Again... Pioneers

Fairview is a friendly town. It says so right on the sign welcoming people. Like most places it has problems. Plainview's is the Patch, the local slum where migrant workers stay, where there is no sewage, np doctor, no school and no church. The popular opinion is that it needs to be torn down, and a nice park put in its place. Certainly Tom Powers is of that opinion, and he's been asked to look into how to do that and report to the town in two weeks.

I looked at this short, Christian-produced feature because it was the last movie appearance of Evelyn Brent, and it was directed by William Beaudine. Beaudine has a dire reputation among American directors. Truth be told, he did direct a lot of bad movies. He was one of those fellows who could come in under budget and schedule, and he was pretty ruthless in doing it. But in looking at his movies, some as early as 1913, I discovered that when he was given time, a bit of a budget, and talent to work with, he knew how to turn out a good movie. I can't say how much money he had for this production, nor how long his shooting schedule was, but the atheistic Beaudine assembled a good cast that includes Regis Toomey and Sarah Padden, and turned out a movie calling for a sympathetic, patriotic form of Christianity that can stand up to atheism, communism and any sort of -ism you can name through the power of love. And had me convinced for a moment.