Just two years after the end of WWII comes this film about the end of the American Civil War. The conflict pitted neighbors against neighbors and ill feelings persisted after the war, as the republic was trying to adapt to new laws and trying to forget old grudges. But some wanted to hang on to their prejudices and hatred.
In the Missouri Ozarks lived a farming family like most--a father, mother, daughter and son. The elder son disappeared on the battlefields up north. Like the aftermaths of all prolonged wars, there was a shortage of manpower, and the crops needed to be harvested. How fortunate then that a stranger--tooting on a mouth organ just as happily as you please--wandered down the backroad to their farm on his way to no place in particular.
Young Dean Stockwell plays the young son in his ninth film role, while daughter Lissy Anne is played by Janet Leigh in her film debut. She is perfect in her portrayal of the innocent farmer's daughter. In fact, the entire cast is just wonderful. Van Johnson is the stranger with a song on his lips, who brings an element of hope and happiness to the lives of those on the ridge.
The writing captures the vernacular and the feelings of the country folk. The music--both incidental and performed--lays a perfect foundation for understanding their simple way of life. And the story is bursting with heart and sweet as the summer rain. This is a film worth seeing for its uncommon humanity.
In the Missouri Ozarks lived a farming family like most--a father, mother, daughter and son. The elder son disappeared on the battlefields up north. Like the aftermaths of all prolonged wars, there was a shortage of manpower, and the crops needed to be harvested. How fortunate then that a stranger--tooting on a mouth organ just as happily as you please--wandered down the backroad to their farm on his way to no place in particular.
Young Dean Stockwell plays the young son in his ninth film role, while daughter Lissy Anne is played by Janet Leigh in her film debut. She is perfect in her portrayal of the innocent farmer's daughter. In fact, the entire cast is just wonderful. Van Johnson is the stranger with a song on his lips, who brings an element of hope and happiness to the lives of those on the ridge.
The writing captures the vernacular and the feelings of the country folk. The music--both incidental and performed--lays a perfect foundation for understanding their simple way of life. And the story is bursting with heart and sweet as the summer rain. This is a film worth seeing for its uncommon humanity.