Week Thirty-Three
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| "The Hoosier Schoolmaster" 1935 |
MOVIE NAME: THE HOOSIER SCHOOLMASTER
STUDIO: MONOGRAM PICTURES
PRODUCER: PAUL MALVERN
DIRECTOR: LEWIS D. COLLINS
DATE: 1935
TYPE: RURAL DRAMA
CAST:
NORMAN FOSTER as Ralph Hartsook , CHARLOTTE HENRY as Hannah, DOROTHY LIBAIRE as Martha Means, TOMMY BUPP, as Shocky,FRED KOHLER Jr. as Bud Larkin , OTIS HARLAN , as Squire Hawkins, WILLIAM V. MONG as Jake Means , RUSSELL SIMPSON as Doc Small, J.E. BERNARD as Randall, WALLACE REID Jr. as Hank, GEORGE HAYES as Pearson, SARAH PADDEN as Sarah
SOURCE: A F I, Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940
STORY: Ralph Hartsook, a Yankee Civil War veteran, joins other veterans seeking land in Indiana promised as compensation; however, when the group arrives in Flat Creek, they are told that there is no land and that they will have to move on. Although the townspeople will allow the veterans to stay on the outskirts of town for only few days, Ralph soon learns that Flat Creek needs a schoolmaster, and he is given the position. On the first day of school, Ralph is challenged by one of the adult students, Bud Larkin, and wins him over, thereby insuring that he will not face opposition from any of the others. Ralph rents a spare room in the home of Jake Means, whose daughter, Martha, is attracted to him and makes plans to win him over. Ralph, however, is interested in the Mean's bound servant girl Hannah, until he is informed by Larkin that she is committed to him. After discovering that the town's unrest has been caused by "nightriders" and the manipulation of land grants by crooked politicians, Ralph, at the request of veterans squatting on the outskirts of Flat Creek, writes to the Federal Government accusing Means, Doc Small and Squire Hawkins of illegally obtaining the lands that should have been given to the veterans. When Means, Small and Hawkins learn of the government's investigation, they make plans to discredit Ralph. After Ralph deliberately loses a spelling bee to Hannah, who mistrusts him because she thinks that he is in love with Martha, he is fired. Ralph prepares to leave town and sets up camp in an old barn, but Means, Small and Hawkins plot to kill him in order to eliminate any threat to their lands. Hannah, who comes to realize that Ralph can be trusted, follows him to the barn and announces that she and her brother shocky are running away from their servitude in the Means household. Ralph hides Hannah and Shockyfrom their pursuers, but the trio are discovered by a mob of townspeople who take them into custody and make plans to execute Ralph. After managing to escape, Shocky alerts the veterans who are still camping outside town, and in the subsequent battle, Larkin is killed. The veterans ultimately win the fight against the corrupt townspeople, and when the Adjunct General arrives from Indianpolis, he rules against Means, Small and Hawkins. Ralph regains his position as schoolmaster of Flat Creek and wins the love of Hannah.
Note: Grosset and Dunlap issued a special photoplay edition of the novel, by Edward Eggleson, with a dust jacket photograph depicting a scene from the film.
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