Reconciliação

I really enjoyed this film starring Van Johnson and featuring Janet Leigh in her film debut. It is set in the Ozarks of Missouri after the end of the Civil War. The Civil War is over, but being a border state, there are existing tensions between neighbors who fought on opposing sides. So the movie opens with the following words: "But peace is achieved by the goodwill of people, and not by the flourishing strokes of a pen... "

In this town, everyone is sized up by the color of their britches - blue (Yankee), or gray (Confederate). The war was fought over giving rights to all people, no matter the color of the skin. Now they're fighting over the color of their pants. The harvest has come in, but everyone risks losing their crop in the fields because neighbor won't help neighbor to bring it in.

I liked the cast chosen for the film. Janet Leigh has a fresh, young face in her very first film. She has such delicate features. It's amazing this is Leigh's first film. She seems quite relaxed and natural.The little boy, played by Dean Stockwell - you may recognize him as the crippled boy from "The Secret Garden". The father is played by Thomas Mitchell, who also played the dad in "Gone with the Wind", Gerald O'Hara. Van Johnson is charming as the stranger who wanders in one day - looking for work, shelter and a warm meal - but also has an ulterior motive. He's the right mix of rugged and muscular, mixed in with the boy-next-door approachability. His honest face helps him to pull off his character's purpose (I won't give it away). The mother, played by Selena Royle, is just the right mix of sadness and hope. She is bold to make the first move at the barn dance and asks one of the men from the "other side" to dance. The folk songs are infectious, toe-tapping melodies.

The movie is full of homespun sayings like my grandmother used to say: right as rain, tighter than a gopher hole, wipe the vinegar off your face, "my hunger's powerful enough to lift the lid off the pot",etc. I like the depiction of the sparse and harsh life shown in the film. The location shootings, combined with the sets, create the perfect atmosphere for recreating a bygone era.It's funny when they discuss having a "play" party (a dance where music is played). When it's mentioned to invite everyone from BOTH SIDES in the community, the father says "You can't go mixin' britches!". Hilarious!

My favorite part of the movie is the twist at the end- when there is a fork in the road (Liberty Road), and the truth is revealed. I won't give it away. Some will find it very cliché and a little too obvious. But I liked the use of the fork and what it ended up meaning in the movie.

This was very good story telling, matched with a more than capable cast and adequate cinematography. I don't think you will be disappointed!

Another reviewer claims this is a romantic musical comedy, not a drama--I beg to differ. There are songs, to illustrate the folksy ways of the Missourians, and there are a few laughs, and there is a romance, but it's difficult to class anything that includes montages of barn-burnings committed by hooded men on horseback as a musical comedy.

It's a film worth watching, though, as a post-WW2 look at the post-Civil War era, and how difficult it can be to cool off the high-burning passions of wartime. Johnson plays a vet who wanders into a small Missouri town still smarting with North-South divisions. It's an interesting story, incorporating unusually pointed comments about racial equality; the screenwriter, Lester Cole, was later blacklisted as a member of the Hollywood Ten.

The cast is incredibly engaging, from the dewy new starlet Janet Leigh (who got this part after just three weeks in Hollywood!), to the indescribably adorable young Dean Stockwell, to the complex Thomas Mitchell, to the wonderful character actress Selena Royle, playing Leigh's mother with beautiful emotional range.

This definitely falls into the category of the sort of social-issue picture (like Gentleman's Agreement or Paths of Glory) that led to the blacklisting of so many screenwriters. That alone makes it worth the viewing; the cast will just ice the cake.

Former MGM queen Norma Shearer was vacationing in the Sierras in California and at a ski lodge took notice of the owner's beautiful daughter. She thought that she ought to be in pictures and got her old friends at MGM to give her a look over. They did and signed the girl to a contract and Janet Leigh made her debut in The Romance of Rosy Ridge.

During the Civil War both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis spent a lot of time worrying about the fate of those border states like Missouri where this story takes place. There was considerable public opinion for both sides and a lot of neighbors fought each other.

Into one Missouri town comes stranger Van Johnson and helps out a Confederate family which lost a son, Marshall Thompson, during the Civil War. Father Thomas Mitchell is suspicious, but his wife Selena Royle and children Dean Stockwell and Janet Leigh take to Johnson right off.

Of course Johnson takes to Leigh right off as well. The people of the area can't seem to reconcile because a whole lot of bad things keep happening and only to Confederate families. Someone has a vested interest in keeping the Civil War going long after Appomattox.

I won't say any more about the plot, but film fans will take one look at the cast and know who's responsible for all the bad things. But also a secret about son Marshall Thompson is revealed before all are reconciled.

The Romance of Rosy Ridge was an auspicious debut for Janet Leigh. You could easily tell what Norma Shearer saw when she served as talent scout for her former studio. Van Johnson gives Janet a lot of support here, very generously allowing her to gain maximum exposure, he seems to have made an effort not to steal any scenes. Van and Janet have a good cast of supporting players as well.

The film has a kind of nostalgic quality like some of John Ford's work. It might have really been a classic had Ford been the director. It's still pretty good as is.

Discovered this Classic Film from 1947 playing on TCM and was very curious about just what this story would present and who was starring in this picture. It was surprising to see Van Johnson in the starring role as Henry Carson and veteran character actor Thomas Mitchell,(Gill MacBean. Janet Leigh was so young looking I hardly recognized her playing the role as a daughter to Gill MacBean, named Lessy Anne MacBean. This was the very first picture that Janet Leigh appeared in and she was very polished and professional even in her first important role of her career. The story deals with the ending of the Civil-War between the North and South and there were strong feelings still among the people in the South and Northerner's who traveled in their communities. Gill MacBean was not very thrilled about having Henry Carson getting too close to his daughter in a romantic way of speaking. Henry Carson wanted to establish a school in the local community and finding acceptance was very difficult for him to establish. There was a very deep secret that Henry Carson kept to himself about their son who was killed in the Civil War. There is Comedy, Drama and Romance and plenty of outstanding acting in this great Classic Film, Enjoy.

I had Turner Classic Movies on. Thought I had seen so many of the old movies, since I was born in 1941! Had not seen this one before, partly about post civil war carpet baggers. Nice story using some of the old fashioned songs and terms from the hills.

Has some commentary about the losses and evils of the Civil War. A very American movie about basic values that could speak to any culture where the people farm and live simple lives full of struggle and hardship, as well as kindness and support.

I did enjoy it, even though I am mostly a special effects fan. Last movie I loved was War of the Worlds.

Typical ending for the times, very upbeat. An interesting look at a much smaller part of the American past than is seen in Gone With the Wind. Janet Leigh was very young in her part!