The Little Minister

I have watched this movie twice in the last year, after the BBC unearthed it from some long forgotten vault. There's no question that it seems an oddity, archaic in style, tone and subject matter. But if the viewer can overcome these barriers, and in my case the poor sound quality of the version the BBC showed, it's an involving tale with engaging central performances from the principles (and pretty reasonable Scottish accents too) and fine support from stalwarts such as Alan Hale and Donald Crisp who became well known faces over the next 40 years. What also interests, is that the period the movie was made is now over 3/4 of a century ago, and we see the earlier period of the story (1840's) through the prism of the sensibilities of that era (1930's) a similar distance from our own times. The view of the relationships, between men and women, between people of faith and the church, between individuals and the community identity they are a part of, at first they seemed to be so alien, and then I saw that these are still areas of tension in society, perhaps for ever, and in seeing that, I felt lucky to get a glimpse into history, to two pasts as it were. This is something the 20th century and the invention of cinema are giving us for the first time in human history.

Hmmmmm .... strange one, this. Though it was made as early as 1934, it is no less than the FIFTH film adaptation of J.M. (Peter Pan) Barrie's stage play. It is a simple love story, set in a Scottish hamlet in early victorian times. RKO do the period feel very well indeed (check out the churchyard scene) and we can forgive a few shaky Scottish accents.

Gavin Dishart is the handsome young man who has just been appointed minister to the church at Thrums. He meets Babbie, a mysterious gypsy girl, and suddenly his life is transformed, and some of his values need to be reappraised.

"The fall of man through the temptation of woman" is Gavin's improvised sermon, and it encapsulates the theme of the film. The light coquetterie between Babbie and Gavin is very well done, and for the young generation of 1934 this must have been a terrific date movie. Max Steiner, RKO's contract composer, provides the score.

John Beal is ideal as the innocent young pastor, and Katharine Hepburn is impressive in a gentler, less stridently feminist role than was usual for her. She is memorable in the scene where she takes off at an athletic sprint, trailing skirts behind her. Beal is great in the scene where Gavin rues the missed kiss. Wearyworld, the unpopular policeman, adds a touch of wry humour: actor Andy Clyde appears to be a genuine Scot, though his Glaswegian accent is wrong for this lowland village. He is, one would guess from his style of delivery, a veteran of the music halls. Alan Hale Snr. is Rob Dow, the local drunk. Wise, humane Doctor McQueen is played admirably by Donald Crisp.

Memorable images include the zoom-in on the fast-disappearing "irresponsible, light-headed gypsy" which informs us that Babbie may amount to more than she seems, and the dour faces of the three elders at Mrs. Dishart's door.

Verdict - curious early Hepburn vehicle with nice period atmosphere

Very rarely was Katharine Hepburn cast as the Scot she was by descent. Our most popular image of her was with that clipped Bryn Mawr accent, cool, elegant, and sophisticated. She only played two Scots in her life Queen Mary Stuart who if truth be told was more French than Scots and the gypsy waif in The Little Minister.

This was certainly an unusual project for Kate requiring her to adapt a Scottish burr to her speech. She also plays the mysterious gypsy girl who stirs the elders of that Presbyterian congregation more than they realize. She certainly stirs the new minister in town, John Beal who's come to live there with his mother Beryl Mercer.

In an odd way Kate's character of Babbe is like the ditzy heiress in Bringing Up Baby, wreaking havoc wherever she goes, but charming Cary Grant as she does John Beal here. If James M. Barrie had twisted the plot in a Somerset Maugham direction, Kate's Babbe could easily have been a Scottish Sadie Thompson. Turn that one over in your mind.

But she's a lot more than she seems as Beal and the rest eventually find out. Beal does well as the earnest young man in his first parish, trying hard to do the right thing, but hormones just seem to be getting in the way. They'll do that. Good thing Kate was not a Sadie Thompson character.

The Little Minister is based on a novel by James M. Barrie about an unfamiliar time for Americans. I'm sure the film did well in the British Isles for RKO where they would have been more familiar with the history and mores of the time. Still it's an unusual part for Katharine Hepburn, her devoted fans would be the first to agree.

A mysterious & headstrong gypsy girl falls in love with THE LITTLE MINISTER called to pastor in a small Scots village. Soon her influence has him behaving in a most unclerical manner, with repercussions for the entire community.

Although sadly neglected & overlooked, this fine, sentimental film, based on a 1891 novel by Sir James M. Barrie, features excellent performances and superior production values. RKO lavished care & money to get the details just right; it is a fine example of how Hollywood films of the period could evocatively portray other times, other places.

Katharine Hepburn has one of her most fetching roles in the exuberant Babbie. Full of boundless energy & good humor, yet fiercely protective of those weaker & less fortunate than she, Hepburn turns in a beguiling, always entertaining, performance. While there is really no mystery as to the true identity of her character, this in no way hinders Hepburn from continually delighting her expectant audience.

In the title role, John Beal (born James Alexander Bliedung in 1909) had doubtless the best role of his career in this, his second, film. By underplaying his scenes, he holds his own with the vivacious Hepburn. Exhibiting real star quality, it is unfortunate that the good movie roles failed to materialize. Beal did quite a bit of work through the years on the stage and had a triumph in television's THE ADAMS CHRONICLES in 1976. John Beal died in 1997 at the age of 87.

A very fine supporting cast lends depth to the smaller roles: Andy Clyde as the lonely village policeman; Donald Crisp as the local doctor; Reginald Denny as a pompous army captain; Mary Gordon as an elderly indigent; Alan Hale as the community's repentant drunk; Lumsden Hare as a strict & powerful church deacon; Eily Malyon as a member of the aristocracy; Beryl Mercer as Beal's devout mother; and Dorothy Stickney as a fluttery maid.

Mention should be made of Max Steiner's lovely score, which incorporates old & familiar tunes.

A couple of historical notes: the Auld Licht (Scottish for 'Old Light') is mentioned many times in the film. This was the very conservative Church of Scotland, or Presbyterian Church in America, which had the allegiance of a majority of the Scots people. Barrie's original novel was of the Kailyard (Scottish for a small cabbage patch near a cottage) School of writing which had great favor in Scotland in the late 19th Century. This style featured highly idealized & sentimental representations of Scottish village life. Thrums in THE LITTLE MINISTER would certainly be a prime example.

I really enjoyed this sentimental antique. Hepburn and Beal are terrific. Movie music fans should not miss this early Max Steiner score. I had never heard of it. It's one of his earliest through-composed soundtracks. I loved the meticulous scoring and varied arrangements of the folklike love theme, which is fully stated in the opening credits (a one minute burst of romantic fervor) and is then interpolated and altered throughout the film, first returning when Hepburn says "I do believe you've liked me all the time" to which Beal replies with the question that sums up the film's theme "Can a man like a woman against his will?". There's a great sequence where Hepburn shines a lantern through the minister's living room window. Listen to how Steiner punctuates the flashes of light. As with all good symphonic scores the love theme returns finally to tie everything together, but not before we've heard it played on everything from solo violin to bagpipes.