The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) - Seven Sinners (1940) DVD9 - J

The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) - Seven Sinners (1940) DVD9 - John Wayne Collection [DDR]


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.

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

Directed by Henry Hathaway
Produced by Jack Moss
Music by Gerard Carbonara
Running time 98 minutes

Young Matt Matthews, an Ozark Mountains moonshiner, hates the father he has never seen, who apparently deserted Matt's mother and left her to die. His obsession contributes to the hatred rampant in the mountains. However, the arrival of a stranger, Daniel Howitt, begins to positively affect the mountain people, who learn to shed their hatred under his gentle influence. Still, Matt does not quite trust Howitt.....

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 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. 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.
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Seven Sinners (1940)

Seven Sinners (UK title Cafe of the Seven Sinners) is a 1940 American adventure film starring Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne in the first of three films they made together.

CAST:-
Marlene Dietrich as Bijou Blanche
John Wayne as Lt. Dan Brent
Albert Dekker as Dr. Martin
Broderick Crawford as Edward Patrick 'Little Ned' Finnegan
Anna Lee as Dorothy Henderson
Mischa Auer as Sasha Mencken
Billy Gilbert as Tony
Richard Carle as District Officer
Samuel S. Hinds as Gov. Harvey Henderson
Oskar Homolka as Antro
Reginald Denny as Capt. Church
Vince Barnett as Bartender
Herbert Rawlinson as First Mate
James Craig as Ensign
William Bakewell as Ens. Judson

Directed by Tay Garnett
Produced by Joe Pasternak
Running time 87 minutes

SYNOPSIS:- Seven Sinners (1940)
The film spotlights the controversial life of torch singer Bijou Blanche (Dietrich), who has been kicked off one South Seas island after another. She is accompanied by naval deserter Edward Patrick 'Little Ned' Finnegan (Broderick Crawford) and magician/pickpocket Sasha Mencken (Mischa Auer). Eventually, she meets a handsome, young naval officer, Lt. Dan Brent (Wayne), and the two fall in love. When Brent vows to marry Bijou, his commander and others plead with him to leave her.

Bijou, a saloon singer with a reputation for inciting brouhahas, is one of several deportees from a south Pacific island to arrive at another U.S. protectorate, Boni Komba. She becomes very popular with U.S. navy men by performing at the 'Seven Sinners'. A navy Lieutenant is attracted to Bijou despite the Governor's machinations to keep them apart, and the competing affections of local mobster, Antro.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:-
Video Codec: MPEG-2
Video Bitrate: 4999 kbps
Video Resolution: 720x480
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1
Frames Per Second: 23.976
Audio Codec: AC3
Audio Bitrate: 192kb/s CBR 48000 Hz
Audio Streams: 2
Audio Languages: English
RunTime 185 mins
Subtitles: None
Ripped by: Trinidad [DDR]
Duration: 185 mins