The Shepherd of the Hills (film)
| The Shepherd of the Hills | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
| Produced by | Jack Moss |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | A novel by Harold Bell Wright |
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| Music by | Gerard Carbonara |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | Ellsworth Hoagland |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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 himself in 1919, released on State Rights basis. It was filmed again, in 1928, at First National Pictures.
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 doddering 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.
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