Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948)

Director:

F. Hugh Herbert

Writers:

George Agnew Chamberlain (novel)
F. Hugh Herbert (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 April 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Light-hearted, old-style romance about a farm-hand who arranges to buy a pair of mules from his employer...

Plot Keywords:

Stable Hand | Blonde | Mule Team | Farm | Antagonism

Cast

June Haver	...	Rad McGill
Lon McCallister	...	Snug Dominy
Walter Brennan	...	Tony Maule
Anne Revere	...	Judith Dominy
Natalie Wood	...	Bean McGill
Robert Karnes	...	Stretch Dominy
Henry Hull	...	Milt Dominy
Tom Tully	...	Roarer McGill

Also Known As:

Summer Lightning (UK)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This is generally considered to be the "screen debut" of Marilyn Monroe, although most of her footage was cut. She is visible just for a fleeting second or less as she descends the church steps and says, "Hi Rad," to June Haver's character as everyone is coming out of church on Sunday morning.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess" (1996)

More than Marilyn?

The title refers to one of the calls used to control hitched mules. Critics love to make fun of this rather sleepy bucolic saga, and far be it from me to claim anything great for it; nevertheless, I don't think it's half as bad as it's made out to be. As Norma Desmond might say, it's not the movie that's at fault, it's the audience. We no long care for gentle pastorales. We are too restless, too wired, to inured to fast action and bloody violence. No one today is going to sit still for a quiet story about a young farm lad who is more attached to his two mules than to a very nubile girlfriend in an angora sweater. But if you can get past that, you might enjoy the beautiful color photography, decent acting, the presence of beloved old Walter Brennan, the famous unbilled cameo of Marilyn Monroe rowing a canoe (her first screen appearance), nice direction and editing, and-as I almost blush to say-two quite charming young mules.