The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Stuart Anthony (writer)
Grover Jones (writer)

Release Date:

18 July 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Fury in the wild Ozarks! Hatred unleashed on the "Trail of the Lonsome Pine"!

Plot:

Young Matt Masters, an Ozark Mountains moonshiner, hates the father he has never seen, who apparently deserted Matt's mother and left her to die...

Plot Keywords:

Remake | Based On Novel

Cast

John Wayne	...	Young Matt
Betty Field	...	Sammy Lane
Harry Carey	...	Daniel Howitt
Beulah Bondi	...	Aunt Mollie
James Barton	...	Old Matt
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Andy Beeler
Marjorie Main	...	Granny Becky
Ward Bond	...	Wash Gibbs
Marc Lawrence	...	Pete
John Qualen	...	Coot Royal
Fuzzy Knight	...	Mr. Palestrom
Tom Fadden	...	Jim Lane
Olin Howland	...	Corky
Dorothy Adams	...	Elvy Royal
Virita Campbell	...	Baby

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7339)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

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:

Factual errors: It would be quite impossible for Granny Becky (who has been blind her entire life) to be able to instantly recognize the familial similarities between Young Matt and Old Matt right after her eye bandages were removed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)

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.