CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

calvinnme I'll get to what my title means later, but first, is there anyone creepier than Walter Huston when he's playing self-righteous religious types, like here and in "Rain"? Now Huston's son, Jason Wilkes, as a child is a true brat, always complaining and acting snooty. As an adult though, where James Stewart takes over the role, he is more self-centered, too taken up with his education and then career as a doctor to do more than write his parents when he needs money. Now this requires his parents selling off family heirlooms, and even the family horse which is more a pet than beast of burden, but Jason never seems to give their hardship a thought.Then Jason's father dies, Jason joins the Union army as a surgeon when the Civil War breaks out, and is able to save many lives and limbs at a time when most doctors just amputated. But then an executive order comes from Abraham Lincoln demanding a meeting with Jason. This is where my title comes from. I had no idea presidents issued executive orders 150 years ago. Jason thinks it is perhaps to recognize his performance as a military surgeon, but it turns out this audience is because Jason hasn't written home in two years, his mother thought he was dead and wrote Lincoln to find out where he was buried! Honest Abe gives Jason the tongue lashing he has long deserved. Will he see the light? Watch and find out.At first I thought this looked and felt like a 20th Century Fox film since it is so picturesque and unpretentious. With the mid 19th century rural setting, and John Carradine as Abraham Lincoln (he's very effective, even with that mask-like makeup), it was easy to get confused. Bondi is very convincing as the long suffering impoverished widow. Guy Kibbee believably hard nosed as general store proprietor. Charles Coburn is wonderful and mischievous as the alcoholic, warm hearted doctor. And it's wonderful seeing James Stewart on the brink of stardom, here all earnest and sensitive, with a lot of his boyish mannerisms coming to the fore. The movie always threatens to turn mawkish, but never does.The two children who played Jason as a child and Jason's childhood sweetheart also had interesting stories. They were Gene Reynolds and Leatrice Joy Gilbert, respectively. Reynolds would be a successful TV director and producer working on shows such as Lou Grant, M.A.S.H, Room 222, Hogan's Heroes, and My Three Sons. Leatrice Joy Gilbert was John Gilbert's daughter and played a big part in championing her dad's work and having him being better remembered than just the guy whose squeaky voice got him thrown out of talkies.Are there some over the top melodramatic moments? Of course there are. But this is the kind of small family film that MGM excelled at making at the time. I'd therefore recommend it.

bkoganbing Though both Walter Huston and James Stewart were billed above her, Of Human Hearts is really about Beulah Bondi and what she does for her small family. It's probably her best performance on screen.The setting is ante-bellum Ohio and the Wilkins family has just arrived. Walter Huston is to be the new minister for the town. It's a poor place he's been sent and the family lives on hand me downs, castaways, and the charity of the community. In the pious tradition of his profession Walter Huston accepts this as part of the price for his calling to the ministry. Son Gene Reynolds who grows up to be James Stewart cannot accept this. He's a bright kid and gravitates towards Charles Coburn, the town doctor. His mind turns towards medicine and he makes up his mind to become a doctor.That puts him in conflict with Huston and poor Beulah is caught in the middle between them.Walter Huston played three preachers on screen, the uptight Reverend Davidson in Rain, the satirical Sin Killer Jubal Crabby in Duel in the Sun and Reverend Ethan Wilkins here. Of the three of them, Ethan Wilkins is the best man and the best performance.The conflict is generational and what gets the audience involved is that they can absolutely see both points of view. Huston is not some bible thumping clown, he feels his call very deeply and he's not stupid. One of my favorite scenes is Huston outsmarting Guy Kibbee and Charley Grapewin when try to sell him a defective horse. James Stewart gives voice and interpretation to every young man who wants to go out in the world see something more and accomplish more than he would in staying in a backwater town. Very similar to his performance in It's A Wonderful Life. Come to think of it, Beulah Bondi was his mother there too.Beulah is the star. In How Green Was My Valley the adult Hugh Morgan says that while Dad was the head of the house, Mother was it's heart. It could be applied here even better. After Huston dies, Bondi sacrifices everything and lives as a pauper for her son to go to medical school and become a doctor. Stewart graduates, but the Civil War begins and he enlists. Bondi doesn't hear from him for almost three years and she writes to President Lincoln to find out about him. For what happens and how Lincoln deals with the situation you'll have to see the film. But her performance will tug at you if you are made of stone.John Carradine plays a very good Lincoln. He certainly has the lean,tall body, angular features, and deep voice to be a convincing one. I'm surprised he was never again cast as Lincoln.The other performance of note I would single out is Guy Kibbee. He's the town Babbitt, a part he was certainly familiar with. It's a pleasure to see how Huston deals with him.A really fine and poignant tale that I can't recommend too highly.

lois74 I found this movie very heartwarming as I am a big fan of Jimmy Stewart. I wish movies were still made like this - with heart. It can be all to true to raise a son or daughter who grow up and they kind of forget about their parents. While I admit there are some rather cheesy parts I'd rather watch that than some of the crap that comes out of Hollywood these days! As a mother myself, the parts where she is basically giving her very last dime to send to her son were all too true. What mother would not give everything she had to give her children if she though they needed it? When the son talks to Abraham Lincoln (yes, I believe that was a little far fetched) but I could see a mother writing, believing her son dead, as that could be the only explanation as to why he has not written. All in all this movie was very heartwarming!! I guess to watch it you have to have a heart!

Condor-2 This is a story about family relationships, set in the time before and during the American Civil War. Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm. It is a compelling story about striving for excellence, the reality and tension fathers and sons can experience when a son comes of age, and the love of a mother that can never die.While both inspiring and at times reminding us of our own failures, it provides a message of hope as well. There is a richness here that is timeless. This film develops its characters at the beginning, not rushing to get to the point. You get to know them. The Civil War elements are very much in the background and clearly secondary to the main theme. This is not a war movie. It is a story about real people.The surprise at the end of this drama is both forceful and full of genuine emotion. A absolute must see for John Huston and Jimmy Stewart fans, and deserves to be a classic in its own right. Easily one of Stewart's best.