Cursed land

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Movie
German title Cursed land
Original title The Shepherd of the Hills
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 98 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Henry Hathaway
script Stuart Anthony
Grover Jones
production Jack Moss
music Gérard Carbonara
camera W. Howard Greene
Charles Lang
cut Ellsworth Hoagland
occupation

Cursed Land is a 1941 American western directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne . It is the literary film adaptation of the novel of the same name, The Shepherd of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright .

action

Ozark Mountains , Missouri a wild, rugged mountain landscape, here in this ruthless region, the young Matt Masters hires out as a boon. The shadow of a difficult childhood lies on Matt. When he was a baby, his father abandoned him and his mother. They lived in such misery that his mother passed away shortly afterwards. Marked by this burden, Matt has vowed to one day kill his father.

Looking for a place where he can spend his old age, the friendly old man Daniel Howitt comes to the godforsaken area around the Ozarks. It turns out to be fortunate for him that on arrival he first meets the likeable Jim Lane and his attractive daughter Sammy. However, Jim has been shot and is in danger of bleeding to death if he does not get medical attention right away. It may be thanks to Daniel's courageous intervention that Jim survived.

When Sammy tells her boyfriend Matt about Daniel's heroic deed, Daniel just frowns and in the course of this conversation an argument develops, during which Matt beats his young friend. As she runs away, Matt thinks not only about her, but also about his dead mother. The fact that Jim was shot reminds him of his vow to shoot his hated father at the first opportunity.

In the meantime, Daniel makes new friends by helping the seriously ill daughter of a neighboring family, Sammy's, to get back on her feet. Daniel is very wealthy, which is revealed when he cashes a major check at the local general store, Corky . Despite Daniel's warmth, Matt continues to give him the cold shoulder.

Daniel, who is still looking for his retirement home, offers $ 1000 for a piece of land called Monain 'Meadow. Matt's nasty aunt Mollie, the current owner, would like to sell it. When Matt learns about this, his distrust turns into anger, as this land once belonged to his late mother. He tells the owner at gunpoint to leave the area. To prevent worse things from happening, Sheriff Andy Beeler intervenes. He cautions Matt and empties his rifle.

Sammy begins to worry about Daniel's well-being - not only because of Matt's apathy, but also because she believes the country is bewitched. Matt gives the young woman a lace collar to win her heart back, but continues to deny Daniel a friendship.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the mean Mollie is the main culprit for Matt's bitterness and vindictiveness on the father. Unhappy that her lover and her boyfriend can't stand each other, Sammy pays Daniel a visit. During this visit, she tells him that it was clear to her from the start that he was Matt's father, and that Daniel lets her in on his life story and secrets. And although it initially seemed impossible, Matt buries the hatchet with Daniel. The two men agree to go fishing together, with Matt warning the old man about the land he believes to be bewitched. For his part, Daniel shows Matt how much Sammy loves him and the two men are well on their way to becoming friends.

From now on Daniel tries to pull the stubborn mountain people to his side. He causes the blind old woman Becky to have an eye treatment that is supposed to give her eyesight. He invites Mollie, her disabled son, Pete, a mute boy who had recently shot a twin at Daniel, and the rest of the family to a local get-together to have Becky's eye bandage removed. When Becky regains her eyesight, she realizes the resemblance between Daniel and Matt and insinuates them to be father and son. Matt, who then also recognizes his father, wants to take revenge and shoot him. Pete tries to prevent this and runs off with Matt's rifle. However, Mollie catches up with him and in a scuffle with her, a shot is released that seriously injures him. The dying Pete can speak again and clearly interpret past events. Mollie sets the house on fire with herself and the dead man laid out. Matt sets out to shoot his father. Daniel, trying to prevent Matt from making the same mistake as him, shoots his son and seriously injures him. Matt makes up with his father while still in bed

criticism

"Well-done staged western drama with solid actors that entertains in a gripping manner."

- Lexicon of international film

media

Verfluchtes Land was shot on 35 mm in Technicolor (process) and - with an image format of 1.37: 1 - was also brought to cinemas in 1941.

background

  • Cursed Land , although produced by Paramount Pictures , has been owned by Universal Studios since 1958
  • The film was shot from September 9, 1940 to November 14, 1940 and opened on July 18, 1941 with Paramount Pictures distribution in US cinemas. The film was released in the Federal Republic of Germany on June 7, 1991 by Universal Studios . For this German television evaluation, 50 years after its creation, the film was dubbed in German.
  • at The Shepherd of the Hills is trading around John Wayne's first color film

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cursed Land. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 26, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ oA: Technical Specifications for Verfluchtes Land . On: imdb.com ( Memento of the original from November 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Accessed October 20, 2006 ( online ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / german.imdb.com
  3. ↑ Kuhna, Max (Ed.): The great John Wayne DVD Collection 18 Verfluchtes Land . DeAgostini, 2011, p. 1.