THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT: Blu-ray (Republic/Argossy 1952) Olive Films
Said to be the
personal favorite of all his movies (although similar claims have been made with
regards to How Green Was My Valley
and The Quiet Man) John Ford’s The Sun Shines Bright (1952) is
something of an oddity in the director’s career – his one unabashedly
sentimental movie without a single star in its headline and in which the
comedic elements in Laurence Stallings and Irvin S. Cobb’s screenplay all but
take precedence over Ford’s usually more finely wrought attention to melodrama.
To be sure there is plenty of both in The
Sun Shines Bright; derived from three short stories by Cobb, ‘The Sun Shines
Bright’, ‘The Mob from Massac’ and ‘The Lord
Provides’ whose beloved central character Judge William ‘Billy’ Priest is
the common thread and who had already been immortalized by Ford with Will
Rogers in 20th Century-Fox’s 1934 comedy Judge Priest. The grand old man of no-nonsense social commentary,
Will Rogers had given something of an iconic performance as the altruistic magistrate
who enjoyed a nip or two for medicinal purposes almost as much as he relished
presiding over the inhabitance of his small Kentucky home town.
It’s a
decidedly different Judge Priest we meet in The Sun Shines Bright; older, more introspective and remotely
sadder than we recall – the years having refined what others might perceive as
the character’s mere charm and obvious largesse into a vaguely more meaningful
philosophy on life. Just exactly what this might be is left to our speculation
– mostly - and to Charles Winninger’s evocative expressions that manage to
convey so much more than any dialogue. With a decade’s worth of movie classics
under his belt – many more heartfelt than humorous – Ford seems to have recognized
the fundamentals of Judge Priest on more poignant terms in The Sun Shines Bright; the aged Winninger taking up the mantel with
his own inimitable brand of homespun good sense.
Our story
begins in the small riverside town of Fairfield County, Kentucky with the rude
awakening of Judge Priest (Winninger) from his peaceful slumber, stirred by the
piercing sound of a riverboat steamer whistle. Oh no…not again – he’s late for
court! Calling for his hired hand, Jeff Poindexter (Stepin Fetchit) to reach
under his bed for a medicinal drop of moonshine, the Judge hurries himself
along. But his attentions are momentarily diverted by the unexpected return of
the town’s profligate young stud, Ashby Corwin (John Russell) who wastes no
time visiting his old haunts – particularly one Lucy Lee Lake (Arleen Whelan)
whose adopted father is the town’s doctor, Lewt (Russell Simpson). The good doctor is hardly pleased to see
Ashby, but Lucy Lee is decidedly ecstatic; playing her cards close to her
chest, but rather put off when Ashby laughs at her for having become a school
teacher in the poor black community.
In the
meantime, Judge Priest presides over his court, slightly distracted by the
moral pontificating of prosecutor Horace K. Maydew (Milburn Stone) who is
gunning for his job during this pending election year. The judge is dissuaded
by Maydew from hearing a case regarding Mallie Cramp (Eve March) who runs a
house of ill repute, but is encouraged to take stock of Uncle Plez’ Woodford’s
(Ernest Whitman) concern over his nephew, You Ess Grant Woodford (Elzie
Emanuel) whom he perceives to be frittering away the hours on his banjo without
any vocation to sustain himself. To this end, Judge Priest hears Grant play a
spirited rendition of ‘Dixie’ before recommending him for a job, working the
tobacco fields in the Tornado District.
Later that
evening the judge attends General Fairfield (James Kirkwood) in the lavishly
appointed study of his grand old southern mansion. Fairfield regards Priest
warmly but staunchly refuses to admit that Lucy Lee is his granddaughter.
Regrettably, the girl has had a hard time of dealing with her own illegitimacy.
Many of the town’s folk are more than just unsympathetic. They’re downright
cruel in their admonishments and taunting; particularly blowhard Buck Ransey (Grant
Withers) and his liquored up entourage. Knowing too well what it’s like to be
the ‘black sheep’ of his family, Ashby comes to Lucy Lee’s defense, challenging
Buck to a shirtless buggy-whipping that only ends when Judge Priest intrudes to
separate them. Not long thereafter a mysterious woman (Dorothy Jordan) departs
the steamer late at night; ill and weak, before collapsing in the street. She
is rescued by Ashby who carries her to Dr. Lake’s house for treatment. But her
illness – whatever it may be – is too far advanced. After uncontrollably
sobbing she reveals her dying wish; to see her daughter, Lucy Lee one last
time, Lucy appears in the doorway without knowing that the mystery woman is, in
fact, her mother. The woman smiles and dies contently. Lucy hurries to Judge Priest’s home where she
questions him about her origins before glimpsing the truth in a portrait of her
father and a woman whom she closely resembles and now is able to identify as the
mysterious woman in Dr. Lake’s parlor.
The narrative
shifts to Grant, having been arrested for the rape of a white girl. Priest has
the terrorized young man placed inside the local county lockup, a lynch mob led
by Ransey and the girl's father, Rufe Ramseur (Trevor Bardette) soon appearing
to claim Grant and spare the community the prospects of a lengthy trial. Disbelieving the evidence against Grant
outright, Priest attempts to reason with the angry mob before drawing his gun
and ordering the crowd to disperse. Ransey
challenges Priest’s authority and is given a final warning by the judge at
gunpoint; that he will be shot dead if he comes any closer. Begrudgingly,
Ransey throws down his ropes and storms off, but Rufe warns Priest that his actions
will cost him plenty on Election Day.
