Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Farley Granger | ... | Johnse Hatfield | |
Joan Evans | ... | Roseanna McCoy | |
Charles Bickford | ... | Devil Anse Hatfield | |
Raymond Massey | ... | Old Randall McCoy | |
Richard Basehart | ... | Mounts Hatfield | |
Gigi Perreau | ... | Allifair McCoy | |
Aline MacMahon | ... | Sarie McCoy | |
Marshall Thompson | ... | Tolbert McCoy | |
Lloyd Gough | ... | Phamer McCoy | |
Peter Miles | ... | Little Randall McCoy | |
Arthur Franz | ... | Thad Wilkins | |
Frank Ferguson | ... | Ellison Hatfield | |
Elisabeth Fraser | ... | Bess McCoy | |
Hope Emerson | ... | Levisa Hatfield | |
Dan White | ... | Abel Hatfield |
The saga of the Hatfield-and-McCoy feud is romanticized in Samuel Goldwyn's Roseanna McCoy. Newcomer Joan Evans stars as the title character, whose elopement with Johnse Hatfield serves to further fuel the flames of the deadly mountain feud.
Call it a guilty pleasure, but I find this movie satisfying on several levels. I was hooked from the opening shot with Lee Garmes' cinematography capturing writer John Collier's evocation of the mysticism of the mountains, enhanced by the choral version of Frank Loesser's theme song. The fact that Joan Evans was a complete unknown discovered in a New York City High School worked for me. She seemed confused and overwhelmed much of the time, which was natural, given Farley Granger's heavy breathing and bodice-ripping efforts in her direction. As previously discussed, the supporting cast is terrific, with Raymond Massey and Charles Bickford as the patriarchs of the opposing families. They clearly enjoyed chewing up the scenery in their respective roles. Aline MacMahon is wonderful as Ma Hatfield, working tirelessly to end the hostility between the families, to little avail. Mention must be made of the youngsters, played by Gigi Perreau, Peter Miles and William Mauch (formerly Billy of the Mauch twins), for whom I felt concern whenever the bullets started to fly. I was most fortunate to view a beautiful 16mm print of the film. Lee Garmes' lighting and compositions are stunning indeed.