» Spencer's Mountain

Spencer's Mountain Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: So much better than the Waltons
Comment: OK.
There's nothing wrong with the Waltons. Sure they tended to get a little sappy. You could say the same for "Spencer's Mountain," but you'd be wrong.
Watching Henry Fonda and Maureen Ohara, you get the impression this is the family you wish you could have grown up in.
When grandma tells Clay-Boy "Aim for the stars," if you have dry eyes, it's because you either haven't paid attention or you don't have a heart.
This is a truly great movie.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Insulted
Comment: We like the actors in this movie, and anticipated enjoying a good, family movie. We kept hoping for substance, but only were subjected to inuendo and uncivilized conversation.Children tend to immitate what they see and hear. I don't think you'd be happy if your children immitated things in this movie. I'd like to tell you about the ending, but I couldn't put myself through the process of getting to it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good, Not Great
Comment: This is a good, solid "family values" movie which parents can watch with their children. It does have its sappy, unrealistic moments, but that is to be expected of a movie of this time period (1963). There is some good acting; probably Henry Fonda's most happy-go-lucky role ever. I doubt that I will watch it again, but it was worth seeing.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Earl Hamner's novel and this Henry Fonda film led to an iconic television series
Comment: I read the original novel by Earl Hamner Jr. soon after it was published in 1961, but I somehow missed the 1963 movie until now. This is a fine film, heartwarming in an old way without being cliched. It's easy to understand how it inspired "The Waltons" television series, which drew on the novel's characters and its portrayal of American values.

The transfer of the movie's setting from Appalachia to the Grand Tetons surprised this reader of the novel. James MacArthur was too old to play Clay-Boy. When I read the novel, I never imagined that Clay Spencer's wife Olivia looked like Maureen O'Hara. But these are the normal quibbles of a reader when Hollywood reworks literature.

A more substantive observation is that the novel gave more emphasis to Clay Spencer's self-identity as a landowner, even as he worked for wages at the quarry. This perhaps diminished the psychological punch of his sacrifice in selling the land at the end of the film.

The movie is carried by the sheer beauty of the Grand Tetons and by the power of Henry Fonda's memorable performance. He was made for the role.

-30-

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Importance of family
Comment: This film shows the importance of family, the closeness they hold over generations and the recognition of one son's desire to go further in his education than any of his forbears have been able to because of economic necessity to begin work young. It shows his family's determination to help him acheive his goal and find the financing to do so, even though they are very poor. It is a real feel good film.

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