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Synchronicities

Have revisited an echo from the past tonight. (November 2016). First saw this b/w film in '49 or '50 when I was six years old, and it has stuck with me for ,,, a while. Yes, it's pretty hokey, but my Old Man identified with the mules and a life style that was obsolete, even in 1948 when it was produced. The script is grade-school, but charming and the acting is stilted, but typical for a B-movie. Over all, leaves you with a fondness for a world that no longer exists. Happily the DVD is from a technicolor print in pristine condition. I recognize the Old Mans hat as the same one Walter Brennan wears; Moms' Sunbeam Mix Master on the kitchen counter; and the tin document box where Walter keeps Snugs' Dads' Last Will and Testament, is the same box I kept my crayons in, and now keep my own documents -- including the Wills and Deeds. Amazing coincidences, which probably mean nothing to anyone but my self, listed here, for your own amusement... Enjoy the Movie.

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Much better than its reputation would lead you to believe...

George Agnew Chamberlain's book about determined farm boy in rural small town America training two prize-winning mules to drive; pretty soon, he and the two stubborn creatures are hauling out logs from the forest and making fifteen dollars a day, which irks the man he bought them from as well as his own evil step-brother. Director F. Hugh Herbert, who also adapted the screenplay, does a terrific job setting the mood of the piece--frisky but also angst-ridden. Lon McCallister is the polite juvenile battling with his father's crude wife and her son for his dad's respect, later butting heads with farmer Tom Tully (in a convincingly angry, blow-hard performance). Although this is ostensibly a simple tale of a boy's love for two mules, there's a lot of busy melodrama going on. The scenario isn't overly-folksy, and the villains (including Anne Revere, in her least-sympathetic role ever) are surprisingly effective. The romance sub-plot between Tully's blonde, beautiful daughter June Haver and skinny McCallister doesn't quite work as well (she seems a bit out of his league); thankfully, little Natalie Wood is around a lot, spying on her neighbors and getting all the juicy gossip. Good contract-picture from Fox has an undeserved poor reputation (with its title causing most of the derision), but I was entertained from start to finish. Look fast for Marilyn Monroe as 'Betty' on the church steps.

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Odds and ends on an odd but cute film

"Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!" refers to calls the driver uses to direct his team of mules when out working on a job. After seeing the film on "The Late Show" as a teenager, I was a June Haver fan for a while, so I was thrilled when I saw and approached her in Restored Williamsburg, Virginia with her husband, Fred McMurray in the spring of 1962. Marilyn Monroe was to have a small part in Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! She was standing by a tree and when the character of Snug encountered her, she said, "Hello." But that part got cut out before the film went into the can. I think Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! is noteworthy in that it is the only film I can think of in which Walter Brennan plays something other than comedy relief or somebody's sidekick. Look it over when you have the chance and see if you don't think he is formulatin' the character of Grandpappy Amos of "The Real McCoys."

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Scudda Hoo Makes Good Hay

An enjoyable film dealing with a male Cinderella-like relationship. Fed up with his nagging wife and bullying son, a man heads out to sea and leaves his son $20.00 to fend for himself.

The film is a gem as it shows the warm relationships that can develop with still another family and a man's determination to get those mules to work.

Anne Revere appears briefly as the wicked wife but she is memorable once again. As her n'eer-do-well son, Bob Karnes, is miserable at his best. Lon McAllister shines as the step-son and Natalie Wood steals the show as a precocious youngster who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Another good performance is given by Tom Tully as as a nasty neighbor, and Walter Brennan is in fine form as an understanding friend to the McAllister role.

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When you want a mule to give 110%

This rustic film, something not usually made by 20th Century Fox has come down in screen legend as the debut of Marilyn Monroe. She's very briefly seen paddling a canoe after church. As it turns out she's not the only tragic legend in Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! Natalie Wood who plays June Haver's little sister and a little miss fixit is also here.
Young Lon McCallister quits his home and hearth leaving it to mean stepmother Anne Revere and her lugnut of a son Robert Karnes. Almost on a whim he buys a pair of mules who won't work for anyone else but him. Still he's in debt to miserly Tom Tully for them. And Tully is not a man to give anyone a break even with daughter June Haver falling for McCallister.
The man who teaches McCallister about how to work and the dignity of the mule is Walter Brennan playing another of his rustic old timers with lots of wisdom. He also has a nice taste for booze which nearly costs McCallister his mules.
Except for the Francis series, Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! is the only film I know that's about mules. And McCallister's two don't have quite the talents that Francis had. Incidentally the title is what Walter Brennan teaches McCallister to say if he wants his mules to give that 110%.
McCallister and Haver make a nice young couple. Not the greatest of films but a worthy debut for a legend.

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