The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Encyclopedia
The Romance of Rosy Ridge is a 1947
drama film
about a rural community still bitterly divided in the aftermath of the American Civil War
. It stars Van Johnson
, Thomas Mitchell
, and Janet Leigh
in her film debut. It was adapted from the novel of the same name by MacKinlay Kantor
.
hills. He spends the night with a family consisting of Gill MacBean (Thomas Mitchell), his wife Sairy (Selena Royle), and two of their children, Lissy Anne (Janet Leigh), and youngster Andrew (Dean Stockwell). Another son, Ben (Marshall Thompson), had run off to fight in the war; the family's hope that he will someday return is gradually waning.
Gill does not welcome the stranger, unsure of his allegiance, but the others like the good-natured young man, especially Lissy Anne. Henry offers to help with the farming; the MacBeans desperately need more hands, but Gill remains very suspicious of his motives. A band had been burning the barns of those still loyal to the defeated Confederacy
; the MacBeans had been the latest victims. Henry, however, proves to be a hard worker.
When storekeeper and unofficial banker Cal Baggett (Guy Kibbee) visits the family to ask about repayment of a loan, Henry talks him into hosting a "play party", inviting everyone, regardless of affiliation, to help heal the rift in the community. Gill is strongly opposed to it, but Henry tricks him into bringing his family.
At first, the two groups do not mix, but Sairy talks Northern
sympathizer Dan Yeary (Russell Simpson) into dancing with her, breaking the ice. Soon, everyone is having a very good time. However, an argument breaks out about the playing of a tune associated with the North. To forestall a fight, Cal calls for a vote. Unfortunately, it is a tie. Gill calls upon Henry to cast the deciding vote. Henry is finally forced to reveal that he fought in the Union army. After that, the party quickly breaks up, much to the secret delight of John Dessark (Charles Dingle) and his son Badge (Jim Davis).
Henry is no longer welcome at the MacBeans. He does not leave the area though; he starts building a schoolhouse.
Eventually, Lissy Anne can no longer bear to be apart from Henry. She goes to him, without her father's knowledge but with her mother's approval. Gill tracks them down, intending to shoot his would-be son-in-law. When four masked horsemen ride up, Henry knocks Gill out and takes his rifle. The newcomers start shooting. Henry kills three and captures the fourth, who turns out to be Badge Dessark. He confesses that his father is behind the raids, not out of loyalty to the South, but simply for financial profit. With the Dessarks hanged, the community starts to heal.
Finally, Henry reveals why he sought out the MacBeans. In a flashback, it is revealed that he met Ben MacBean when they were walking to enlist in the war. As they traveled together, they became good friends, but when they came to a fork in the road, Henry took the north branch, while Ben turned south. Henry was able to talk Ben into going his way, but two days before the end of the war, Ben was killed. Before he died, he got Henry to promise to help his family with the first harvest. After hearing this, a teary-eyed Gill gives Henry and Lissy Anne his blessing to get married.
1947 in film
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
about a rural community still bitterly divided in the aftermath of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It stars Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
, Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell (actor)
Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
, and Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
in her film debut. It was adapted from the novel of the same name by MacKinlay Kantor
MacKinlay Kantor
MacKinlay Kantor , born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several based on the American Civil War, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel Andersonville, about the Confederate prisoner of war camp...
.
Plot
Henry Carson (Van Johnson), a schoolteacher before the Civil War, shows up in a rural region of the MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
hills. He spends the night with a family consisting of Gill MacBean (Thomas Mitchell), his wife Sairy (Selena Royle), and two of their children, Lissy Anne (Janet Leigh), and youngster Andrew (Dean Stockwell). Another son, Ben (Marshall Thompson), had run off to fight in the war; the family's hope that he will someday return is gradually waning.
