi, Nigel Bruce, and Samuel Hinds as the Sheriff. (If anyone is familiar with me, they know my favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life and I like noting actors in that movie in other films like Bondi and Hinds who were married in the latter) Then there's Fuzzy Knight who's a charmer as something of a Greek chorus singing songs like "Twlight on the Trail" and the Oscar-nominated "A Melody from the Sky". Incidentally, while Knight sings the latter, Fonda whistles and Spanky hums and this was a couple of years before Spanky's "Our Gang" co-star Alfalfa sung part of this tune in the short The Little Ranger (which McFarland doesn't appear in). Anyway, this was a fine showcase for the Technicolor photography as kudos to director Henry Hathaway for making every scene count as this was a most entertaining drama with a couple of touching, though tragic, scenes at the end. So on that note, I highly recommend The Trail of the Lonesome Pine.