“Twilight On The Trail” was a hit over the years for a number of artists, including Bing Crosby, The Sons Of The Pioneers, Perry Como and Nat King Cole. With Big Bear, California locales standing in for Kentucky, running 102 minutes, the film was a success, grossing some $1,700,000, and also features Fred Stone, Beulah Bondi, Robert Barrat, Spanky McFarland and Nigel Bruce. published this great romantic novel of the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky and Virginia in 1908, and the book quickly became one of Americas favorites. Another song used, “Melody From The Sky”, drew an Oscar nomination. Fonda’s character is reputed to have been the inspiration for Al Capp’s ‘Lil’ Abner’. This resilient tale is also distinguished by character actor Fuzzy Knight’s touching rendition of the great “Twilight On The Trail”.
The leads are Fred MacMurray and Sylvia Sydney, with one of young Henry Fonda’s first major parts (his 5th movie, after a year in the biz, age 31).
Beautifully photographed by Howard Green as the first outdoor Technicolor feature, in 1936 it must have been quite the visual breath-taker, and remains a rich looker today.Įxcellently directed by Henry Hathaway, acted with honesty and emotion by the entire cast.
It was a fascinating read in any event, from the beginning, where the two main characters, a young man and a little girl, accidentally meet by a huge pine tree. THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE is a good rural drama, a time-honored story of feuding Kentucky mountain families, and the young engineer who becomes embroiled in their battles. John Fox Jr’s 1908 novel, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine inspired a Broadway adaptation, numerous movies, an outdoor drama, and this 1913 song by Ballard M. The title of this novel, 'The Trail of the Lonesome Pine,' conjured up some memory of such a title from my past, I dont know in what context, but this is why I ordered it on my Kindle.