Stars in My Crown

Always upstanding but never a major star, Joel McCrea gives another sterling performance as the new parson appointed to a small southern town after the American Civil War. He proves to be made of stern stuff as he encounters epidemics and the menace of the Ku Klux Klan, while shattering the superstitious illusions of the populace. Director Jacques Tourneur was better known for eerie horrors (Cat People) and brooding films noirs (Build My Gallows High), but he neatly blends genre convention with period nostalgia to explore themes rarely tackled in the average B-western. Among the supporting cast were Amanda Blake and James Arness who would later co-star in TV's long-running series, Gunsmoke.