The Shepherd of the Hills [Blu-ray]

The commentary track by Simon Abrams is truly awful. He also did an equally terrible job on a movie in the Shawscope Volume 1 collection (Hong Kong Kung Fu movies), so this seems to be par-for-the-course for him.He mocks the movie at times, and goes out of his way to use derogatory terms when referring to the country folks. He spends a lot of time reading passages from the book to compare them to the movie, but then laughs & stumbles through passages because he finds them so silly.We don’t need people like him doing commentaries.Studios need to hire people who at least like the movie. But having some PC young person opine on movies like this is just asking for trouble. We know they hate it, just like they hate America. Let them stick to movies like John Wick, the latest Marvel flick, or Fast & Furious 25 (or whatever number they’re up to nowadays).Do yourself a favor and skip the commentary track.

This movie was a very good one of John Wayne.I like it very much

In ‘Shepherd of the Hills’ (1941), John Wayne is an Arkansas hillbilly living in a highly dysfunctional family.Here is the rough plot:A mysterious stranger (played by Harry Carey) comes to town.1) He heals the sick.2) He brings the dead back to life.3) He restores the sight of a woman who has been blind since birth.4) He fishes a lot.5) He tells everyone to stop fighting and love one another.6) He worries John Wayne.‘Shepherd of the Hills’ is not your usual John Wayne film.Technically it’s not a Western: It’s set in Arkansas c.1900 (though it sure looks like a Western).‘Shepherd of the Hills’ even ends with a classic Wild West shootout between John Wayne and the Mysterious Stranger/Jesus (I’m not saying who wins).‘Shepherd of the Hills’ was a prestige production for Paramount in 1941.It was filmed in Technicolor with the California Sierras doubling for the Ozarks.Why isn't this film better known today?Henry Hathaway was a major director.He directed John Wayne in six films, culminating with ‘True Grit’ in 1969.Though top-billed, John Wayne is not really the star.One-time silent film star Harry Carey gives the performance of his career as the miracle-working stranger.Harry Carey appeared in four films with John Wayne (Harry Carey Jr. appeared in eleven).Betty Field as John Wayne's love interest appears not to be wearing make-up: unheard of for a 1941 Technicolor film (she’s also not wearing shoes).I would rate ‘Shepherd of the Hills’ with ‘Hondo’ and ‘The Searchers’ as my favorite John Wayne film.It has a lot in common with another film released at the same time: ‘Strange Cargo’ (1940) starring Clark Gable as an escapee from Devil’s Island.Ian Hunter plays a Christ-like fellow prisoner who worries about Clark Gable's soul.Apparently Jesus sightings were common in Hollywood during the early years of World War II.Understandable.The picture on this Blu-ray from Kino-Lorber is an improvement over the 2006 DVD from Universal in the “John Wayne Icon Collection”.The Blu-ray comes with English SDH subtitles, an audio commentary from critic Simon Abrams, and the original trailer.Quote: “Until he fulfills his oath to kill, he must put aside all thoughts of love.”The audio commentary was interrupted several times by the sound of fire engines outside the recording studio.Near the end of the film, there is a house fire on screen, accompanied by a convenient fire alarm on the commentary track.Highly recommended.

The movie was so different from the book. John Wayne was good, of course!

Family movie night

Have not played but is new and it will work fine Shipped fast

I have always enjoyed this movie, the actors are great and the characters they play show an excellent range of emotions. It might not be the happiest of movies but it mirrors the problems of poverty that people experienced in that part of our country and time period.

My husband, the John Wayne fan, thought he had seen every movie John Wayne had ever made, but then he went to help a neighbor and she was watching this on TV. We had to find it and buy it. Thank you Amazon! This is a spooky, superstitious, thriller set in the Appellation mountain region of America, and the plot is fascinating. Beulah Bondi plays the meanest, witchiest woman troublemaker in the most menacing way. You won't be disappointed in "The Shepherd of the Hills"!

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