![]() His motivations for acquiring such a place become apparent soon enough. But to Howitt, it’s a different spirit at work there. Most everyone, including Sammy, holds right to the notion that the land in question is haunted. (The scene when he asks the local shopkeeper if he could cash a $100 check, leading the shopkeeper to meticulously comb all of his hiding places for squirreled-away bills, is a comedic charmer). The cultured Howitt, following a $1000 arrangement the likes of which none of the impoverished locals can fathom, purchases an abandoned and notorious tract of nearby land. Superstition and religion coexist but don’t necessarily overlap. The land in these anemically wooded hills may not be much to look at, but everyone has a long-standing relationship with it. He carefully cultivates The Shepherd of the Hills as a textured cinematic space in which engaging soulfulness is tantamount to living, but any moment of such grace can and will be shattered without a moment’s notice. Tonally, Hathaway is far more controlled. (A bare back, a linger on her bent-over bum… fleeting moments that are glaringly out of place). As scene-stealing as she is barefoot, Field is the film’s central nervous system to Carey’s heart- even as Hathaway’s camera overtly sexualizes her here and there. Supporting them in the lead female role of the spirited tomboyish Sammy Lane is twenty-two-year-old Betty Field. That honor rightly goes to veteran actor Harry Carey, playing benevolent and cultured newcomer Daniel Howitt. But don’t let that billing fool you not only is Wayne’s performance one of tremendous emotional nuance and moral greyscale, he’s also not really the star at all. This third such film of the source material (previous versions from 19 are now lost) headlines John Wayne, still fresh-faced and still feeling his way as a leading man. From Henry Hathaway, a director so proficient for so long that even he could likely never have seen all of his sixty-plus films, this adaptation of the 1906 Harold Bell Wright novel lands impressively assured in its depiction of a simpler way of life most skewed. Case in point, 1941’s The Shepherd of the Hills– a tremendously sensitive and nearly note-perfect tale of Ozark hill folk back the day. The stellar cast includes Beulah Bondi (The Good Fairy), Ward Bond (Canyon Passage) and Marc Lawrence (I Walk Alone).Christian allegories ain’t what they used to be. The heated confrontation between the two men leads to a startling climax that threatens to tear the town apart. Rejected by the locals, he is befriended by Matt’s pretty barefoot girlfriend (Betty Field, The Great Gatsby) who learns the secret of his healing powers and the curse of vengeance that torments the man she loves. This stranger, a quiet older man, has healing ways that begin to alter the face of the community. The arrival of a stranger (Harry Carey, Hell Bent) is cause for alarm in this small community whose main source of revenue is illegal corn whiskey. ![]() The stern family matriarch Granny Becky (Marjorie Main, Murder, He Says), in the absence of both parents, has taken over the leadership duties for the extended family of moonshiners. Burdened from boyhood by a family tragedy, Matt’s life is driven by the need to avenge his mother’s abandonment by an uncaring father. ![]() From Henry Hathaway, the acclaimed director of The House on 92nd Street, Kiss of Death, Rawhide, Niagara, Legend of the Lost, The Sons of Katie Elder and True Grit, comes this classic adventure yarn starring screen legend John Wayne (Red River, The Searchers, Brannigan, The Shootist) as Young Matt Mathews, a hillbilly moonshiner.
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