The Green Promise

Though this may not be one of the best movies of its time it certainly warms your heart. The plot is that of a widower with four children who seek to set up a farm using their last resources and the tribulations that follow. Walter Brennen plays to the hilt the autocratic father who professes to be democratic in all his decisions but has his own way by being overtly manipulative. Margurite Chapman plays the eldest daughter who surrogates for her mother to the siblings. She is torn emotionally behind a traditional approach emotionally and professionally as demanded by her father against the more scientific farming methods and modern values as professed by her knight in armour the Agriculturist Officer. The other two kids just play to stereotype as the nasty sister and the adolescent brother who is terrified by his father. It is Susan, beautifully played by a nine year old Natalie Wood who is the real star of this film. Her presence forces you to forget the weaker points of the film as you emote silently with her both in her pains and her happiness. The scenes where she bursts to tears as she is unable to agree to join a club as her father has forbiden it and the classic scene where she argues her case for a loan to a crusty banker (who incidentally has to cover up a smile) is great. The storyline may be weak but the acting is good and the picturisation of the storm sequences which include the heroic rescue of two lambs by Susan (allegedly which gave Natalie Wood a lifetime fear of drowning)is excellent. A great film to view with your family as it warms you up with thoughts of a long by-gone era.

It reminded me of those 16mm films we were shown in grade school--this one on the benefits of land conservation and belonging to the 4-H Club. Actually, it was sort of disturbing. Walter Brennan plays an overbearing, out-of-date father to three daughters who fear him---going out of his way to alienate those who would help him. Unfortunately, the arc of his character is more like a straight line with a sharp hook at the end, as he sees the error of his ways in the last 60 seconds of the film. A plus was seeing young Natalie Wood 2 years past her "Miracle on 34th Street" work. Points up what a difference a good story and direction can make. Both Brennan and Wood were ill-used in this filmstrip with sound.

This movie seems like one of those 'family on a farm' B-movies so common in the forties and fifties, about a little girl (or boy) with a horse, a dog, or in this case, baby lambs. It starts off as if it's a promotional film for joining the 4-H, but it gets better towards the end.

It stands out for two reasons: 1) the real star is Natalie Wood, who must have been about ten, and is totally convincing when she repeats the 4-H oath (oh, the nostalgia for the lost innocence of that era!) and 2) the ecological disaster that climaxes the film, with Natalie Wood again doing a great job in an exciting sequence as she fights her way home during a savage rainstorm and saves herself from drowning in the storm's raging waters. (She permanently injured her wrist in this sequence.)

A teenage Martin Milner(uncredited) appears briefly in the 4-H club meeting scene and warns us of ecological peril. Milburn Stone as the preacher is appropriately didactic in spelling out the message of the film.

I'll give it a 5.

This film is about a widower and farmer, Mr Matthews, played well by Walter Brennan. He buys a farm and moves with four children. His oldest daughter, Deborah, is more of a mother figure in the house. She is well played by Marguerite Chapman. Natalie Wood plays younger sister, Susan. There is brother Phinneus and sister Abigail. Mr Matthews is a stubborn old man who refuses to learn new things or keep up with the times. When he is injured, Deborah takes charge and make changes. Wood's Susan joins the 4 H Club and raises two lambs for a ribbon at a fair. Susan risks her life to save them. The film is fine with decent performances all around. The ending could have been better though. The film is worth watching at least once. There are some light moments. This film is a fine melodrama overall.

William D. Russell directs this rather unusual screenplay about a widower farmer and his four children of various ages, who live under their pig-headed father's thumb. Pretending to have a democracy in his family, the farmer--who always gets the last word--doesn't see that his stubborn ways of operating a home and a farm are not always the right ways, and he often comes close to alienating his children with his rigidly unsentimental attitude. Upon moving into their newest ranch house, eldest daughter Marguerite Chapman is wooed by the handsome, eligible local agriculturalist, yet she acts frigid and suspicious of men; we are to assume this is the way her papa raised her, but possibility a more vulnerable approach might have drawn us closer to the character. Natalie Wood is the talkative youngest child, and she pulls off some very difficult key sequences in the film with charm and poise (being voted down by her father when she desires buying two lambs, going to the bank and asking for a loan, and diligently taking her oath after being invited into the 4-H Club). The picture isn't a total success...and for a while there, I wasn't sure what Walter Brennan was trying for as the patriarch; at times he's so stern, he's almost villainous. However, the locations and silvery cinematography are perfect, and there's a dandy of a thunderstorm in which little Natalie finds herself caught. A genuine oddity from RKO, and worthwhile despite its flaws. **1/2 from ****