Believe it or not, John Ford always used to say his most beautiful and honest pictures were not actually Westerns; they were small, unambitious stories without big stars about communities of very simple people. 1953's "The Sun Shines Bright", the last movie he made for Argosy Pictures and Herbert J. Yates, was THE movie Ford always liked to refer to as his absolute favorite, one that came close to what he wanted to achieve, along with "Wagon Master" and "The Fugitive".
It is a work of great beauty, a lovingly crafted remake of the director's extraordinary 1934 Will Rogers vehicle, "Judge Priest", based on some folksy Judge Priest stories by Irving S. Cobb.
What distinguishes "Sun Shines Bright" from "Judge Priest" is its rigid, formal structure. It is an extremely complex work on many levels: the acting, photography, camera work, montage, and music. Each scene is intricately shot, mounted, and choreographed with precision and clarity amidst some singing, dancing, parading. It is basically the work of an old man, entirely bereft of the sublime, soft-focus, Griffith-inspired rural simplicity of "Judge Priest", though both movies share the same themes and preoccupations. But "Sun", I think, is a better and more stirring experience, with its carefully crafted passages of a prejudiced community in the Old South at the turn of the century.
In "Sun", Ford densely weaves a series of intertwining vignettes concerning a classic Fordian hero: William Pittman Priest (magnificently played by Charles Winninger), a small town Kentucky judge who powerfully heals, mediates, and reconciles the tensions of his intolerant community, reminding it of its racial prejudices while subtly acknowledging the strength and significance of its Civil War history. He is also a celibate and a lonely figure who persistently lives for his community, leading them to a better future. Priest has an affinity with other Fordian heroes such as Tom Doniphon of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", Will Rogers, young Mr. Lincoln, Ethan Edwards of "The Searchers", and "7 Women"'s Dr. Cartwright.
Priest is occasionally accompanied by his African-American comic sidekick Jeff Poindexter (an aging Stepin Fetchit who also accompanied Will Rogers in "Judge Priest"). Though painfully segregated, both blacks and whites overlap and are integrated through song and music. Here, Jeff plays harmonica on Priest's porch; U. S. Grant Woodford plays "Dixie" in the courtroom; and almost all of the characters parade and sing "In Old Kentucky Home" at the end. In a moving scene that recalls the near lynching in "Young Mr. Lincoln", Priest painfully calms a lynch mob accusing an innocent black man of raping a white woman, a scene that was apparently cut from 1934 "Judge Priest".
Priest also finds himself running a re-election against a right-wing prosecutor Horace K. Maydew ("Young Mr. Lincoln"'s Milburn Stone). Unlike his radical opponent, Ford portrays Priest as a tragically complex figure, capable of grasping the feelings and complexities of his divided community. He has an acute understanding of the importance of tradition while discerning the need for social change.
In what is perhaps the movie's most spectacular moment, Priest stages a funeral procession of a dead prostitute from Cobb's short story "The Lord Provides" - a stunning sequence that it should easily be ranked along with one of Ford's finest achievements.
"The Sun Shines Bright" did poorly when it was released and over the years it disappeared into an undeserved obscurity. It is often overshadowed by Ford's other film of the year, the entertaining Safari yarn "Mogambo". And yet it seems to me one of Ford's top four or five masterpieces. It may be sternly old-fashioned and sentimental by today's standards, but it is an extremely personal work that should be viewed within its own merits.
See it and let me know what you think.
It is a work of great beauty, a lovingly crafted remake of the director's extraordinary 1934 Will Rogers vehicle, "Judge Priest", based on some folksy Judge Priest stories by Irving S. Cobb.
What distinguishes "Sun Shines Bright" from "Judge Priest" is its rigid, formal structure. It is an extremely complex work on many levels: the acting, photography, camera work, montage, and music. Each scene is intricately shot, mounted, and choreographed with precision and clarity amidst some singing, dancing, parading. It is basically the work of an old man, entirely bereft of the sublime, soft-focus, Griffith-inspired rural simplicity of "Judge Priest", though both movies share the same themes and preoccupations. But "Sun", I think, is a better and more stirring experience, with its carefully crafted passages of a prejudiced community in the Old South at the turn of the century.
In "Sun", Ford densely weaves a series of intertwining vignettes concerning a classic Fordian hero: William Pittman Priest (magnificently played by Charles Winninger), a small town Kentucky judge who powerfully heals, mediates, and reconciles the tensions of his intolerant community, reminding it of its racial prejudices while subtly acknowledging the strength and significance of its Civil War history. He is also a celibate and a lonely figure who persistently lives for his community, leading them to a better future. Priest has an affinity with other Fordian heroes such as Tom Doniphon of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", Will Rogers, young Mr. Lincoln, Ethan Edwards of "The Searchers", and "7 Women"'s Dr. Cartwright.
Priest is occasionally accompanied by his African-American comic sidekick Jeff Poindexter (an aging Stepin Fetchit who also accompanied Will Rogers in "Judge Priest"). Though painfully segregated, both blacks and whites overlap and are integrated through song and music. Here, Jeff plays harmonica on Priest's porch; U. S. Grant Woodford plays "Dixie" in the courtroom; and almost all of the characters parade and sing "In Old Kentucky Home" at the end. In a moving scene that recalls the near lynching in "Young Mr. Lincoln", Priest painfully calms a lynch mob accusing an innocent black man of raping a white woman, a scene that was apparently cut from 1934 "Judge Priest".
Priest also finds himself running a re-election against a right-wing prosecutor Horace K. Maydew ("Young Mr. Lincoln"'s Milburn Stone). Unlike his radical opponent, Ford portrays Priest as a tragically complex figure, capable of grasping the feelings and complexities of his divided community. He has an acute understanding of the importance of tradition while discerning the need for social change.
In what is perhaps the movie's most spectacular moment, Priest stages a funeral procession of a dead prostitute from Cobb's short story "The Lord Provides" - a stunning sequence that it should easily be ranked along with one of Ford's finest achievements.
"The Sun Shines Bright" did poorly when it was released and over the years it disappeared into an undeserved obscurity. It is often overshadowed by Ford's other film of the year, the entertaining Safari yarn "Mogambo". And yet it seems to me one of Ford's top four or five masterpieces. It may be sternly old-fashioned and sentimental by today's standards, but it is an extremely personal work that should be viewed within its own merits.
See it and let me know what you think.