The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)

I'll tell you why so serious

hyped garbage

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I viewed this film without any knowledge of its plot, story line, but only that it starred Van Johnson and introduced Janet Leigh, one of my favorite actresses. Purposely, I have always refrained from reading critics reviews or viewers comments as I have always found them interfering with the filmmakers intent and manner of cinematic storytelling. When the plot, especially the film's ending, is revealed it's tantamount to someone yelling "The butler did it!!!" I prefer the thrill of the writer, director and producer to display a film that will provide the utmost in entertainment. And that's exactly what they did for this wonderful motion picture.

I really enjoyed this film starring Van Johnson and featuring Janet Leigh in her film debut. It is set in the Ozarks of Missouri after the end of the Civil War. The Civil War is over, but being a border state, there are existing tensions between neighbors who fought on opposing sides. So the movie opens with the following words: "But peace is achieved by the goodwill of people, and not by the flourishing strokes of a pen... " In this town, everyone is sized up by the color of their britches - blue (Yankee), or gray (Confederate). The war was fought over giving rights to all people, no matter the color of the skin. Now they're fighting over the color of their pants. The harvest has come in, but everyone risks losing their crop in the fields because neighbor won't help neighbor to bring it in.I liked the cast chosen for the film. Janet Leigh has a fresh, young face in her very first film. She has such delicate features. It's amazing this is Leigh's first film. She seems quite relaxed and natural.The little boy, played by Dean Stockwell - you may recognize him as the crippled boy from "The Secret Garden". The father is played by Thomas Mitchell, who also played the dad in "Gone with the Wind", Gerald O'Hara. Van Johnson is charming as the stranger who wanders in one day - looking for work, shelter and a warm meal - but also has an ulterior motive. He's the right mix of rugged and muscular, mixed in with the boy-next-door approachability. His honest face helps him to pull off his character's purpose (I won't give it away). The mother, played by Selena Royle, is just the right mix of sadness and hope. She is bold to make the first move at the barn dance and asks one of the men from the "other side" to dance. The folk songs are infectious, toe-tapping melodies.The movie is full of homespun sayings like my grandmother used to say: right as rain, tighter than a gopher hole, wipe the vinegar off your face, "my hunger's powerful enough to lift the lid off the pot",etc. I like the depiction of the sparse and harsh life shown in the film. The location shootings, combined with the sets, create the perfect atmosphere for recreating a bygone era.It's funny when they discuss having a "play" party (a dance where music is played). When it's mentioned to invite everyone from BOTH SIDES in the community, the father says "You can't go mixin' britches!". Hilarious! My favorite part of the movie is the twist at the end- when there is a fork in the road (Liberty Road), and the truth is revealed. I won't give it away. Some will find it very cliché and a little too obvious. But I liked the use of the fork and what it ended up meaning in the movie.This was very good story telling, matched with a more than capable cast and adequate cinematography. I don't think you will be disappointed!

Discovered this Classic Film from 1947 playing on TCM and was very curious about just what this story would present and who was starring in this picture. It was surprising to see Van Johnson in the starring role as Henry Carson and veteran character actor Thomas Mitchell,(Gill MacBean. Janet Leigh was so young looking I hardly recognized her playing the role as a daughter to Gill MacBean, named Lessy Anne MacBean. This was the very first picture that Janet Leigh appeared in and she was very polished and professional even in her first important role of her career. The story deals with the ending of the Civil-War between the North and South and there were strong feelings still among the people in the South and Northerner's who traveled in their communities. Gill MacBean was not very thrilled about having Henry Carson getting too close to his daughter in a romantic way of speaking. Henry Carson wanted to establish a school in the local community and finding acceptance was very difficult for him to establish. There was a very deep secret that Henry Carson kept to himself about their son who was killed in the Civil War. There is Comedy, Drama and Romance and plenty of outstanding acting in this great Classic Film, Enjoy.

Another reviewer claims this is a romantic musical comedy, not a drama--I beg to differ. There are songs, to illustrate the folksy ways of the Missourians, and there are a few laughs, and there is a romance, but it's difficult to class anything that includes montages of barn-burnings committed by hooded men on horseback as a musical comedy.It's a film worth watching, though, as a post-WW2 look at the post-Civil War era, and how difficult it can be to cool off the high-burning passions of wartime. Johnson plays a vet who wanders into a small Missouri town still smarting with North-South divisions. It's an interesting story, incorporating unusually pointed comments about racial equality; the screenwriter, Lester Cole, was later blacklisted as a member of the Hollywood Ten.The cast is incredibly engaging, from the dewy new starlet Janet Leigh (who got this part after just three weeks in Hollywood!), to the indescribably adorable young Dean Stockwell, to the complex Thomas Mitchell, to the wonderful character actress Selena Royle, playing Leigh's mother with beautiful emotional range.This definitely falls into the category of the sort of social-issue picture (like Gentleman's Agreement or Paths of Glory) that led to the blacklisting of so many screenwriters. That alone makes it worth the viewing; the cast will just ice the cake.