Judge Priest (1934)

Will Rogers spread his humor across America during the height of the Great Depression. Rogers was a comedian, storyteller, actor, poet, writer and all around performer from Oklahoma. He traveled across the country, appeared on stage and performed on the radio. Rogers's homespun common sense humor registered with folks everywhere. One sees that in full flower in "Judge Priest." Rogers stars as a small town Southern judge named Priest, who presides over local justice. John Ford directed the film. The plot is very light, and the film gives a look at the culture of the time and place. In modern times, some might cry, "stereotyping" for potdrayal of the African-Americans. "Judge Priest" has some light humor with a look at the lingering affections of loyalty in the Confederacy well after the Civil War. But, the film doesn't have great comedy and otherwise is quite light.

The opening theme music is "my old kentucky home", so that gives us an idea of what's to come. Quite a long introduction card... no-one said there would be reading required! This one is all about Will Rogers, wit and writer of the day. He made a couple more after this... he died tragically quite young in a plane crash the year after making this. and Hattie McDaniel, a couple years before "Gone with the Wind". Except for the duet between Rogers and McDaniel, this one kind of drags on and on. Priest spends half the film talking to himself, or to the photo on the wall. or the horse. and it's already a post-civil-war period piece. Snoozer. never really gets going. Stepin Fetchit is at the end of the cast list, but is in just about every scene for comedic effect. Subplot of "Rome" Priest (Tom Brown) defending Mr. Gillis (David Landau), for his honor, and to win the hand of his girl. This one is interesting for history's sake, with Will Rogers starring, but other than that, it's pretty weak. Directed by multi-Oscar winner John Ford. Ford had started waaaay back in the silent films.

Episodic comedy from John Ford that is a showcase for Will Rogers to do his homespun wisdom routine that made him famous. He plays the title character, a judge who helps a young couple being kept apart by meddling parents and helps a blacksmith charged with assault. It's a bit of a mixed bag. Rogers is good and he gets fine support from Henry B. Walthall, David Landau, Berton Churchill, and Charley Grapewin. But there's very little meat on the bone here. It's a slow-moving picture that seems content to shoot for the occasional amused grin rather than try for many laughs. Add to that the cringeworthy performance of Stepin Fetchit and you have a film whose appeal is pretty narrow.

'30's comedies aren't exactly known for their subtlety and they mostly consist out of physical humor. This movie forms a great and wonderful exception to this.This is one great subtle comedy that is mostly funny thanks to its very amusing and extreme stereotyped characters. It of course also really helps that they are being portrayed by some really great actors and are being directed by one great director; John Ford.Will Rogers was totally great in his role. He seemed very natural with his acting but at the same time managed to play his character in a comical way. He was a greatly talented comedy actor, who was already a popular one during the silent era. He would had continued to play many more comical roles I'm sure, had he not died one year after this movie, in a plane crash piloted by the one-eyed pioneer aviator Wiley Post. Hattie McDaniel also does in this movie what she is best known for, playing a likable maid role. She is best known for her Acedemy Award winning role in "Gone with the Wind", which also made her the first black actor winning the great award.Even though John Ford began directing movies as early as 1917, it wasn't until the '30's that his career really took off and he gained a real big celebrity status. He also isn't best known for comedies but mostly for his western's, often starring John Wayne. Till this date he is still the director with the most Academy Awards for best directing (4 of them). I think that says already enough about the qualities of this man. With this movie he also really seemed ahead of its time, by picking an all different and very humble approach of the story and comedy.The story is actually quite simple but oh so great. It actually is quite well layered, even though the movie its simplicity might make you overlook this. It features lots of different element involving the characters in this movie, on both the comical as well as the more dramatic level. I also especially really like how the judge tries to hook up his cousin with his neighbor girl.The movie also truly benefits from its typical southern atmosphere. The movie is set in a southern town, which shows in the movie its characters, their accents and just overall atmosphere of the entire movie.This movie was a great pleasant surprise!9/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/