If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Mountain Justice (1937)** (out of 4) Michael Curtiz directed this rather disappointing film from Warner about mountain girl Ruth Harkins (Josephine Hutchinson) who wants to help a local doctor (Guy Kibbee) build various hospitals so that the poor can have good health. Her abusive father finds out about all of this and her relationship with a New York lawyer (George Brent) so he puts a major beating on her. In self defense the daughter ends up killing her father and the trash locals want her dead too. MOUNTAIN JUSTICE has quite a bit of stuff going on in it but sadly very little of it works. Warner made all sorts of "message" pictures that often dealt with injustice as well as revenge. This film features that stuff but the entire plot is just so paper thin that it was hard to take any of it serious. The biggest problem is that this father is so mean that it's hard to believe that even these trash locals would buy into supporting him. Even if you do believe that they would, the courtroom sequence at the end is just so obvious because you know there would be so many ways for the lawyer to get the woman off these murder charges even if the trash jury convicted her. I'm not going to ruin the final act but it too really feels rushed and thrown together. The performances are another mixed bag but it seems like Brent wants nothing to do with this material. Even in some bad movies he still manages to deliver good performances but that's not the case here as he just comes across bored and wishing he was somewhere else. Hutchinson delivers a fine performance but it's not strong enough to carry the picture. Kibbee, Robert Barrat and Margaret Hamilton are all good but the screenplay really doesn't do much with their characters. There are a few effective moments including the way Curtiz uses shadows for the beating and murder. There's also an effective sequence towards the end when the rednecks decide to put masks on to kidnap the girl from jail. Still, these scenes just aren't enough to overcome all the weaker moments.

The movie is entertaining but bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to hillbillies I grew up with. Behaving the way he does, the father character would have been shot dead in his teenage years where I come from in West Virginia. A brutal thug like him would never have fathered any children if he did survive because no woman would ever have married him.In the hillbilly culture where I come from, the family group is typically one of matriarchy. As for the father selecting his daughter's husband, that is totally and completely ludicrous. In the hillbilly culture I grew up in, father's will typically object strenuously to their daughter's selection of a mate but that's only because he doesn't want her to leave the house.As for the doctoring there, most people don't go to doctors or dentists. The hillbilly medical practice goes like this: you ignore the pain until it either goes away or gets so bad you can't stand it and you have to go see a doctor. If it goes away, which it usually does, then you didn't need a doctor anyway. If it gets so bad you can't stand it then maybe it's something serious or maybe it's something you can live with. Dental practice goes like this: you never do anything to your teeth until the cavities get so bad you can't stand the pain. Then you go to the dentist, get them pulled and get false teeth.Personally speaking, I never brushed my teeth until I joined the Navy in 1963! I never took a shower either! Needless to say, those bad practices and habits were quickly altered in boot camp.

