“We ‘uns is strange people.”
An interesting bit of 1936 cornpone from director Henry Hathaway features Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, and Sylvia Sidney. It’s a story is as old as the hills but it’s the historical significance of the film that gets the interest as it was the third film to be shot with the three strip Technicolor process.
The Tollivers and the Falins have been a’feudin’ as long as either clan can remember. So long that neither family can really remember what started the feud. The Tolliver family consists of pappy Judd (Fred Stone) ma Melissa (Beulah Bondi), and kid-folks June (Sylvia Sidney) and the wee Buddie (the uber-cute Spanky McFarland). Cousin Dave (Henry Fonda) also lives with the clan and is betrothed to marry June when “green-up” time comes round.
Enter city-folk Jack Hale (Fred MacMurray) and his partner Thurber (Nigel Bruce). Hale is looking to sign up the Tollivers to get to a rich vein of coal on their property. The deal is nearly kyboshed when they find out that the railroad to transport the coal will go across Falin land, but Jack sees that Dave has gotten gangrene from a Falin gunshot wound and saves Dave’s arm by cutting out the infection.
Since Jack saves Dave’s arm and life, Judd signs the contracts and the coal mining begins in earnest with the checks pouring in to the woodsy folk. The educated Jack catches the eye of June and soon her engagement to Dave is put on the back burner as she pursues him and a want to go to the big city.
The coal mine appears to be making everyone on the mountain wealthy, which is until the feud and the love triangle of Dave, Jack, and June threatens the enterprise.
Some might remember that there were a series of films that might be called the hillbilly genre. Some were more famous than others with Ma and Pa Kettle springing to mind. What makes Trail of the Lonesome Pine stand out is that it’s shot in glorious Technicolor, in fact it was the third full length film shot that way.
The film also features the tried and true plot device of the love triangle that wasn’t just a feature of hillbilly cinema. The other highlights are there though – loveable country bumpkins with a wary eye towards city folk, cutesy country characters (Spanky and wandering troubadour Fuzzy Knight), and the family feuding.
The Technicolor is the thing that makes the film memorable and the makers knew it since they include many scenery shots. It’s interesting to see MacMurray cast against type (or type we’d imagine him in the future with his Disney work and My Three Sons) and Henry Fonda playing a hillbilly.
We only get a glimpse of Fonda’s future acting prowess during the reconciliation scene towards the end of the picture, but otherwise it’s a forgettable role.
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is presented in fullscreen. There are no special features.
Trail of the Lonesome Pine has a place in history, though the genre has seen better films. Sadly, we don’t get any retrospective special features to alert of its place in history. The good does outweigh the bad and it does feature some lovely Technicolor scenery.
Trail of the Lonesome Pine is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story