Customer Reviews

Stars in My Crown [VHS]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

'Stars in My Crown' is over 50 years old, yet in it's humor, it's message of brotherhood, and it's depiction of small-town Western America at a time when religion was the true center of everyone's lives, this film has rarely been equaled!

The story is told through the observations of young John Kenyon (sensitively portrayed by Quantum Leap's Dean Stockwell, with Daktari's Marshall Thompson voicing Kenyon as an adult), who lives with Soldier-turned-Minister Josiah Dozier Grey (Joel McCrea, in one of his finest performances) and his wife, Harriet (Ellen Drew). Grey is kind, warm, and totally sincere, with a penchance for telling funny stories with a Message, rather than being 'preachy'...in short, the kind of Parson who can win hearts, as well as souls!

Grey's congregation includes some of Hollywood's finest character actors, including Lewis Stone (Judge Hardy) as a crusty old doctor, James Mitchell (Days of Our Lives) as his doubting physician son, Alan Hale (The Adventures of Robin Hood) as a Civil War buddy with a large family (including 'Matt Dillon' James Arness!), Amanda Blake (who would costar with Arness in 'Gunsmoke') as the schoolmarm, Arthur Hunnicutt (The Big Sky) as a local character nicknamed 'Chloroform'(!), Oscar-winner Ed Begley as a rich mine owner, and, in a remarkable performance, Juano Hernandez as 'Famous Uncle Prill', a Black farmer who experiences with dignity the racism of the time.

Director Jacques Tourneur, best-known for his gothic classic 'Cat People', shows patience and restraint, allowing the story to build under its own steam, which gives the climaxes (a typhoid epidemic and a Klan near-lynching) an emotional wallop. McCrea's scene with the incensed Klan members foreshadows Gregory Peck's confrontation with the lynch party in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', and is truly unforgettable.

'Stars in My Crown' is a rich, wonderful film that your family will cherish. It is on the short list of my favorite films, and is one that you can enjoy for years to come!

Orson Welles' definition of movies as a "ribbon of dreams" helps account for cinema's special hold on human consciousness. To return to a film that we may remember seeing as children is more than revisiting the past: it's reexperiencing the actual moment of wonder that was ours the first time we saw the film.

"Stars in My Crown" is a film that has stayed with me since I saw it at Rockford, Illinois' proud Coronado Theater over 50 years ago. It's a first-rate "B" movie by a director who excelled at making such pictures--Jacques Tournier. I suspect that my lifelong attraction to the movie had more to do with the star (Joel McRae, as a tough yet gentle preacher) and the hymn providing the title (after seeing the movie I began to search every church hymnal for "Stars in My Crown," usually with disappointing results) than with the director's resourceful style (only in recent years have I become aware of Tourneur as a creative filmmaker, thanks to Scorcese's praise of him).

The film's achievement is to combine pastoral elegy (it foregrounds the narrator's memory of a nostalgic time and community) with singular realism in its portrayal of race relations in the South. In fact, it "humanizes" the Klan while making them redeemable. In the film's remarkable climax they're transformed by the power of the "Word" from murderous, rampaging brigands into chastened stars in the preacher's crown.

But even with its inflammatory racial theme, the more interesting subtext is the story's representation of the conflict between science and religion. The preacher and doctor, in effect, become engaged in rivalry for the town's affections. When the doctor stems the typhoid epidemic, he's embraced by the town as its new hero. Ultimately, however, it is the preacher who reclaims his flock when he identifies the source of the biological plague and then administers to the souls of those affected by the even more threatening disease of racial hatred.

Apart from narrative specifics, "Stars in My Crown" rises to unmistakable archetypal significance. It's a story of initation and experience, life and death, marriages and funerals, and above all of faith in the human spirit. Certainly no title could be more apt for a little movie that, no matter how you cut it, is a real gem.

A great cast and authentic flavor make this movie well worth watching. It is based on Joe David Brown's novel; although some of the novel's best parts are ommitted, the film is true to most of the story. It deals with community and racial issues, so it's not fluff, but can teach and inspire. END

This is a wonderful story of a preacher with principles who's not afraid to stick to them. You'll love where he delivers his first sermon in town and how he gets the people's attention! Even in the face of tragedy, he is true to himself, his family, and his God.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) presents "STARS IN MY CROWN" (1950) (89 min/B&W) -- Starring Joel McCrea, Ellen Drew, Dean Stockwell, Alan Hale, Lewis Stone, James Mitchell & Amanda Blake

