Hear Hattie MacDaniel sing about "the darkies". His warmth and low-key charm translates on screen to the equivalent of a kind of simple, populist wisdom. User Ratings Racist even by 30's standard and syrupy sweet to boot. | '30's comedies aren't exactly known for their subtlety and they mostly consist out of physical humor. The judge has two black servants in his household, Aunt Dilsey (Hattie McDaniel) and Jeff Poindexter (Stepinfetchit). John Ford's often whimsical view of 19th century mid-west America is on full display here in this comic reflection about, as the authors prologue puts it, "the familiar ghosts of my own boyhood". I love old movies and was looking forward to seeing my first Will Rogers movie. Will Rogers has found a part that is best suited for his talents as a populist humorist. There is some great talent in the cast, Will Rogers was always watchable and Hattie McDaniel had a knack for scene stealing in everything she was in. | Rating: 4/5, May 9, 2006 After seeing it I can't help thinking it was popular for all the wrong reasons. Director Ford was always more comfortable directing caricature than catching nuance, though he could do the latter on occasion. what a total disgrace. This provides a good deal for the character actors playing veterans to do, and suggests a sort of community of values, but the marching and the storytelling and the Confederate battle flags on parade and the black musicians playing "Dixie" and everything of the sort is unsettling. We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future. 9/10. In the meantime, he plays matchmaker for his young nephew. The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review. and the Terms and Policies, Ugh! Don't have an account? Watch the small Kentucky town's darkies get together and play a rousing version of "Dixie" outside the courtroom in order to help free a heroic ex-Confederate soldier and murderer who is on trial inside the building. Agreeable Will Rogers vehicle from John Ford. Often cited as John Ford's favorite film, Judge Priest is part Western, part Courtroom Drama and part Depression-Era Escapism. By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie. The image is an example of a ticket confirmation email that AMC sent you when you purchased your ticket. Rogers also sings with McDaniel and a few other black women, as well. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. I'm just an old country Jake who's kind of a baby kisser. One thing that really stands out about these smaller movies is how they were peopled and essentially driven by stock characters, played by actors who always played the same persona. Judge Priest is a 1934 American comedy film starring Will Rogers.The film was directed by John Ford, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel in association with Fox Film, and based on humorist Irvin S. Cobb's character Judge Priest. The percentage of users who rated this 3.5 stars or higher. The opening passage by Cobb himself is as reads: "The figures in this story are familiar ghosts of my own boyhood. It's easy to see why. Judge Priest is the best of the three films Rogers did with Ford. By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy John Ford adopts and works within the conventions of this homespun genre. Is Judge Priest any good? Will Rogers stars in this backward glance at life in a small town of the deep South at the end of the 19th century, with its pleasures & joys, bigotries & suspicions. Copyright © Fandango. Coming Soon. Then too, this romanticized view of the Old South, circa 1890, must have appealed to a director who specialized in romanticizing the past, especially in the so-called winning-of-the-West. Judge Priest can kid Jeff about getting into trouble by saying he's rescued him from lynching once already (it was a court appearance for stealing chickens the judge quashed by pointing out several veterans had stolen chickens as well when they were soldiers. Others in the legal profession around him disdain him for his casualness, and Judge Priest dislikes their rigid sense of formality. And plenty of nasty ones. Stay away! It features the folksy, self-satisfied humor and unvarnished sentimentality which a transplanted Irishman -- born in Maine, but stuffed with the hereditary anger of a lost cause that won him Oscars for THE INFORMER and THE QUIET MAN. On how to tell a story. So, it's no surprise that he fairly wallows in the opportunities proffered here. Will Rogers plays the title role in the movie that John Ford later said was his favorite of his movies. The stories that were swapped took deep root in my memory. The plot of this film, which was the kernel for the plot of Ford's later (and lesser) Young Mr. Lincoln, involves a stabbing in self-defense. Recommended with reservations. Copyright © Fandango. All Critics (5) Really admire John Ford and have done for some while, Westerns and non-Westerns. What the hell is Will Rogers doing in this movie.Will Rogers and all these old Gezzers shouting about Dixie.The Fox Studio must have been desperate to make a crappy movie about a man accused of some wrong doing and being exonerated for being brave in a confederate Battle,I thought the South lost the war. Coming Soon, Regal However, this film is an embarrassment with decent actors struggling to overcome a corn-pone plot. Judge Priest is full of good intentions. She and Will Rogers actually have quite a fantastic duet at one point. There is a harmless enough romantic comedy subplot: the snobs lose and the lovers win. | I called him 'Judge Priest', and I tried to draw reasonably fair likeness of him and his neighbors and the town in which he lived. The movie is not only about the Confederacy, but seems to have been made during the Confederacy. His direction is tight, focused, the actors deliver