The Shepherd of the Hills (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Shepherd of the Hills


image_size =
caption =
director = Henry Hathaway
producer = Jack Moss
writer = Stuart Anthony
Grover Jones
Harold Bell Wright
narrator =
starring = John Wayne
Betty Field
music =
cinematography = W. Howard Greene
Charles Lang
editing = Ellsworth Hoagland
distributor =
released = 18 July 1941
runtime = 98 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0034182

"The Shepherd of the Hills" is a 1941 film starring John Wayne. It was Wayne's first film in Technicolor. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Harold Bell Wright.

Differences from the novel

While the novel interposed fiction with portrayals of actual persons residing in the Missouri Ozarks, in the early Branson area, the film departed markedly from the book's presentations. Old Matt, a patriarch, mill owner and influential person within the community, is presented in the film as a dottering fool, henpecked by his wife, Aunt Mollie. In the novel she's a nurturing, kindly, loyal wife and friend, but in this film she is a shrill, nasty moonshiner. The "Shepherd" of the title, a cultured, sympathetic visitor from Chicago who contributes positively to the society he's visiting, in this film is an aging gunfighter with a guarded past and, in total odds with the book, is here Young Matt's (John Wayne's) father, with a shootout perpetrated by "Big John." Other characters differ as markedly from Wright's novel. Although a good representation of the Ozarks area several decades ago, a decent story in its own right, and good nostalgia, it probably represents as great a departure by a film, versus the novel it is based on, in all motion picture history.

Cast

* John Wayne - Young Matt
* Betty Field - Sammy Lane
* Harry Carey - Daniel Howitt
* Beulah Bondi - Aunt Mollie
* James Barton - Old Matt
* Samuel S. Hinds - Andy Beeler
* Marjorie Main - Granny Becky
* Ward Bond - Wash Gibbs
* Marc Lawrence - Pete
* John Qualen - Coot Royal
* Fuzzy Knight - Mr. Palestrom
* Tom Fadden - Jim Lane
* Olin Howland - Corky
* Dorothy Adams - Elvy
* Virita Campbell - Baby

ee also

* John Wayne filmography (1941-1960)

External links

*imdb title|id=0034182|title=The Shepherd of the Hills