The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)

Directed by

Henry Hathaway

Genre

drama film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 38m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 60 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A mysterious stranger arrives in the Missouri Ozarks and becomes entangled with a local family. The film follows his interactions with Young Matt and his father as secrets from the past come to light.

sentimentalearnestleisurelyrootedserenewholesomepastoralmildly dramatic

What happens

The Shepherd of the Hills is a 1941 American drama film starring John Wayne, Betty Field and Harry Carey. The supporting cast includes Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond, Marjorie Main and John Qualen. The picture was Wayne's first film in Technicolor and was based on the novel of the same name by Harold Bell Wright. The director was Henry Hathaway, who directed several other Wayne films including True Grit almost three decades later. The story was filmed previously in the silent era by author Wright, in 1919, released on State Rights basis. It was filmed again in 1928, starring Molly O'Day at First National Pictures, and later, in colour in 1964. The film also features two uncredited pieces of music. The first is used as a leit motif to represent the spirit of Young Matt's deceased mother: the Wiegenlied ("Guten Abend, gut' Nacht" [1868]) of Johannes Brahms, commonly known in English as the Brahms Lullaby. The second uncredited composition was "There's a Happy Hunting Ground", words and music by Sam Coslow, sung by "Fuzzy" Knight, accompanied by an a cappella onscreen chorus in multi-voiced harmony; the song is sung again by the chorus alone over the closing credits. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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