Before I begin, I must point out that even if you think I am being too harsh about MOUNTAIN JUSTICE, you can't possibly think this seriously flawed film deserved a score of 10! Films like GONE WITH THE WIND and DR. STRANGELOVE have many reviews with scores well below 10--this very obscure and strange little film from Warner Brothers surely isn't up to the quality of these films is it?! So why did I say the film was quite stupid...well, because it was! While the film was quite entertaining, the studio produced a script that just didn't make a lot of sense and was full of plot holes. In the process, they made "hillbillies" (I assume from the Ozarks) look like complete sub-humans! Obviously Warner didn't particularly care if no one in the hills would want to see this sort of "exposee" film--but they couldn't have seriously believed that the city folks would accept this film based as fact! I'll give you a few examples of the silliness. First, when the insanely brutal Robert Barrat shot a government employee on his land, the jury gave him 90 days in jail! It seemed to imply that this was a federal employee--and if this were the case, it would have been held in federal court--not some backwoods locale and 90 days for a shooting?! Second, when Barrat later decided to kill his oldest daughter by flogging her to death, the fact that he was attacking her when she finally fought back seemed irrelevant. None of the wounds or the past shooting seemed worth mentioning. And, despite this being a very, very local affair, newspapers read "Nations Eyes on Ruth Harkin" and the trial seemed to get more attention than the O. J. trial!!! Then, when the autopsy showed she did NOT kill him and he died of a heart attack, she was convicted of murder anyway and sentenced to 25 years!!! Not content with this, those "crazy hillbillies" dressed like dumb make-shift klansmen and tried to string her up--while the police offered no resistance! Talk about far-fetched! None of this made any sense at all--even the stupidest mob in the world wouldn't have behaved this way--plus they would have worn better masks than old hopelessly large potato sacks. Talk about having to suspend disbelief!! So although the plot made no sense and the film was way over the top stylistically speaking, I still gave the film a 4--which might seem generous. Well, the 4 isn't for the lackluster performance of the leads (particularly George Brent--who looked very much out of place and ill at ease)--the 4 is for Robert Barrat's amazing performance. He was total scum and played it very convincingly--so much so that I was rooting for the daughter to kill the old jerk! Normally, Barrat almost always played city types and never anyone remotely like the guy in this film. The change of pace for this character actor was appreciated. In addition, Guy Kibbee and Margaret Hamilton provided some excellent color. The weirdness and salaciousness did hold my attention.Not a good film, but it was entertaining. Plus, the message seemed to be that it really ISN'T worth trying to change these hillbillies--they really are beneath contempt!! Talk about bigotry.If you do see it, two things to look for. First, although the film takes place apparently over several years, Ruth's little sister never seems to age. Additionally, in a case of impossible lawyering (is that a word?), the Prosecuting Attorney at the beginning of the film is the Defense Attorney for Ruth's trial and the Defense Attorney is now the Prosecutor!! On what planet would they do this??!?!Finally, if you do want to see a GOOD film about mob rule and miscarriages of justice, two contemporary films that are almost infinitely better are FURY (1936) and THEY WON'T FORGET (1937). Both have stronger emotional impact and both are very intelligently written.

Backwoods nurse Josephine Hutchinson and doctor Guy Kibbee want to start a series of clinics to help the poor people who can't afford medical attention. Unfortunately, Hutchinson is saddled with an abusive father (Robert Barrat) who uses his temper to keep his wife (Elisabeth Risdon) and two daughters (Hutchinson, Marcia Mae Jones) in line. With the help of doctor Kibbee and his spinster fiancée (wicked witch Margaret Hamilton), Hutchinson escapes to the city for training, and comes back to fulfill her dream with Kibbee. Unfortunately, her father is unwilling to take her back into his life, and takes his frustrations out on younger daughter Jones. When Jones turns to her older sister for help, an accidental death puts Hutchinson on trial for murder. Her New York lawyer beau George Brent comes to the mountains to help her, leading the way to a gripping conclusion.I was pleasantly surprised by how gripping this film was from start to finish, filled with humor, romance, and melodrama. Hutchinson, one of the most underrated leading ladies in history, is convincing; beautiful, yet not glamorized. She has audience sympathy from beginning to end. Brent, who would support many of Hollywood's most popular leading ladies of the 30's and 40's (Davis, Stanwyck, Oberon, Francis, etc.), does his job well; it is a shame that in few Hollywood films of this era, he would be the focus of the story. Risdon and Jones as Hutchinson's mother and sister, do well in small, yet important roles. Barrat, as the abusive father, is so hateful, though he gives his character a quiet proudness that influences his shameful violence. It is hard to praise a performance which requires him to be so hateful, but yet, it is filled with realism that any abused child can relate to.In comic second leads, Guy Kibbee and Margaret Hamilton are hysterical as an engaged couple heading towards the altar for 30 years. (Hamilton, it should be noted, was only 35 when this film was released!) Their wedding scene is absolutely hysterical. For one of the few times in her film career, Hamilton plays a totally sympathetic character, making it hard to believe just two years later, she would enter film immortality as the wicked witch in "The Wizard of Oz". In a small role as Hutchinson's New York chum, Mona Barrie makes the most of her few scenes. "Mountain Justice" is a film regularly seen now on TCM, and makes fascinating viewing.