Stars in My Crown (1950)A period drama, though and through. The time is the end of the 1800s in rural America. The small town has all the expected types, especially the kindly preacher (who leads the story through his adopted nephew, a charming and energetic boy). There is the the greedy capitalist, the skeptical doctor, the hardy Swedish family, the pretty wife and the pretty girlfriend, and the old black farmer. The acting is sincere, and the writing honest and filled with homespun wisdom.So this should be a good movie and it is. It's also very "old-fashioned" (that's the first word that came to mind. I have figured out what that means—not that it's filled with good people striving to do well and be happy in simple times, though that is true. It's more that it feels simple. This makes for a lack of complication, and surprise, and tension.The worst part of this is that everyone is who they appear to be, without development or complication. Even when the final huge crisis sweeps the town and people are forced to step outside their usual roles, they do so predicatably. It's all very sweet but a bit of a bore—or to be nicer about it, a bit less exciting than the movie had the potential to be.One last final note—leading man (pastor) Joel McCrea has a mixed role as leading man. Here he is cast perfectly, and he fits the part and holds it up, and holds up his end of the movie. Nice to see him at his best.

Western icon Joel McCrea stars as a country parson in "Cat People" director Jacques Tourneur's "Stars in My Crown," an old fashioned, inspirational, and often humorous chronicle of life in the post-Civil War South. Initially, I thought that I was going to watch another pistol-packing shoot'em up with one of Hollywood legendary western stars Joel McCrea. He comes to Walsburg after the war, enters a saloon, introduces himself as the new parson, brandishes a pair of six-shooters, and stars perforating the air while the patron duck and cover. This is the first and last time that we see McCrea armed for bear. He spends the remainder of this predictable but heartwarming movie preaching and caring about the souls of his flock. You might get away with calling Tourneur's film an 'eastern," because the action takes place in the south, there are no traces of the War Between the States, except in the reminiscences of our protagonist. This black & white, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release will drive women to their handkerchiefs and men will struggle to stifle a tear or two. The artwork on the cover of the DVD disc implies that McCrea wields his revolvers like a town tamer, but he doesn't even when he is staring down death in the face. One of the subplots involves a feud over the land belonging to a freed black, Uncle Famous Prill (Juano Hernandez of "Intruder in the Dust"), who resists the persistent efforts of a town merchant, Lon Bracket (Ed Begley), to buy his property for an absurdly cheap price. Mild you, "Stars in My Crown" is the kind of saga that anybody—people of faith and those without—because "Paper Moon" novelist Joe David Brown adapted his novel to the screen. Brown gives us sympathetic, three-dimensional characters and a narrative that is surprisingly charming. If you're looking for a rough & tumble horse opera, you're going to be disappointed. Apart from a couple of spiritual scenes that lacked impact, "Stars in my Crown" is a classic film. Helmed with subtlety, this 89-minute opus is another star in Jacques Tourneur's crown.

Wonderful, inspirational unsung masterpieceThe story of a preacher in a small town in the United States, circa 1870s: his interactions with the townsfolk, ups and downs, trials and tribulations.On the surface, a western. Even the preacher brandishes six-shooters (initially)! However it is soon obvious that it is more than that. It is a wonderful look at a small town, how its citizens bond together, how some try to take advantage of others, how they have fun and how they deal with adverse events. A study of a much more innocent and idyllic time.Throw in some great life lessons and other inspirational morals, and you have a fantastic, emotional, heart-warming story.

I must admit that this movie took its time to grab me.It's a movie which grows on you.Some called it "western" but western fans won't get anything of it.It's rather a chronicle,sweet memories of a grown up who remembers his dear past with a marvelous preacher man and a loving auntie.There is no plot but subplots for it is primarily the depiction of a city in the south.Around the minister,we find the "new generation" doctor who has his doubts and who doesn't believe that healing the soul is that much important;he comes into conflict with Gray .There's also a KKK side and their "methods" to do good old Uncle Famous Pril away from his valuable property.The scene which finally won me over was the reading of Pril's "last wills" .When you discover the truth,you won't believe your eyes!This scene alone raises the movie to greatness by recurrence.And what a tuneful canticle!