Mountain Justice

In Mountain Justice Hollywood displays its early contempt for southern hill folk that remains in one form or another unabated to this day. Portrayed en masse as ill bred, bad tempered, poor mannered ignoramuses one is surprised not to see them living in caves and grunting.

Country doc Barnard dreams of bringing a health center to his backwoods community but is met with skepticism by the coarse locals. Local girl and assistant Ruth Harkins shares his dream but is prevented by her father who views improvement and progress as disrespecting tradition. He responds brutally to his daughter and her "crazy notions" but she remains undaunted in her effort to help a community that in large part despises her.

Director Michael Curtiz offers up a share of tense moments that raises the tenor of storyline at times and there's a wonderful confident turn of a disheveled country lawyer played by Robert McWade but the treatment and interpretation of the Hillbilly community throughout the film remains rife with a bias that for the wrong reason would hold any interest today.

"Even in this age of advanced civilization there are still many communities which cling grimly to the stern, unbending principals of our ancestors. And sometimes the defiance of Youth against implacable tribal laws results in tragedy," according to the forward...

Our heroine is attractive young nursing school student Josephine Hutchinson (as Ruth Harkins). She would like to start a clinic in her backwoods mountain community, with sympathetic doctor Guy Kibbee (as John "Doc" Barnard), but the endeavor is forbidden by Ms. Hutchinson's ignorant and fundamentalist father Robert Barrat (as Jeff Harkins). When a carnival passes through town, Hutchinson meets New York lawyer George Brent (as Paul Cameron), who is in town to prosecute Mr. Barrat for shooting a surveyor. Hutchinson and Mr. Brent are mutually attracted, but Mr. Barrat forbids marriage...

As the brutal, whip-wielding father, Barrat's performance is the one to watch. His wife and daughter, former British "silent film" star Elisabeth Risdon (as Meg) and veteran child actress Marcia Mae Jones (as Bethie) are exceptionally well cast. Also interesting is the long-time unmarried relationship formed by Mr. Kibbee and the inimitable Margaret Hamilton (as Phoebe Lamb). "Mountain Justice" is heightened to the point of no return, but it's certainly interesting. The production is artful, with notable work from director Michael Curtiz and (black-and-white) photographer Ernest "Ernie" Haller. Their work would look better if some of the melodramatics had been toned town, however.

****** Mountain Justice (4/24/37) Michael Curtiz ~ Josephine Hutchinson, George Brent, Robert Barrat, Marcia Mae Jones

A superb film and important cautionary tale about mob justice and the danger of ignorance in a rural community. Josephine Hutchinson gives a powerful performance as the victim of a male dominated society that does not truly recognize her as an equal or even as a human being. Treated as a slave and abused by a sociopathic father, she is defended by a New York lawyer played by George Brent with sensitivity and skill. The character of the hill society is blown wide open as this tremendous story unfolds and the viewer will make inevitable comparisons to the current authoritarian regime in Washington in the year 2019. A profound message to our own generation that the sins of the past are being repeated unless Americans fight for the rule of law and not let a demagogic sociopath in the Oval Office destroy those who disagree with him. This is an example of Hollywood films of the 1930s tackling important issues with courage and intelligence. Issues confronted in this film include the vital need for education, an honest law enforcement and judiciary, respect for women as equal citizens, and a proper system of medical care. Most significant is how essential the rule of law is to a free and just society, an issue that touches all our lives and the future of our children today.

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.