Gill does not welcome the stranger, unsure of his allegiance, but the others like the good-natured young man, especially Lissy Anne. Henry offers to help with the farming; the MacBeans desperately need more hands, but Gill remains very suspicious of his motives. A band had been burning the barns of those still loyal to the defeated Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
; the MacBeans had been the latest victims. Henry, however, proves to be a hard worker.
When storekeeper and unofficial banker Cal Baggett (Guy Kibbee) visits the family to ask about repayment of a loan, Henry talks him into hosting a "play party", inviting everyone, regardless of affiliation, to help heal the rift in the community. Gill is strongly opposed to it, but Henry tricks him into bringing his family.
At first, the two groups do not mix, but Sairy talks Northern
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
sympathizer Dan Yeary (Russell Simpson) into dancing with her, breaking the ice. Soon, everyone is having a very good time. However, an argument breaks out about the playing of a tune associated with the North. To forestall a fight, Cal calls for a vote. Unfortunately, it is a tie. Gill calls upon Henry to cast the deciding vote. Henry is finally forced to reveal that he fought in the Union army. After that, the party quickly breaks up, much to the secret delight of John Dessark (Charles Dingle) and his son Badge (Jim Davis).
Henry is no longer welcome at the MacBeans. He does not leave the area though; he starts building a schoolhouse.
Eventually, Lissy Anne can no longer bear to be apart from Henry. She goes to him, without her father's knowledge but with her mother's approval. Gill tracks them down, intending to shoot his would-be son-in-law. When four masked horsemen ride up, Henry knocks Gill out and takes his rifle. The newcomers start shooting. Henry kills three and captures the fourth, who turns out to be Badge Dessark. He confesses that his father is behind the raids, not out of loyalty to the South, but simply for financial profit. With the Dessarks hanged, the community starts to heal.
Finally, Henry reveals why he sought out the MacBeans. In a flashback, it is revealed that he met Ben MacBean when they were walking to enlist in the war. As they traveled together, they became good friends, but when they came to a fork in the road, Henry took the north branch, while Ben turned south. Henry was able to talk Ben into going his way, but two days before the end of the war, Ben was killed. Before he died, he got Henry to promise to help his family with the first harvest. After hearing this, a teary-eyed Gill gives Henry and Lissy Anne his blessing to get married.
Cast
- Van JohnsonVan JohnsonVan Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
as Henry Carson - Thomas MitchellThomas Mitchell (actor)Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Gill MacBean - Janet LeighJanet LeighJanet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
as Lissy Anne MacBean - Marshall ThompsonMarshall ThompsonMarshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
as Ben MacBean - Selena RoyleSelena RoyleSelena Royle was an American stage, television and film actress.-Early life and career:Born in New York City, Royle's parents were playwright Edwin Milton Royle and actress Selena Fetter . She had an older sister Josephine Fetter Royle . She turned to acting despite the objections of her parents...
as Sairy MacBean - Charles DingleCharles DingleCharles Dingle was an American stage and film actor.He was best-known for his role as Ben Hubbard in The Little Foxes and for his role as a senator in the film version of Call Me Madam...
as John Dessark - Dean StockwellDean StockwellDean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
as Andrew MacBean - Guy KibbeeGuy KibbeeGuy Bridges Kibbee was an American stage and film actor.Born in El Paso, Texas, Kibbee began his entertainment career on Mississippi riverboats and eventually became a successful Broadway actor...
as Cal Baggett - Elisabeth RisdonElisabeth RisdonElisabeth Risdon was an English film actress. She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 1952. An attractive beauty in her youth she usually played in society parts...
as Emily Baggett - Jim DavisJim Davis (actor)Jim Davis was an American actor, best known for his role as Jock Ewing in the CBS prime-time soap Dallas, a role which he held up until his death in April 1981.-Biography:...
as Badge Dessark - Russell SimpsonRussell Simpson (actor)Russell McCaskill Simpson was an American character actor.Born in San Francisco, California, Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath in 1940.Simpson reportedly prospected for gold in Alaska in his youth,...
as Dan Yeary