The Green Promise (1949)

Widowed Old Man Matthews, who has lived his entire life as a farmer, has moved his family of himself and his four young adult to adolescent offspring - Deborah, Phineas, Abigail and Susan -... See full summary »

Director:

William D. Russell

Writers:

Monte Collins (original story) (as Monty F. Collins), Monte Collins (screenplay) (as Monty F. Collins)

Stars:

Marguerite Chapman, Walter Brennan, Robert Paige

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marguerite Chapman	...	Deborah Matthews
Walter Brennan	...	Mr. Matthews
Robert Paige	...	David Barkley
Natalie Wood	...	Susan Matthews
Ted Donaldson	...	Phineas Matthews
Connie Marshall	...	Abigail Matthews
Robert Ellis	...	Buzz Wexford
Jeanne LaDuke	...	Jessie Wexford (as Jeanne La Duke)
Irving Bacon	...	Julius Larkins
Milburn Stone	...	Reverend Jim Benton
Geraldine Wall	...	Mrs. Wexford

Storyline

Widowed Old Man Matthews, who has lived his entire life as a farmer, has moved his family of himself and his four young adult to adolescent offspring - Deborah, Phineas, Abigail and Susan - to a just purchased farm in Millwood, following the ecological demise of their last farm on which he was able to collect insurance. He has a "my way or the high way" mentality about most things in life, most specifically about running a farm, he believing his experience trumping everything else. He, however, likes to portray himself as being fair and democratic, all important family matters which are decided on by a family vote. He has these votes as he and the other family members know that Abby and Phin will always vote with him, the former to retain his favor and the latter out of fear regardless of Phin's true thoughts as their father always convinces out of coercion. Such ideas against his include Debbie believing the farm too expensive for the many deficiencies it has, and Susie wanting a few...

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Plot Keywords:

farm | pirate costume | daniel boone costume | rabbit costume | masquerade party | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 March 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Green Promise

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glenn McCarthy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

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Goofs

When Susan is running home from school and encounters a bull, a moving shadow of a crew member is visible on the ground, lower left of the frame.

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Connections

Featured in Too Young to Die: Natalie Wood - Die Macht der Prophezeiung (2014)

User Reviews

"Class, today we'll watch a film. Pay attention, there will be a quiz."

It reminded me of those 16mm films we were shown in grade school--this one on the benefits of land conservation and belonging to the 4-H Club. Actually, it was sort of disturbing. Walter Brennan plays an overbearing, out-of-date father to three daughters who fear him---going out of his way to alienate those who would help him. Unfortunately, the arc of his character is more like a straight line with a sharp hook at the end, as he sees the error of his ways in the last 60 seconds of the film. A plus was seeing young Natalie Wood 2 years past her "Miracle on 34th Street" work. Points up what a difference a good story and direction can make. Both Brennan and Wood were ill-used in this filmstrip with sound.