Directed by Clarence Brown. Starring David Brian, Juano Hernández, Claude Jarman Jr, Will Geer, Elizabeth Patterson, Porter Hall, Charles Kemper, Elzie Emanuel.
Race relations drama was daring (if not even groundbreaking) at the time of its release, but is as subtle as a brick to the face. Black man Hernández is accused of murder in Mississippi; young Jarman is determined to investigate and prove the man's innocence while his attorney uncle (Brian) reluctantly agrees to defend the suspect. Brown's pedestrian direction is aided by Robert Surtees' persuasive location photography and cautious restraint on the music cues; Ben Maddow's adaptation of William Faulkner's novel has good intentions and a decent murder mystery, but is heavy on moralizing speeches, especially toward the end. Hernández gives a fine performance, but most of his co-stars fall short; Brian's featureless pontifications get old fast, and Jarman is utterly woeful. May play better with audiences who haven't watched the surface-similar and more successful film adaptation of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird."
66/100
Race relations drama was daring (if not even groundbreaking) at the time of its release, but is as subtle as a brick to the face. Black man Hernández is accused of murder in Mississippi; young Jarman is determined to investigate and prove the man's innocence while his attorney uncle (Brian) reluctantly agrees to defend the suspect. Brown's pedestrian direction is aided by Robert Surtees' persuasive location photography and cautious restraint on the music cues; Ben Maddow's adaptation of William Faulkner's novel has good intentions and a decent murder mystery, but is heavy on moralizing speeches, especially toward the end. Hernández gives a fine performance, but most of his co-stars fall short; Brian's featureless pontifications get old fast, and Jarman is utterly woeful. May play better with audiences who haven't watched the surface-similar and more successful film adaptation of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird."
66/100