Mountain Justice (1937)

Nice effects though.

Absolutely brilliant

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Copyright 6 November 1936 by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. New York release at the Rialto, 12 May 1937. U.S. release: 24 April 1937. 10 reels. 83 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Patricide - obviously suggested by the Edith Maxwell case.COMMENT: This engrossingly dramatic Warner Bros social documentary has been produced on an extremely lavish scale. Director Curtiz is in his element with the huge crowd scenes and has creatively and imaginatively handled the stunning courtroom sequences as well as the film's other tense moments. Unfortunately, despite Curtiz's forceful efforts - aided by wonderfully skilful photography by Ernest Haller - the powerfully suspenseful atmosphere is a little undermined not only by some trite dialogue and stereotyped characterizations, but by some misguided efforts at comedy relief. Scriptwriters Norman Reilly Raine of Tugboat Annie fame and Luci Ward of innumerable "B" westerns are solely to blame.In the Edith Maxwell part, Josephine Hutchinson plays with spirit yet dignity. A difficult role, but she handles it with perfect assurance and ease. Barrat is equally right as her brutal father. In a more conventional role, Brent comes across with reasonable force. Heading a great Warner Bros support cast, Marcia Mae Jones deserves a special mention as the heroine's understandably rebellious child-bride sister, whose flight is the catalyst for "murder".

Good-looking melodrama about a backwoods girl (Josephine Hutchinson) who dreams of opening medical clinics for hillbillies, but most contend with abusive father (Robert Barrat). Outrageous at times with some ridiculous caricatures in place of real characters. But still it's entertaining and moves along nicely, helped by an able cast. George Brent plays the Northern lawyer in love with Hutchinson. I believe he was the only character who actually said the word hillbilly in the film. But he said it often and with such disdain each time I couldn't help but chuckle. Guy Kibbee and Margaret Hamilton are the lovable old couple that help show the audience the hill people aren't all as evil as Barrat.

The movie is entertaining but bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to hillbillies I grew up with. Behaving the way he does, the father character would have been shot dead in his teenage years where I come from in West Virginia. A brutal thug like him would never have fathered any children if he did survive because no woman would ever have married him.In the hillbilly culture where I come from, the family group is typically one of matriarchy. As for the father selecting his daughter's husband, that is totally and completely ludicrous. In the hillbilly culture I grew up in, father's will typically object strenuously to their daughter's selection of a mate but that's only because he doesn't want her to leave the house.As for the doctoring there, most people don't go to doctors or dentists. The hillbilly medical practice goes like this: you ignore the pain until it either goes away or gets so bad you can't stand it and you have to go see a doctor. If it goes away, which it usually does, then you didn't need a doctor anyway. If it gets so bad you can't stand it then maybe it's something serious or maybe it's something you can live with. Dental practice goes like this: you never do anything to your teeth until the cavities get so bad you can't stand the pain. Then you go to the dentist, get them pulled and get false teeth.Personally speaking, I never brushed my teeth until I joined the Navy in 1963! I never took a shower either! Needless to say, those bad practices and habits were quickly altered in boot camp.

Before I begin, I must point out that even if you think I am being too harsh about MOUNTAIN JUSTICE, you can't possibly think this seriously flawed film deserved a score of 10! Films like GONE WITH THE WIND and DR. STRANGELOVE have many reviews with scores well below 10--this very obscure and strange little film from Warner Brothers surely isn't up to the quality of these films is it?! So why did I say the film was quite stupid...well, because it was! While the film was quite entertaining, the studio produced a script that just didn't make a lot of sense and was full of plot holes. In the process, they made "hillbillies" (I assume from the Ozarks) look like complete sub-humans! Obviously Warner didn't particularly care if no one in the hills would want to see this sort of "exposee" film--but they couldn't have seriously believed that the city folks would accept this film based as fact! I'll give you a few examples of the silliness. First, when the insanely brutal Robert Barrat shot a government employee on his land, the jury gave him 90 days in jail! It seemed to imply that this was a federal employee--and if this were the case, it would have been held in federal court--not some backwoods locale and 90 days for a shooting?! Second, when Barrat later decided to kill his oldest daughter by flogging her to death, the fact that he was attacking her when she finally fought back seemed irrelevant. None of the wounds or the past shooting seemed worth mentioning. And, despite this being a very, very local affair, newspapers read "Nations Eyes on Ruth Harkin" and the trial seemed to get more attention than the O. J. trial!!! Then, when the autopsy showed she did NOT kill him and he died of a heart attack, she was convicted of murder anyway and sentenced to 25 years!!! Not content with this, those "crazy hillbillies" dressed like dumb make-shift klansmen and tried to string her up--while the police offered no resistance! Talk about far-fetched! None of this made any sense at all--even the stupidest mob in the world wouldn't have behaved this way--plus they would have worn better masks than old hopelessly large potato sacks. Talk about having to suspend disbelief!! So although the plot made no sense and the film was way over the top stylistically speaking, I still gave the film a 4--which might seem generous. Well, the 4 isn't for the lackluster performance of the leads (particularly George Brent--who looked very much out of place and ill at ease)--the 4 is for Robert Barrat's amazing performance. He was total scum and played it very convincingly--so much so that I was rooting for the daughter to kill the old jerk! Normally, Barrat almost always played city types and never anyone remotely like the guy in this film. The change of pace for this character actor was appreciated. In addition, Guy Kibbee and Margaret Hamilton provided some excellent color. The weirdness and salaciousness did hold my attention.Not a good film, but it was entertaining. Plus, the message seemed to be that it really ISN'T worth trying to change these hillbillies--they really are beneath contempt!! Talk about bigotry.If you do see it, two things to look for. First, although the film takes place apparently over several years, Ruth's little sister never seems to age. Additionally, in a case of impossible lawyering (is that a word?), the Prosecuting Attorney at the beginning of the film is the Defense Attorney for Ruth's trial and the Defense Attorney is now the Prosecutor!! On what planet would they do this??!?!Finally, if you do want to see a GOOD film about mob rule and miscarriages of justice, two contemporary films that are almost infinitely better are FURY (1936) and THEY WON'T FORGET (1937). Both have stronger emotional impact and both are very intelligently written.