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Front of Movie Herald.  Photo courtesy of Dave Hadsell

1928,  b&w,  silent,  9 reels,  First National

Reviews: Certainly the critics from the New York Times and Variety didn't find much good in this version of The Shepherd of the Hills, but they did find some.  Variety says "'Shepherd' registers as a mild western which will need all the publicity it can get. . . ."  "Not  'smash' box office but likely to figure moderately through whatever strength the title possesses and the performances of Francis, Boles, and Betz.  Scenic qualities also an asset."

The New York Times is a bit more positive--I think.  "While the picturization of Harold Bell Wright's story, 'The Shepherd of the Hills' has its flourishes, its extravagancies, its unlikely villains and, in some sequences, its disregard for human psychology, this film is far more diverting than other screen conceptions of the same author's widely read works."

The Motion Picture Almanac (MPA) of 1929 suggests, however, that the film was viewed with more enthusiasm by the public than by the critics.  The Shepherd of the Hills was one of 820 feature films released in 1928.  The MPA polled theater owners across the country to learn which films they considered the best films of 1928.  The Shepherd of the Hills did not appear in that list.  But according to those same theater owners "The Shepherd of the Hills" was the seventh highest money-maker of the year, behind only Ben Hur, The Big Parade, Seventh Heaven, Romona, Speedy, and What Price Glory.  (Though The Winning of Barbara Worth had been released in 1926, it was still ranked number 52 among the "Top 104 Money Makers of 1928.")

The Motion Picture Almanac was an annual publication of a weekly theatre owners trade journal whose name in 1928 was Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World.  That paper always included comments from theatre owners.  One owner shared these views with his colleagues in the August 18, 1928 issue: "Shepherd of the Hills--special cast--July 29-30.  Well boys, this is a natural.  Holds my house record for the year and a few of the big ones played this year include 'What Price Glory,' 'Seventh Heaven,' 'Ben Hur,' 'and 'The Big Parade.'  I have never played a Harold Bell Wright picture that wasn't a bell ringer.  Eight reels.  --Wm. E. Tragsdorf, Trags Theatre, Neillsville, Wis. --small town patronage."

From the descriptions of the two critics, the story is about a terrible drought that threatens to ruin all the farmers in the area.  The Shepherd, a wise old man recently arrived in the area, seems to become their spiritual leader, the one who encourages them to keep believing that rain will come.  Eventually, when rain does not come they turn on him and abuse him.  But just at that moment, after he prays, rain comes and the sheep, the farms, the farmers, and the Shepherd, are saved.  As the rain falls, Young Matt finally defeats Wash Gibbs in a ferocious fight, which helps him to win the hand of Sammy Lane.  Incidentally, the Variety critic says Molly O'Day has very little to do in this film, doesn't do it that well, and looks "more than pudgy."  I guess they is why they are called "critics."

Meanwhile, back in the rain and the celebrating, the familiar story emerges.  The Shepherd admits that he is the grandfather of Little Pete.  In fact, in a flashback, the film shows that the Shepherd had actually encouraged his son to abandon Little Pete's mother, the daughter of Old Matt and Aunt Molly, leading to her death.  In the end, the rain foils the plans of a big city swindler to grab all the land when the farmers couldn't make their payments.

It would seem that the idea for a 1950's dog show was born here.  "In this production. . . ," says the New York Times critic, "there is one episode where Lassie, an intelligent dog, stops the sheep from drinking poisoned water.  Lassie has a good noodle on her shaggy body, for she even restrains herself when squirrels are around.  She almost ignores one of the little animals when it is sitting on Howitt's shoulders."  Sounds familiar.

Release:  First National

Production: First National

Director:  Albert Rogell

Writing/Screenplay: From Harold Bell Wright's novel by same name.

Availability: This is considered to be one of thousands of movies forever lost. No copy is known to exist.