Stalwart Appalachian woman finds romance as she struggles to better herself and her people amid prejudice and familial abuse.Stalwart Appalachian woman finds romance as she struggles to better herself and her people amid prejudice and familial abuse.Stalwart Appalachian woman finds romance as she struggles to better herself and her people amid prejudice and familial abuse.
Photos
Joe King
- Judge at Ruth's Trial
- (as Joseph King)
Elisabeth Risdon
- Meg Harkins
- (as Elizabeth Risdon)
Harry Davenport
- Printer
- (scenes deleted)
Jim Toney
- Makeup Man
- (scenes deleted)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaLoosely based on the case of Edith Maxwell (1914-1979), a 21 year-old schoolteacher in Pound, Virginia. She was convicted of murdering her father in 1935 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She was pardoned by Governor James H. Price (D) in 1941 and moved to Indiana under a new name.
- GoofsRuth's father asks her to read from the Bible, telling her the chapter and verse, and she reads, but he has not told her which book.
- SoundtracksIsle of Capri
(1934) (uncredited)
Music by Will Grosz
Lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy
Played on a record
Danced to by Josephine Hutchinson and Marcia Mae Jones
Featured review
Hollywood Hillbilly hack job..
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.
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.
Details
- Runtime1 hour 23 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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