Complete credited 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. Sawyer | |
Will Geer | ... | West Fry (as High Ghere) | |
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John Beck | ... | Jake Hawkins |
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Therese Wittler | ... | Mrs. Sawyer |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Irene Rich | ... | Undetermined Role (scenes deleted) |
Mountain girl Trigger Hicks, a fierce loner equally handy with a rock or a prayer, is in danger of having her faith-healing mistaken for witchcraft by the neighbors. She shows a vulnerable side when John Stafford, a philandering engineer working on a new dam, is attracted to her. Matters come to a head when Trigger "rescues" an abused baby from its parents, and seeks help from the engineers. Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Though the role of Trigger Hicks in Spitfire turned out to be disastrous commercially for RKO and did nothing to help the career of Katherine Hepburn, it's still an interesting experiment when seen today. Especially seen by fans who regard Kate as a feminist icon.
Trigger Hicks is about as far as you can get for a role from the most well known graduate of Byrn Mawr in history. Kate's an illiterate hillbilly lass who is a mountain faith healer, respected by many and feared by more for her alleged powers.
Two who don't fear here are a pair of engineers sent to the Ozarks to build a railroad, Ralph Bellamy and Robert Young. Hepburn unfortunately falls for the married Young who of course doesn't tell her of his marriage to Martha Sleeper.
In her own way Trigger Hicks is as much an independent spirit as Tess Harding or Pat Pemberton or any of the other more sophisticated women that Kate later portrayed. I'm sure she thought of the film as expanding her range a bit even though it didn't quite stretch in that direction.
Still it's interesting to watch.