The Howards of Virginia

This was an unbelievably annoying performance by Grant. The script writing and direction were no better.

Despite rather mediocre reviews here on IMDb and in Leonard Maltin's guide, I really liked this movie. Unlike the few other American Revolution films Hollywood has made, this one was both interesting and did an excellent job in conveying WHY the Colonists were rebelling and didn't paint the British as total buffoons or Nazis (like in THE PATRIOT). Plus, the main character's father-in-law is a loyalist, so the real tensions that existed within families was given decent treatment. As an American History teacher, I must point out that despite coming from Hollywood in 1940, the realism in spirit is quite surprising and I could recommend this to kids, as they'd learn a lot.

It was odd to see Cary Grant as a bit of a rag-tag outdoorsman, but he carried it off better than I'd expected. Plus, his British accent really wouldn't have been out of place in the Colonies at that time.

Another big plus for the film was the relationship between Grant and his sons. Yes, it's a bit manipulative, but I really liked the way the writers dealt with this relationship in the movie. All in all, an excellent film.

I love the premise of this story about the founding of the U.S. but was disappointed in the acting. I am a big Cary Grant fan and have seen many of his films but this is a terrible performance, unlike any of his other films. No wonder he refused to do any more period pieces after the failure of this movie. However, it must be said that the director shares the blame and should have done a better job of directing Mr. Grant in this movie. His acting was over the top- too loud, too brash, a caricature of backwoods men of the late 1700s. His leading lady also did her share of overacting but nothing to compare to Mr. Grant. Overall, it is worth watching to get a sense of the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and the war itself and to see Mr. Grant in a role uncharacteristic of his usual fine acting.

And this is his. This is a slightly dopey, cornball historical romance from Columbia Pictures and director Frank Lloyd, and yet it always seems to make the cut for Turner Classic Movies' 4th of July films. Colonial Virginia farmer Matt Howard (Cary Grant) wants to travel to the dangerous Ohio frontier to claim land, but his well-meaning friend Thomas Jefferson (Richard Carlson) convinces him to stay, even playing matchmaker between Matt and wealthy socialite Jane Peyton (Martha Scott). Despite the protestations of Jane's snobbish brother Fleetwood (Cedric Hardwicke), she and Matt marry and head to the Shenandoah valley to cultivate Matt's new thousand acre farm. However, differences in temperament and upbringing cause marital woes that are slightly alleviated by having children, and when Matt becomes involved in the brewing American independence movement, their marriage may not withstand the strain. Also featuring Alan Marshal, Paul Kelly, Irving Bacon, Elisabeth Risdon, Anne Revere, Includes Jason Robards Sr., Richard Gaines as Patrick Henry, George Houston as George Washington, and even Peter Cushing shows up in this one.

I've heard of this being one of Cary Grant's worst films, and one that he regretted the most. It's not as horrible as all that, but it's not very good, either. Grant is miscast, and his acting is frequently terrible in it. Martha Scott comes off better able to sincerely sell the often hokey dialogue. The settings and costume work are good, as is the score. I liked seeing Peter Cushing in one of his small Hollywood roles he made during his ill-fated initial attempt at film stardom in the US. He would return to his native England in 1941 and wouldn't find success in movies until the mid-50's. The movie earned Oscar nominations for Best Score (Richard Hageman) and Best Sound.

Movies about the American Revolution for some reason have never succeeded as well as those about the Civil War. My guess is that the best of them is Drums Along the Mohawk and that was about one of the more obscure theaters of that war.

Like Gone With the Wind, the Howards of Virginia is taken from a rather sprawling novel. But Gone With the Wind was very faithful to the original and managed to hold interest even given its length. The Howards of Virginia is a condensed version of the novel and some of the characterization has been sacrificed in the screen translation.

Nevertheless it's a good story about a fictional Matt Howard from his days as a youth hearing the news about his father's death with Braddock's army in the French and Indian War to just before the Siege at Yorktown. Of course growing up with Thomas Jefferson, it's not surprising that Howard develops the opinions he does.

Cary Grant is cast against type as Matt Howard. Takes a bit of getting used to in buckskins, but I like his characterization. In point of fact if you want to see the real Cary Grant on screen look at None, But the Lone Heart, Gunga Din, or Sylvia Scarlett. That's where you see the real Archie Leach. Cary Grant was the best role Cary Grant ever played.

If The Howards of Virginia were made 10 years later, Burt Lancaster would have been spot-on in terms of casting.

Martha Scott is fine as the Tory girl that Cary Grant woos and wins. It's quite a culture shock for her coming to the mostly unsettled Shenandoah valley among Grant's frontier friends and neighbors, but her best scenes in the film are at that point.

Of course I think both Grant and Scott are acted off the screen when Cedric Hardwicke is on. As Scott's older brother Fleetwood Payton, Hardwicke is easily the best in the film. He's a privileged Virginia aristocrat and loyalist supporter of the crown. He's an aristocratic snob to be sure, but he's also a tender and loving brother to Martha Scott. Hardwicke managed to capture all the elements in Fleetwood Payton well as well as his losing his mind as his well ordered aristocratic world tumbles down about him.

Richard Carlson is very much what I picture as the young Thomas Jefferson, full of new ideas and quite the rebel against his own class. Of course Patrick Henry and George Washington make their appearances as well in colonial Virginia. My guess is that in the book a whole lot of familiar names made it there, but were not in the screenplay.

This is not the American Revolution's Gone With the Wind, but taken on its own terms The Howards of Virginia is good entertainment and does capture some of the motivating spirit behind the Virginia patriots and tories.