r-flavin In all honesty I don't think id watch this film again. There wasn't really anything specific that i enjoyed about it and just like a few of the townspeople involved in this story I felt as if the idea of pushing religion on people was a bit off throughout the film. The Parsons played by Joel McCrea was a decent character a cowboy gone priest that uses his words of wisdom instead of violent acts to solve issues around his town. He brings forth a touching story but It just wasn't my cup of tea per say. I did however enjoy the camera work and the way in which the film was shot in each scene to capture a specific emotion. The music wasn't too overbearing although overplayed and the voices of the actors made this film watchable because each character felt raw and natural. I wish that the story was more focused on the town itself instead of mostly the Parsons and the narrator the this story the young boy the Parsons takes in. Id like to see every side of the story to justify each character's actions besides the laws of the land that take place throughout the film involving events after the civil war. Id suggest this movie to someone who doesn't mind too much religious views in their films other than that this film was a good concept but it didn't fulfill what i had felt the movie was going to be about from the beginning.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) Seeing the names of Joel McCrea and the director Jacques Tourneur(together they made the excellent "Wichita"), I thought this would be a western. As a matter of fact there is one western scene where the parson (Joel McCRea) draws his two guns when they don't want to hear his sermon at the saloon. But mostly the film follows the style of those made for the whole family to see at a Sunday matinée. It is not that there is no sadness. Some people die from an epidemic fever, there is even an attack from a white hooded clan. But the conflicts are solved too fast to be really believable, in a hurry to give a positive feeling. But apart from that, this is a pleasant film to see, among its qualities a certain Mark Twain touch and the beautiful smile of Ellen Drew.

Neil Doyle STARS IN MY CROWN takes its time in setting up the pastoral story it tells about a small town preacher and his effect on a western town after the Civil War period. JOEL McCREA is perfect as the stalwart preacher who carries his gun into the town saloon to get attention for his sermon and finds it an effective way to get the men to listen.He also has to deal with a typhoid epidemic, conflict with the local doctor (JAMES MITCHELL), defending a dignified black man (JUANO HERNANDEZ), and caring for his adopted son (DEAN STOCKWELL). But director Jacques Tourneur takes his time in telling the tale, narrated in lazy fashion by MARSHALL THOMPSON who is supposed to be the grown-up version of Dean Stockwell's character.It spins dangerously close to cloying sentiment but never oversteps the bounds and is especially compelling when it shows how McCrea manages to dissuade a mob bent on violence with a clever way of defending Juano Hernandez from a lynching. It's this episode that makes the last portion of the story crackle with genuine suspense--although, in some respects, it's rather hard to believe how easily the mob is persuaded to drop the whole idea.Summing up: Earnest and heartwarming, it's a likable treat.Trivia note: Catch JAMES ARNESS and AMANDA BLAKE in the same film, before they became famous on "Gunsmoke."

MartinHafer STARS IN MY CROWN is a nice slice of life movie about the life about a country preacher in the years immediately following the Civil War. Joel McCrea plays the preacher and Dean Stockwell plays an orphan that is taken in by the preacher and his wife. However, the film isn't just about them but about the people in the town. It focuses quite a bit on a young and somewhat cocky doctor as well as a gentle and beloved Black man (played exceptionally by the wonderful character actor, Juano Hernandez).Both plots are exceptional--particularly the one involving Hernandez because the film dared in 1950 to attack prejudice--something Hollywood was seldom willing to do at that time. Often, when Blacks were in mainstream films, they were one-dimensional and the racial divide in America was ignored. For 1950, this was a brave film--though some will no doubt notice that the film is perhaps a bit overly idealistic in how it portrayed how the White Southerners generally loved Hernandez.The plot involving the doctor was also rather touching and had a lot to say about the supposed gap between faith and science. I particularly liked how McCrea AND the doctor struggled with this divide.STARS IN MY CROWN reminds me of another film that is also about a small town preacher (ONE FOOT IN HEAVEN) and both have a nice gentle spirit but also aren't preachy or saccharine despite being films about the clergy. I especially like how both ministers (in this case, Joel McCrea and in the other film, Frederic March) were human beings--not dull caricatures. Some may be offended because the films AREN'T really religious movies (you get no Gospel or Bible-thumping here) but for a general audience these films are sure to please. I recommend both heartily because they were written so well and the acting was on target. See these films.