Lure of the Wilderness (1952)
A young girl and her father, who is unjustly accused of murder, seek refuge in a Georgia swamp until they are befriended by a trapper who penetrates the swamp in search of his dog.
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The setting really makes the movie. The swamp. Super photography and the acting is fairly decent. Reminded me somewhat of a Disney family movie.
When I happened to come upon this film on TV, Constance Smith was on the screen. Immediately, I thought of Jean Peters because the resemblance was so great. I even thought she WAS Jean Peters, although the eye color and absence of the turned up tip of the nose gave me reason to doubt my initial impression. Lo and behold, who did I find was also in the film - Jean Peters! I did not see any reference in the film to the resemblance between the two, but I wonder if they were cast together because of this resemblance (admittedly, a subjective impression on my part). Perhaps there was an unstated implication that Jeffrey Hunter was attracted to Jean because of her resemblance to his "fiancee", played by Constance. In any event, a very good, if relatively unknown film, even as a remake of the generally more highly rated film it's derived from (with Walther Brennan in both!).
This film was based on the earlier "Swamp Water" - both great films. The earlier film also starred Dana Andrews and John Carradine. I loved all the Walter Brennan movies as well as his character, Grandpa Amos, in the TV series "The Real McCoys", which starred another late and great actor, Richard Crenna, as Luke.
Here is an unusual story about a girl and her father, who take refuge in the Georgia swamps as they try to evade a linching mob. The father (excellently played by Walter Brennan) had been wrongly accused of murder in a small neighboring town. The girl (who turns out to be the beautiful -and quite athletic - Jean Peters)grows up in the swamps, away from civilization, until a man (handsome Jeff Hunter) arrives at their campsite looking for his stray dog. Of course the two young actors eventually fall in love, but even this is believable and interwined into the action and adventure of this highly intersting film. Director Jean Negulesco offers us a well balanced and magnificently edited film that deals with prejudices and lies - which can be abundant in any small town. Very well acted by Peters, Hunter, et all...who award us with quite authentic southern accents, for a change.