I Wish I'd Been Sweeter, That's All

Stars in My Crown (1950)
directed by Jacques Tourneur
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Carnegie Library

Stars in My Crown is a kind film paced by meandering conversations between childhood friends. These, in turn, ripple away from the central narration, spoken by the young orphan as an adult. His adopted uncle is a country pastor, and his aunt the woman who marries him. They belong to a town with friends and injustices, and aside from the hymn of the title, there is at least one refrain of "Shall We Gather at the River."

I agree with the IMDb review that remarked how hard it is to "dislike any film with a character named Chloroform." Fathers worry about their sons, sons want to be in other places. Complicated views of rural communities still skew impatient with rich folks and bullies, and the pastor is there to witness it and sort it out as best he can. It feels like a John Ford film with lower historical stakes, but the same shadows are present: the Civil War, racism, larger-than-life heroes by way of a Wild West magic show.

The famous last scene (or infamous, since Josiah invents a black man's final words in dialect) is really about listening, and taking the time to get to know your neighbors well enough to know what's important to them. The life of a freed slave? No. A worn-out shotgun? Yes. Jed and his sons are standing by with weapons of their own, in the event that words don't dissuade the lynch mob, but this is a movie where words do. It's as problematic and touching as the same scene in To Kill a Mockingbird, twelve years later, this time abetted by a Cat People breeze.

Also, apparently actor Jim Beaver writes a lot of plot summaries on IMDb. It put Deadwood in mind again.