88% (2) Intruder in the Dust 87 min, APPROVED, [Crime, Drama] [Clarence Brown] [24 Mar 1950]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.
Actors: Claude Jarman Jr., David Brian, Juano Hernandez, Porter Hall
Writer: William Faulkner (novel), Ben Maddow
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Rural Mississippi in the 1940s: Lucas Beauchamp, a local black man with a reputation of not kowtowing to whites, is found standing over the body of a dead white man, holding a pistol that has recently been fired. Quickly arrested for murder and jailed, Beauchamp insists he's innocent and asks the town's most prominent lawyer, Gavin Stevens, to defend him, but Stevens refuses. When a local boy whom Beauchamp has helped in the past and who believes him to be innocent hears talk of a mob taking Beauchamp out of jail and lynching him, he pleads with Stevens to defend Beauchamp at trial and prove his innocence.
Rotten Tomatoes: Intruder in the Dust is one of the best of Hollywood's postwar "racial tolerance" cycle--a cycle that would come to an abrupt end in the politically paranoid 1950s. Based on a novel by William Faulkner, the film takes place in a small Mississippi town (it was filmed on location in and around Oxford, MS). Juano Hernandez plays an African-American landowner who is arrested on a murder charge. Resentful of Hernandez' industriousness, the white townsfolk are eager to see him hang. David Brian, the attorney uncle of a young white boy (Claude Jarman Jr.) who has befriended Hernandez, agrees to take the accused man's case. His job is complicated by the lynch-mob mentality fomented by the dead man's brother (Charles Kemper) and Hernandez' refusal to reveal the name of the man he suspects as the killer. The hostile atmosphere reaches a fever pitch, but justice is ultimately served. Intruder in the Dust stands out among other films of its period with its refusal to stoop to any form of condescension towards its black characters or to rationalize the behavior of the bigots. Though produced by MGM, the film wisely displays none of that studio's patented glossiness, opting instead for a dusty, sun-scorched, fleabitten veneer that enhances the film's basic realism.
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86% (2) The Yearling 128 min, Approved, [Drama, Family, Western] [Clarence Brown] [01 May 1947]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 73%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.
Actors: Chill Wills, Claude Jarman Jr., Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman
Writer: Paul Osborn (screen play), Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (based on the Pulitzer Prize novel by)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The family of Civil War veteran Penny Baxter, who lives and works on a farm in Florida with his wife, Orry, and their son, Jody. The only surviving child of the family, Jody longs for companionship and unexpectedly finds it in the form of an orphaned fawn. While Penny is supportive of his son's four-legged friend, Orry is not, leading to heartbreaking conflict.
Rotten Tomatoes: Based on the novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Yearling is set in post-Civil War Florida. Claude Jarman Jr. plays Jody Baxter, the lonely son of just-getting-by farmers Pa and Ma Baxter (Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman). With all of his siblings dead and buried, Jody yearns to have a pet of some sort. When Pa is forced by circumstances to kill a doe, the animal's fawn-the yearling of the title-is adopted by Jody. The boy's love for the animal does not alter the fact that the fawn is eating all of the Baxters' crops. Sadly, Pa tells Jody that he must kill the yearling before all their crops are destroyed. Jody can't bring himself to do this, so he sets the animal free in the wilds. Time and again, however, the yearling returns to the farm. Finally, Ma Baxter, who'd been against having the fawn on the property in the first place, shoots and wounds the animal. Now, Jody has no choice: rather than see his beloved yearling writhe in agony, he kills it. Though this results in a rift between himself and his family, Jody at last realizes that, by taking the responsiblity of saving the farm at the expense of his own feelings, he has also taken the first step towards manhood. He himself is a "yearling" no more. MGM had intended to film The Yearling in 1941 with a different cast and director, but a series of personality clashes delayed production for five years. Watching the inspired performances of Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman Jr., it is nearly impossible to imagine the film with its originally intended cast of Spencer Tracy, Anne Revere and the unknown Gene Eckman. The studio had also intended to lens the film on location in Florida, but in the end it proved more practical and expedient to shoot in the studio and its environs. Oscars went to the Technicolor photography of Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith and Arthur Arling, and to the art direction/set decoration work of Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse and Edwin B. Willis. Originally released at 128 minutes, the film was reissued in a butchered 94 minute version; steer clear of this one and opt for the still-available original.
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73% (2) Rio Grande 105 min, Passed, [Romance, Western] [John Ford] [15 Nov 1950]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 72%, Rotten Tomatoes: 75%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr., John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara
Writer: James Kevin McGuinness (screenplay), James Warner Bellah (Saturday Evening Post story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Rio Grande takes place after the Civil War when the Union turned their attention towards the Apaches. Union officer Kirby Yorke is in charge of an outpost on the Rio Grande in which he is in charge of training of new recruits one of which is his son whom he hasn't seen in 15 years. He whips him into shape to take on the Apaches but not before his mother shows up to take him out of there.The decision to leave is left up to Trooper Yorke who decides to stay and fight. Through it all Kirby and Kathleen though separated for years fall back into love and decide that it's time to give it another try. But Yorke faces his toughest battle when his unorthodox plan to outwit the elusive Apaches leads to possible court- martial. Locked in a bloody Indian war, he must fight to redeem his honor and save the love and lives of his broken family
Rotten Tomatoes: The last entry in the John Ford-John Wayne "Cavalry Trilogy," this film stars Wayne as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, whose devotion to duty has cost him his marriage. When Yorke's son Jeff is assigned to his father's post, Yorke is determined not to afford any preferential treatment to the boy.
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68% (1) The Sun Comes Up 93 min, [Drama, Family] [Richard Thorpe] [12 May 1949]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Actors: Claude Jarman Jr., Jeanette MacDonald, Lewis Stone, Lloyd Nolan
Writer: Margaret Fitts, William Ludwig, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Set in the rural south of the United States, a bereaved war widow learns to to put aside her bitterness and grief as she grows to love a young orphan boy and the dog that belonged to her late son. Punctuated with song-filled interludes.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this drama, an embittered widow, a former concert singer, can't help but blame Lassie for her son's death. Needing help with her chores, she hires an orphan from the local home. At first she remains aloof towards the charming lad who quickly bonds with the collie dog, but as time passes she can't help but develop feelings for the boy. Later Lassie redeems herself when she saves the boy from a terrible fire in the orphanage. After that, the widow suddenly realizes that she does indeed love the boy and adopts him and puts Lassie back in her good graces.
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68% (1) Hangman's Knot 81 min, APPROVED, [Romance, Western] [Roy Huggins] [15 Nov 1952]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Actors: Claude Jarman Jr., Donna Reed, Frank Faylen, Randolph Scott
Writer: Roy Huggins
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: In 1865, a troop of Confederate soldiers led by Major Matt Stewart attack the wagon of gold escorted by Union cavalry and the soldiers are killed. The only wounded survivor tells that the war ended one month ago, and the group decides to take the gold and meet their liaison that knew that the war ended but did not inform the troop. The harsh Rolph Bainter kills the greedy man and the soldiers flee in his wagon driven by Major Stewart. When they meet a posse chasing them, Stewart gives wrong information to misguide the group; however, they have an accident with the wagon and lose the horses. They decide to stop a stagecoach and force the driver to transport them, but the posse returns and they are trapped in the station with the passenger. They realize that the men are not deputies and have no intention to bring them to justice but take the stolen gold.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this film, Randolph Scott is the commander of a Confederate raiding party. They rob a Yankee gold shipment and are told by a dying Union soldier that the war ended a month ago. Knowing that they will now be forced to face criminal charges, they hide out.
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