Directed by Henry Hathaway
Starring John Wayne, Betty Field, Harry Carey, Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond, Marjorie Main, John Qualen, Fuzzy Knight
Kino Lorber has announced a Fall Blu-Ray release of Henry Hathaway’s The Shepherd Of The Hills (1941). It’s not a Western, really, since it takes place in the Ozark Mountains, but some Western elements were worked into the novel’s plot to make it more of a John Wayne movie. Wayne was well on his way to becoming a major star — this was just a couple years after Stagecoach (1939).
It was Wayne’s first time working with director Henry Hathaway. They’d do a number of pictures together. It was also the first time we got to see John Wayne in Technicolor, and that gorgeous color will certainly be one of the delights to be found in this new Blu-Ray. This is a beautiful movie. Highly recommended.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 
Another reason for seeing this movie is that Harry Carey has a leading role with Wayne.
Absolutely. He’s great in it, too.
Jerry, I agree with you that another good reason for seeing THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS(filmed 1940, released 1941) is the performance of Harry Carey, Sr. Fact is in my opinion, Harry is the star of this parable of redemption set in the Ozark Mountains.
Though set in the Ozark Mountains, this movie is Western enough for me. Harold Bell Wright’s novel THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS(1907) sold millions of copies and was one of the most popular novels of its time. For the most part, if you like the book, you won’t the movie, so much. Of course, most of us don’t expect a movie to be a carbon copy of the source book. I think the movie is well worth watching.