Way Back Home

Life on the Farm and Hill Folk in General have Always been Good and mostly Innocent Entertainment for ever. Ma and Pa Kettle, Francis the Talking Mule, The Real McCoys, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Waltons, Etc.

This Dusty Antique is No Exception. Even before making it to the Screen it was a Popular Radio Show. The Film Version is a Homey, Tear-Jerker that is Livened Up with a lot of Songs and some Homespun Humor.

The Talkies were often over Burdened with Music and Songs feeling out the New Technology for this and that to See what Audiences Liked and of Course because Everyone Likes a Tune or two.

In this one there may be a Tune too Many but what is here are some Classic Sing-A-Longs that Raise the Spirit more than they make the Toe Tap. The Two Intertwining Stories are Emotional to Say the Least.

One is the Foster Son Raised by the Farmers that They obviously Love and He Loves Them. His Real Father Abandon Him for 10 Years, an Alcoholic and really Bad Guy, is back an Up to No Good.

The Second is where Bette Davis comes in. She Plays the Daughter of a Bigot (with a Whip) trying to keep Her from Dating a "Bastard Child", for Pre-Code enthusiasts.

Overall, it is a Product of its Time, and the Messages and Good Feelings that this Produce are for the Ages. It also Contains some Interesting, Supporting, Comedy Relief Characters. Heartwarming and Recommended.

This is NOT a movie for a wised-up 21st century audience. This is a picture designed specifically for the millions of fans of Phillips Lord's popular radio series Sunday Evenings at Seth Parker's. The story is a cracker barrel melodrama, the type that would be elevated a few years later by Philip Stong in his A VILLAGE TALE (also filmed by RKO, in 1934). The acting in WAY BACK HOME is sincere and quaint. Stanley Fields is the perfect villain, even without a moustache to twirl. The hilarious opening scene between Seth Parker and the tax man (Wade Boteler) was perhaps an inspiration for MGM's THE MATING GAME. Little Frankie Darro is terrific as Robbie. But the big prize goes to Bette Davis. Even amidst the tried-and-true showboat dramatics she pulls off a 100% believable, emotional performance. There was no question that this girl was going places and a lot farther than Jonesport! The community sing sequences in the Parkers' parlor are perhaps the most reminiscent of a bygone era. The harmonies are wonderful and they brought a great big smile to this audience member. Finally, a mention of the character "Cephus." I suspect Edgar Bergen was one of the listeners of SETH PARKER and might have based his Mortimer Snerd characterization on Bennett Kilpack's Cephus. This was Kilpack's only apparent film appearance, yet he became a titan in radio, creating and starring in MR. KEEN, TRACER OF LOST PERSONS. If WAY BACK HOME should come your way, give it a chance. But put yourself in the proper mood. It must be viewed in context and without a jaded mind or stony heart!

Watching Way Back Home and for contemporary fans the only reason it is at all memorable is that Bette Davis has a supporting role might make one wonder what people saw in it. Thinking about it you must remember in the height of the Roaring Twenties the American people elected Calvin Coolidge as president who had just such a cultural background as did the folks in Sundays At Seth Parker's. I'll bet Coolidge was a devoted listener.

Phillips Lord's Seth Parker is a local community leader and preacher of sorts in a rural Maine community. In this era of no mass media things like a Sunday gathering at the preacher with some community singing was not uncommon. By the way check out Joel McCrea's Stars In My Crown also about a rural preacher in a bit earlier an era in a different part of the country. Note the community singing there among the young people.

The main story in the film is that Lord and his wife Effie Palmer took in young Frankie Darro after his mom died and raised him as their own. Darro's real dad Stanley Fields has been in and out of trouble for years, but now he wants to lay claim to his kid.

Another subplot involves Bette Davis as a good girl being courted by Frank Albertson who as they said back in the day was born on the left side of the blanket. Mom never married dad and Davis's mom Sophie Lord won't have her daughter going out with him. Dorothy Peterson is Albertson's mom and she is shunned by a lot of the puritanical types in the town.

Let's say the two strands of the plot come together and it all works out for all except Fields.

I think I can safely say Way Back Home will not see a remake any time soon. As it is it's picture of a bygone era or one rustic curiosity, you take your choice.

The story is cliched, the singing is interminable, the acting is weak. About the only time the film comes alive is in the buggy-chase toward the end, a nicely photographed sequence with some impressive stuntwork. A young Bette Davis is the love-interest. Based on a popular radio serial, the story of a Maine preacher who manages to keep his foster son places very little emphasis on the "preaching", more on the common sense humanity of "little people". As such, it has its worth; as a depiction of a cleric, the humanity, not the faith, is what shines through. Occasionally unintentionally hilarious.

Phillips Lord plays Seth Parker om old-age make-up, a downeast Mainer who succors young lovers Frank Albertson and Bette Davis. Amidst singing old--time songs, he deals with adopted son Frankie Darro, whose natural father, Stanley Fields, shows up to demand his son.

Lord was 29 when he essayed the role for RKO, after making it an early hit on the radio. He based the character on his grandfather. He continued to play the character occasionally for the next ten years, but his further radio shows wandered far afield, including buying a four-masted schooner and sailing it around the world, searching for sunken treasure and looking at sea life. His next radio project was the well-remembered GANG BUSTERS, which he wrote and narrated. He also produced MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY.

The twice-divorced Lord died in 1975, at the age of 73.