Stars in My Crown (1950)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Stars in My Crown (1950) – J. Tourneur

At first, I thought this was just another John Ford-esque tale of small town American life in the inner West, but gradually its folksy charms and dark realities won me over.  Joel McCrea is the Parson who comes to Walsburg after the Civil War to build community; he takes a wife (Ellen Drew) and together they raise a young orphan (Dean Stockwell) who narrates the tale.  We are treated to numerous anecdotes from the town’s life but the major plot threads involve 1) the gruff young doctor who conflicts with the Parson over how to treat the typhoid epidemic that attacks the town; and 2) the old sharecropper whose property stands in the way of the town’s mining interests and who is confronted one dark night by the KKK.  Mostly though, this is a gentle, affectionate picture with human characters who may or may not believe in God but do believe in having a strong sense of community.  Whether or not the world was ever like this, it does seem a shame when it’s gone.