Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm.Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm.Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBeulah Bondi portrayed James Stewart's mother five times: In It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Of Human Hearts (1938) and Vivacious Lady (1938), and once on his television series, The Jimmy Stewart Show (1971).
- GoofsWhen James is told he can't have the magazines and sees they are going to Mr. Ame's son, he turns away to leave the room twice in successive shots.
- Quotes
Rev. Ethan Wilkins: We thank Thee, Father, for this and all Thy bounties. Teach us to avoid the pitfalls of prejudice, pride, and vanity. Make us thoughtful of the weak, the sick, the needy, and the unfortunate, and make our humble lives a reflection of Thy goodness. We ask these things in Thy name. Amen.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Yankee Doodle Goes to Town (1939)
- SoundtracksOnward Christian Soldiers
(1871) (uncredited)
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by Sabine Baring-Gould (1865)
Played during the opening credits
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This MGM film starts off as melodrama then moves to soap opera before eventually crashing as something completely cornball. Thankfully we have a terrific cast delivering fine performances or else this thing wouldn't work at all. It tells the story of a preacher (Walter Huston) who is constantly battling his son (James Stewart as adult, Gene Reynolds as child) who eventually wants to go in a different direction and become a doctor. The son goes off to medical school and constantly has to write home asking his poor mother (Beulah Bondi) for money and never really giving her the time or credit she deserves for her sacrifice. OF HUMAN HEARTS offers up a terrific cast but the story turns so incredibly cornball during the final fifteen-minutes that you can't help but throw your hands up in the air and wonder what the studio, writer and director were thinking. This is certainly far from a bad movie but this is due to the terrific cast including Huston who turns in another strong performance. He plays the part in the typical Huston fashion, which means integrity and stern. Stewart is also very good in his part as he manages to really make you believe how naive and rather stupid his character is when it comes to what his mother is doing for him. Reynolds plays the part as a child and he too is wonderful and works extremely well with Huston as the two are constantly going against one another. Bondi deserved her Oscar-nomination as her role doesn't feature too many lines but we get to know everything we should by her simple body movements and some extremely strong work with her eyes, which tells so much. The supporting cast includes good bits by Guy Kibbee as a cheap store owner, Gene Lockhart as a janitor, Ann Rutherford as Stewart's girlfriend and Charles Coburn as the town doctor/drunk. One of the best performances in the film comes from John Carradine who is only here for about four-minutes as he plays President Lincoln. The performance by Carradine is very striking because of how he plays the part. The actor comes off incredibly strong and you can't help but feel as if you're watching a real president. I was really shocked at how close Carradine looked like Lincoln so you have to give the make-up department a lot of credit. However, this scene is extremely bad as Lincoln calls Stewart in from the Civil War to jump on him for not writing to his mother!! This scene is so incredibly bad and it leads to an even worse conclusion that you can't help but wish Carradine had gotten a separate movie where he could have played this part. It also doesn't help that the screenplay doesn't make the preacher or the son characters you really care about because both of them seem way too self-centered. With that said, if you're a fan of any of the cast members then you might want to check this out but sadly it's yet another MGM that contains way too much sugar for its own good.
- Michael_Elliott
- Apr 25, 2011
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1