Aging German
shop keep, Herman Felsburg (Ludwig Stossel) sadly insists that the judge and
his appointed council will surely be turned out of office. Popular opinion
does, in fact, seem to be turning against Priest; particularly after Mallie
Cramp is seen leaving his home. Mallie is determined to give Lucy's late mother
an honorable burial. The next evening Lucy arrives at a cadet’s ball on Ashby’s
arm. They share a dance. But once again insecurity overtakes Lucy and she asks
to be driven home. Ransey attempts to have words with Ashby. But just then Rufe’s
raped daughter (Mini Doyle) appears, clearly identifying Ransey as her
attacker. Ransey attempts to flee the scene in Lucy’s carriage but is shot by
an elderly soldier and dies; the runaway carriage subdued by Ashby.
The next day
Judge Priest joins Mallie and her friends in the funeral procession for Lucy’s
mother. The town’s folk - all of whom have come to cast their ballots in the
election - are shocked by this public display, though a few, like Ashby and
Herman join in the cortege. Maydew is pleased, sensing that with Priest’s
popularity ebbing he will slide into office without much of a struggle. As the funeral
cortege passes the General’s plantation, Fairfield quietly emerges from his
home to pay his respects. Later, he will
join Lucy at the church where Priest continues to speak lovingly of Lucy’s
mother and the sacrifices she made to bring her child into the world.
Returning to
the center of town Priest discovers that Maydew leads him in the polls by
almost one hundred votes. But Priest will not concede the election until after
the Tornado District has cast their ballots. Rufe and his men arrive; warmly
shaking Maydew’s hand before entering the polling station. However, when they
emerge after casting their ballots it is revealed that virtually every one of
them has voted for Judge Priest. As night falls a victory procession passes in
front of Judge Priest’s home as he tearfully greets one and all, with Lucy and
Ashby reunited and looking on.
For the most
part The Sun Shines Bright is a
quiet gem of a movie; understated and eloquently played – albeit with a few minor
misfires along the way. Most painful of all are the black stereotypes, relying
heavily on the cliché of the simple-minded ‘darkie’ – particularly Stepin
Fetchit’s Jeff; a mindless, low functioning and lazy loafer with a questionable
work ethic and the I.Q. of a three year old; ditto for Ernest Whitman and Elzie
Emanuel’s characterizations, little more than wide-eyed caricatures of the
happy Negro. Ford has some trouble transitioning between the three individual
narratives that comprise the movie’s story. Rather than integrating all three
into one cohesive timeline we are given an episodic succession; one told after
the other. It’s not the best way to build dramatic tension and/or pathos, and,
Ford seems awkward in attempting dramatic arcs. The other hurdle not entirely
resolved is the film’s lack of powerful star presences to pull the story along.
Charles Winninger is a fine actor and readily calls out our respect for his
considerable talents.
But he is surrounded
by others not quite up to his caliber, many of whom regress into the backdrop
of our collective memory whenever they have walked off the screen. The worst of
these are Grant Withers’ Buck Ransey and John Russell’s Ashby Corwin; the former little more than a cardboard cutout
who achieves nothing except his comeuppance in the third act, the latter
handsome enough but much too wooden to be appreciated as the film’s would-be
romantic suitor. Arleen Whelan’s Lucy
Lee and James Kirkwood’s Gen. Fairfield are window dressing at best – depriving
us of their bittersweet reunion during Lucy’s mother’s funeral.
Despite these
misfires, The Sun Shines Bright has
some very solid writing to recommend it; some finely plotted situations
interspersed, and, some fairly consistent acting applied throughout. If the
actors don’t stand out, neither are they ‘bad actors’ or misguided in their
approach to the characters. I can respect a good no-name giving it his or her
all, even if their presence lacks the defining quality of a star to make them
live on in my memory. In the final
analysis, The Sun Shines Bright
feeds into that tender and often poignant slice of Americana John Ford so obviously
adored and excelled at rekindling for the modern generation. It isn’t Ford’s
best work – not by a long shot - or, quite possibly, even representative of his
second tier, but it works on some level as a mostly satisfying entertainment
despite its shortcomings.
Olive Film’s
Blu-ray is fairly impressive. The original elements must have been in
exceptionally good shape because what we have here is a finely detailed B&W
image with exceptional clarity, a fine smattering of realistic film grain, very
solid contrast levels and sharpness that never appears to have been digitally
enhanced. I’m not a fan of Olive giving us single-layered transfers, but this
one I really cannot fault. The image looks about as good as I could have
imagined, albeit with a few obvious age-related anomalies that have not been
cleaned up and are present throughout. Otherwise, I have no complaints about
what I’m seeing. It looks very film-like. The audio is mono and presented at an
adequate level, although occasionally I found dialogue being slightly
overpowered by other effects sounds in the track and a slight case of
background hiss. Regrettably, there are NO extras.
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
2.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
4
EXTRAS
0
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