Spencer's Mountain (1963)

Clay Spencer is a hard-working man who loves his wife and large family. He is respected by his neighbors and always ready to give them a helping hand. Although not a churchgoer, he even ... See full summary »

Director:

Delmer Daves

Writers:

Earl Hamner Jr. (novel), Delmer Daves

Stars:

Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, James MacArthur

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Henry Fonda	...	Clay Spencer
Maureen O'Hara	...	Olivia Spencer
James MacArthur	...	Clayboy Spencer
Donald Crisp	...	Grandpa Zubulon Spencer
Wally Cox	...	Preacher Clyde Goodman
Mimsy Farmer	...	Claris Coleman
Virginia Gregg	...	Miss Parker
Lillian Bronson	...	Grandma Spencer
Whit Bissell	...	Dr. Campbell
Hayden Rorke	...	Colonel Coleman
Kathy Bennett	...	Minnie-Cora Cook
Dub Taylor	...	Percy Cook
Hope Summers	...	Mother Ida
Ken Mayer	...	Mr. John

Storyline

Clay Spencer is a hard-working man who loves his wife and large family. He is respected by his neighbors and always ready to give them a helping hand. Although not a churchgoer, he even helps a newly arrived local minister regain his flock after he and Clay get into a bit of trouble. If he has one dream in life it's to build his wife Olivia a beautiful house on a piece of land he inherited on Spender's mountain. When his eldest son, Clayboy, graduates at the top of his high school class and has the opportunity to go to college, Clay has only one option left to him.

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Plot Keywords:

neighbor | minister | college | mountain | getting drunk by accident | 

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Taglines:

Clayboy's schoolteacher impresses upon Clayboy the following phrase, "The world steps aside to let a man pass, if he knows where he is going"

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 May 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Os Nove Irmãos

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording) 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In their book "How Underdog Was Born...", W. Watts Biggers and Chad Strover reveal that seeing Wally Cox's performance in this movie inspired them to ask him to voice their newly created character, Underdog.

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Goofs

When clay is talking church with Mother Ida at about 22 min. into the movie. You can clearly see traffic traveling down a highway behind Ida.

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Quotes

Miss Parker: The world stands aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.

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Connections

Followed by The Waltons: The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971)

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Soundtracks

"Bringing In The Sheaves"
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Knowles Shaw and music by George A. Minor
Heard when Clay arrives at church

User Reviews

Climb every mountain

A note about Mimsy Farmer who plays Claris : she was very popular in Europe (late sixties/early seventies) when her parts were much different from the rather irritating love interest of "Spencer's mountain":Europeans remember "More" (but the movie is now mainly remembered for Pink Floyd's music and French people may remember "La Route De Salina" and "La Traque" :she often appeared completely naked .

"Spencer's mountain" is rather pleasant ,particularly the landscapes which are nicely filmed.Henry Fonda (cast against type as a father fond of the bottle)and Maureen O'Hara play almost supporting parts ,for most of the time is given over to their son (James McArthur ) who is the real main character of the screenplay.Like in" Peyton Place" (1957),there are too many secondary characters and its concept would better be applied on "the Waltons" a MTV saga.The main subject is Clayboy 's rocky road to college ,at a time when Latin -particularly if you wanted to become a minister ruled over the educated world .but it was a long time ago and the movie may seem naive (but no more than "wild in the country" in which Elvis Presley registered the same desire).Sometimes it recalls "die Trapp Familie" (whose remake "the sound of music" was a blockbuster) for the poor.

It's interesting to note that after 1959,Delmer Daves gave up westerns ,his forte,("Broken arrow" " the last wagon" "3:10 to Yuma" "the hanging tree") to tackle melodrama .His last work " The battle of the Villa Fiorita" (feat.O'Hara again)was another family chronicle but in a posh milieu this time.