Directed by Jacques Tourneur

Civil War veteran Josiah Grey (Joel McCrea) comes to a small town to be a gospel minister. In time he has a family and many friends, but he also finds friction with a few of his parishioners. A young doctor grates at what he feels is the parson's interference in the scientific treatment of patients, and a mine owner resents Grey's protection of an old sharecropper whose small plot of land stands in the way of his continued mining. Grey must face a public health crisis and a lynch mob as a result, all seen and described through the eyes and memory of Grey's young nephew John

Director Jacques Tourneur, shows patience and restraint, allowing the story to build under its own steam . Giving the climaxes a typhoid epidemic and a Klan near-lynching, an emotional wallop. Joel McCrea as the take charge parson is understated as always, but never hogs the spotlight and seems to have a great respect for The Story. McCrea's scene with the incensed Klan members foreshadows Gregory Peck's confrontation with the lynch party in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', is truly an unforgettable moment in this wonderful film.

Must make mention that acting honors go to the fabulous Juano Hernandez as Uncle Famous, a peaceful black man who refuses to give in to racial intimidation in his own easy-going way --- The ending packs a wallop. Won't soon forget the truly haunting image of those two blank sheets of paper thought to be the last will and testament of Uncle Famous', being swept along in the wind. It may not be Uncle Famous' after all, but as McCrea states with utter conviction, "It's God's Will."

Wonderful score by award winning composer Adolph Deutsch.

BIOS:
1. Jacques Tourneur [Director]
Date of Birth: 12 November 1904 - Paris, France
Date of Death: 19 December 1977 - Bergerac, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France

2. Joel McCrea
Date of Birth: 5 November 1905 - South Pasadena, California
Date of Death: 20 October 1990 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

3. Ellen Drew (aka: Esther Loretta Ray)
Date of Birth: 23 November 1915 - Kansas City, Missouri
Date of Death: 3 December 2003 - Palm Desert, California

4. Dean Stockwell [aka: Robert Dean Stockwell]
Date of Birth: 5 March 1936 - Hollywood, California
Date of Death: Still Living

5. Alan Hale [aka: Rufus Alan MacKahan]
Date of Birth: 10 February 1892 - Washington, District of Columbia
Date of Death: 22 January 1950 - Hollywood, California

6. Lewis Stone [aka: Lewis Shepard Stone]
Date of Birth: 15 November 1879 - Worcester, Massachusetts
Date of Death: 12 September 1953 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

7. James Mitchell
Date of Birth: 29 February 1920 - Sacramento, California
Date of Death: 22 January 2010 - Los Angeles, California

8. Amanda Blake [aka: Beverly Louise Neill]
Date of Birth: 20 February 1929 - Buffalo, New York
Date of Death: 16 August 1989 - Sacramento, California

9. Juano Hernandez [aka: Huano G. Hernandez]
Date of Birth: 19 July 1901 - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Date of Death: 17 July 1970 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

10. Ed Begley [aka: Edward James Begley]
Date of Birth: 25 March 1901 - Hartford, Cnnecticut
Date of Death: 28 April 1970 - Hollywood, California

11. Charles Kemper
Date of Birth: 6 September 1900 - Oklahoma
Date of Death: 12 May 1950 - Burbank, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 89 min on VHS/DVD ~ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) ~ (April 18, 2011)

It's great to finally find this movie on DVD. I ran across this movie on VHS in my local library a couple of years ago. I found it to be heart warming and family friendly. Joel McCrea is great as the small town parson. The last fifteen minutes are truly inspirational.

The first time I saw this movie, I loved it. Parson Gray is a great character who preaches without fear, stops bullies, and combats racism in his town. It doesn't matter how old this movie is, it still has a good message that Hollywood doesn't deliver anymore! All the characters in the film are acted well, so if you enjoy a preacher that tells it like it is and good acting I recommend this movie. It is a great family film to watch over and over. It makes you wish that moviemakers would go back to making these types of films; films that present morals with their stories. If I could, I'd give it seven stars.

A GENTLEMAN AT OUR CHURCH BOUGHT THIS VIDEO AND SHARED IS WITH MANY OF US. IT WAS SO CLEAN AND GOOD FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY, THAT MANY OF US BOUGHT ONE FOR OURSELVES AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS. IT IS NUMBER ONE WITH ME.

Thank God for Turner Classic Movies channel otherwise I may not have seen this gem. It helps to check the classics schedule on their website sometimes months in advance to record movies that are not out on DVD and overpriced/unavailable on VHS.
This story of redemption is one of McCrea's best movies. McCrea was a natural - he practiced what he preached even in real life. Married to the same woman for more than 50 years, he gained the reputation of an honest business-man who made his fortune in real estate.

This is my favorite movie of all time. In todays movie market it is so rare that we find a movie that the whole family can enjoy, and this is one of our favorites! I've let all my friends watch it, and they love it too. I'm thinking about buying a few copies for Christmas presents.