Of Human Hearts

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michael d 12/26/2021 Antebellum, or pre-Civil War America, is seldom dealt with in movies. In the studio age it was largely ignored. Of Human Hearts is an exception. Set in frontier Ohio it concerns the rebellious son of a decent but inflexible minister who seeks to be a doctor and learn about the world. He get more than he bargained for after the guns fire on Fort Sumter, and the film traces his life from uneasy boyhood to uncomfortable manhood. James Stewart excels in an early lead role; and as his father Walter Huston is suitably starchy and forbidding. The backlot recreation of early small town America is wonderfully realized by director Clarence Brown and Company. There are some splendid supporting performances by, among other, Beulah Bondi, Charlie Grapewin, and especially Charles Coburn, as the village doctor who likes to drink and who becomes Stewart's mentor. As an historical footnote it's worth mentioning that the film was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the late thirties, and is an atypical product for them, as they were poaching, as it were, on movie territory that one associates with the more folsky Fox studios of the time, and did a rather good job at it, too. See more steve d 07/23/2020 Stewart makes it watchable but it is nothing great. See more 04/21/2015 good slice of Americana Clarence brown style See more 08/26/2012 This is a great movie. The sentiment is at a perfect level. May be much for some and not enough for others. See more 07/14/2012 The acting is good but the sentiment is laid on a little thick. See more 11/27/2011 Of Human Hearts (1938) -- [5.5] -- Torn on this one. Love Walter Huston, Jimmy Stewart, Charles Coburn, and beautiful riverside setting. But don't care much for the "Father Knows Best," Forrest Gumpiness of the thematic resolution. John Carradine makes a cameo appearance under pretty convincing makeup as Abraham Lincoln -- the scene's dumb, but the makeup's good. See more Read all reviews

Of Human Hearts

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