Provides a snapshot of small-town politics at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Director John Ford made this corny, over-sentimental Deep South melodrama between The Quiet Man and Mogambo. Shame on the great man.

Nostalgic for a world he never knew and which never really existed, progressive-minded and a little reactionary at the same time, innately sad for the passing of an era, deeply humane, and, yes, with a dash of utterly arbitrary beefcake.

A marvelously entertaining film, laid back and effortlessly told, despite the social commentary and intertwining subplots.