Deeply moving Southern vignette. The script is artfully constructed for maximum dramatic impact. So many outstanding scenes, capped by a tour-de-force climax and a delightful reprise postscript, it's almost more than the emotions can stand.
Ford has a ball, often delineating his setting and characters with broad strokes, but all the more effective for the master's touch. A few slight lapses are made by two or three of the actors, but what does that matter compared to the picture's overall emotional impact? The Ford Stock Company is out in overwhelming parade force.
The movies also features "A"-budget sets and strikingly atmospheric black-and-white photography, plus a music score by the ever-reliable Victor Young (who uses Steven Foster most appealingly).
In all, a movie to treasure. I'd rate it 99%.
Ford said to me that this was his favorite movie of all the movies he had directed. Even though critics had exalted many others of his films to the skies, Ford thought "The Sun Shines Bright" was his greatest achievement. And I am really tempted to agree!
Ford has a ball, often delineating his setting and characters with broad strokes, but all the more effective for the master's touch. A few slight lapses are made by two or three of the actors, but what does that matter compared to the picture's overall emotional impact? The Ford Stock Company is out in overwhelming parade force.
The movies also features "A"-budget sets and strikingly atmospheric black-and-white photography, plus a music score by the ever-reliable Victor Young (who uses Steven Foster most appealingly).
In all, a movie to treasure. I'd rate it 99%.
Ford said to me that this was his favorite movie of all the movies he had directed. Even though critics had exalted many others of his films to the skies, Ford thought "The Sun Shines Bright" was his greatest achievement. And I am really tempted to agree!