A mother from Arkansas is very possessive of her grown son. To prevent him from getting married she has him drafted into WW I.
Acting
Henrietta Crosman's volcanic mother from hell, 88 years old and terrifying.
Direction
Ford's experimental sound-era framing, already obsessed with faces in landscape.
Writing
Pre-Code dialogue that spares nobody, especially not mothers.
Director
John Ford
Henrietta Crosman
Mrs. Hannah Jessop
Heather Angel
Suzanne
Norman Foster
Jim 'Jimmy' Jessop (Hannah's son)
Lucille La Verne
Mrs. Kelly Hatfield
Maurice Murphy
Gary Worth
Marian Nixon
Mary Saunders
Robert Warwick
Maj. Albertson
Louise Carter
Mrs. Rogers
Betty Blythe
Janet Prescot
Francis Ford
Mayor Elmer Briggs
Charley Grapewin
Dad Saunders
Hedda Hopper
Mrs. Worth
Frances Rich
The Nurse
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ford shot this between 'The Informer' and 'Stagecoach'—his quiet period of experimenting with maternal figures before making mothers virtually disappear from his Westerns.
Pre-Code Hollywood could still punish mothers; after 1934, the Production Code demanded maternal sanctity, making Hannah's monstrosity virtually unrepeatable for decades.
US