their lines in a believable, realistic manner. and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. People will certainly object to the treatment and characterization of black characters in the film. July 23, 2019 The good part starts with Will Rogers playing the part of a decent, unpretentious small-town Kentucky judge. He speaks slowly, but with conviction. The story did sound like it had the makings of an interesting film if done correctly. Just below that it reads "Ticket Confirmation#:" followed by a 10-digit number. | Rating: B I watched this film down to a promise I made to another IMDb member that I would check out at least one film featuring Harry Tenbrook an extremely prolific extra of American cinema in the golden decades of Hollywood . The film is based on a character created by Rogers fellow American humorist Irvin S. Cobb. I am embarrassed to watch this stupid movie and explain to some young people about what the civil war was about, and more disgraceful they used poor Negroes to play Dixie songs outside the courthouse.and then parade them through town. Will Rogers' kind judge is such a good character. | Fresh (4) | Yet John Ford et al spread this syrupy molasses mixture over 80 minutes. Surprisingly humorous social drama featuring the indomitable Will Rogers in the title role. (Fetchit has an awful, partisan political bio here at IMDb – the man deserves much better -- but he is an interesting story.) The way the scenes are arranged, the attention to detail are his trademarks. The judge also enjoys matchmaking for his nephew Rome (Tom Brown), a young man who has just graduated from law school and who is in love with the pretty girl next door in spite of his stuffy mama's protests (seems the girl isn't good enough for the mighty "Kentucky Priest's", mama has her eye on someone else for her son). As Ms. McDaniel said, better to play the maid than to be one. This is warm movie with plenty of sympathetic characters. Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox! Awards If you want to see what the Hollywood world was like before everyone became politically correct, this one is worth seeing. The War between the States was over but the tragedies and comedies haunted every grown man's mind. Priest plays a laid-back, widowed judge who helps uphold the law in his toughest court case yet. because you would never know.Total crap. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. I'm just an old country jake who's kind of a baby kisser. As for the actors they performed pretty much as expected. Sidney Poitier’s 7 Most Memorable Performances, All Harry Potter Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer. and the Terms and Policies, It's a very good performance. This 10-digit number is your confirmation number. Good stuff. In theory JUDGE PRIEST should be something of a classic being directed by John Ford and was a big box office hit on its release in 1934 . Now, his entire act just seems gross and insulting. In spite of the bonfires war had finished however the ashes and sequels still remain.The war between the states-the Union and Confederacy-was over but its tragedies and comedies haunted every grown man's mind.Taken from the Irvin S. Cobb stories which after main title picture says the following :¨The events were swapped took deep root in my memory and are familiar ghost of my boyhood.There was one man ¨Down Yonder¨I came specially to admire for he seemed typical of the tolerance of that day and the wisdom of that almost vanished generation.I called Judge Priest and I tried to draw reasonably fair likeness of him and his neighbors and the town in which he lived¨. Just confirm how you got your ticket. Ford spends more time setting up a kind of slow-going Southern atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone and it's always just about time for another mint julep. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. This film is pure Ford, so, if you're a fan, definitely seek it out. What the movies need is something with a little color and spirit, with a flash of insight or sincerity -- not mild sedatives of this sort. |, May 31, 2019 Jeff afterwards becomes his servant. He's a kind man with a homespun sense of justice. The sense of Southern nostalgia, which I love so much from William Faulkner, is enveloping in this film. Watch Stepin Fetchit as he explains that he's not wearing his shoes because he's saving them for when his feet wear out. Metacritic Reviews. However Irvin S. Cobb was painting an accurate picture of the servile blacks, servile because they had to be. In this John Ford comedy, Will Rogers stars as Judge William Priest, an amiable Civil War veteran living in small-town Kentucky. Not one of John Ford’s better films in fact it’s quite dull for most of the first hour which might explain why the director felt the need to remake this comedy drama as The Sun Shines Bright (1953) with Charles Winninger. Coming Soon. It was also a financial winner for Fox Films; it must have played to packed audiences in the Whites-Only theaters of the South. Will Rogers has found a part that is best suited for his talents as a populist humorist. From the snail-like pacing to the exaggerated acting to the crude racial stereotypes, it points to a long gone era of film-making and, in the process, shows why that era is long gone. External Reviews Review by Dave Jackson ★★ I struggled with this. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. This film has about as much content and charm as could fit into a 30-minute short feature. Judge Priest's young nephew, Jerome, back from law school, takes it up as his first case. I don't think I've ever seen her in better form and I credit Ford for extracting that performance as well as Tom Brown's who managed to keep his earnestness and wide-eyed innocence under check.