This third version of The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come, the previous two were silent, stars pop singer Jimmie Rodgers as the kid with no antecedents and
looking for roots in ante bellum Kentucky. As we know Kentucky was a slave
state and its location made it of paramount importance to retaining the Union
intact.
Jimmie's character an orphan kid whose foster parents die and George Kennedy in his screen debut claims his services as an apprentice to God knows
what trade as payment for debts. But mountain family and Union supporting
Turner family takes Rodgers in and he becomes a shepherd. Their settlement,
a hillbilly Shangri-La like place called Kingdom Come.
Later on however he goes down to Lexington and starts mixing with the genteel society as typified by Chill Wills who takes him in sends the bright kid
to school for some education. But war clouds gather and Rodgers is forced to
make a choice Union or Confederacy.
Kentucky had plenty of supporters of both and it was quite the battleground in
the early stages of the Civil War before the North nailed it down. Lots of families split on this issue and friendships were broken. The film graphically
demonstrates the anguish of broken relationships.
The battle scenes by director Andrew McLaglen were also well staged for this
film. Watching it I thought that this might have been something originally
intended for Elvis Presley. Had he done it the film might be better remembered.
Try to catch this one when broadcast, it's a sleeper a good film that few seem to have heard of.
