Main Cast: Brandon de Wilde, Lee Marvin, Gary Merrill, Paul Ford, Mary Hosford
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
Plot
Missouri Traveler was one of a handful of independent films distributed by Disney's Buena Vista corporation. Brandon De Wilde heads the cast as 15-year-old orphan boy Biarn Turner. Doing his best to survive in the rural South of the pre-WW1 years, Biarn is unofficially adopted by crusty small-town newspaper editor Doyle Magee (Gary Merrill). Also taking an interest in Biarn's future is wealthy self-made farmer Tobias Brown (Lee Marvin), whose apparently cruel treatment of the boy masks his genuine affection and concern. Highlights include an annual trotting race and a climactic set-to between Magee and Brown. The Missouri Traveller is based on the novel by John Burress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A passable but not exceptional little family film, The Missouri Traveler probably holds the most interest for parents looking for an appropriate film that their children haven't seen many times over. As with the very differently-toned Pollyanna, Traveler looks at the effect upon a small community of a orphan child that comes to dwell in its midst. But if Traveler is bent on teaching a slightly weightier lesson, it still shares the other film's ability to create an interesting slice of small town Americana, circa 1900 or thereabouts (if one not as picture postcard perfect as Pollyanna's). The story moves with some fits and starts, and Jerry Hopper's direction could have used a bit more push and imagination, but the whole thing is certainly worthwhile. It's helped enormously by its cast, with another professional turn from Brandon de Wilde, a gruff and stern one from Lee Marvin and a very enjoyable supporting one from Paul Ford. Gary Merrill,as is usually the case, is a bit of a weak link, but he doesn't seriously damage things. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Ken Curtis - Fred Mueller; Frank Cady - Willie Poole; Mary Field - Nelda Hamilton; Kathleen Freeman - Serena Poole; Will Wright - Sheriff Peavy; Barry Curtis - Jimmy Price; Eddie Little - Red Poole; Rodney Bell - Herb Davis; Helen Brown - Hattie Neely; Earl Hodgins - Old Sharecropper; Roy Jenson - Simpson; William Newell - Pos Neely
Credit
Jack Okey - Art Director, C. Frank Beetson, Jr. - Costume Designer, Ann Peck - Costume Designer, Jerry Hopper - Director, Tom McAdoo - Editor, Jack Marshall - Composer (Music Score), Winton Hoch - Cinematographer, Patrick Ford - Producer, Norman Hall - Screenwriter, John Burress - Book Author
