Stars in My Crown (1950)

In 1865, the small Southern town of Walsburg has become so dangerous, that Parson Josiah Doziah Gray gives his sermons while holding a gun.

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writers:

Joe David Brown (novel), Joe David Brown (adaptation)

Stars:

Joel McCrea, Ellen Drew, Dean Stockwell

Cast

Cast overview:
Joel McCrea	...	Josiah Doziah Gray
Ellen Drew	...	Harriet Gray
Dean Stockwell	...	John Kenyon
Alan Hale	...	Jed Isbell
Lewis Stone	...	Dr. Daniel Kalbert Harris, Sr.
James Mitchell	...	Dr. Daniel Kalbert Harris, Jr.
Amanda Blake	...	Faith Radmore Samuels
Juano Hernandez	...	Uncle Famous Prill
Charles Kemper	...	Prof. Sam Houston Jones
Connie Gilchrist	...	Sarah Isbell
Ed Begley	...	Lon Backett
Jack Lambert	...	Perry Lokey
Arthur Hunnicutt	...	Chloroform Wiggins
Marshall Thompson	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

Civil War veteran Josiah Grey comes to a small town to be a gospel minister. In time he has a family and many friends, but he also finds friction with a few of his parishioners. A young doctor grates at what he feels is the parson's interference in the scientific treatment of patients, and a mine owner resents Grey's protection of an old sharecropper whose small plot of land stands in the way of his continued mining. Grey must face a public health crisis and a lynch mob as a result, all seen and described through the eyes and memory of Grey's young nephew John.

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Plot Keywords:

minister | 19th century | american civil war | american civil war veteran | parson | 

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Taglines:

Take your choice ... either I speak ... or my pistols do !

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1950 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Estrellas en mi corona

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,175,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,962,000, 31 December 1950

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,146,000, 31 December 1950

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was narrated by Marshall Thompson, but Lionel Barrymore is listed in the CBCS as the narrator.

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Quotes

John Kenyon: There's no writin' on here. This ain't a will.
Josiah Doziah Gray: Yes, it is, son. It's the will of God.

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Soundtracks

Nut Brown Maiden
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

Nice little film with message

Enjoyed this film. It portrayed a post-Civil War mid-west (so it appeared)community in a way that could make you nostalgic. Not that everything was perfect: the Ku Klux Klan harassing a freed black man (the distinguished Puerto Rican actor Juano Hernandez)primarily because they want his land. That preacher Joel McCrae manages to talk them out of it by appealing to their basic decency works without being cloying. Initially a muscular Christian, he here uses his brain to do the Lord's work. Also believable was the community's vulnerability to disease. They had no laboratory-testing facilities to see if that well-water was the source. McCrae's self doubt in the face of all this is believable.As for the cast, I'm pretty sure I spotted an uncredited Peter Graves as one of Alan Hale's offspring.