The Sun Shines Bright

Directed by JOHN FORD

Starring CHARLES WINNINGER, ARLEEN WHELAN, JOHN RUSSELL

Blu-ray

Released 24 JAN

As far as John Ford’s films go, is a humble, sentimental film, though it is nevertheless very affecting. Cobbled together from several newspaper serials that Irvin S. Cobb wrote around the turn of the century, is made up of an assortment of minor stories that build cumulatively through to a more dramatic finale. Charles Winninger plays William Priest who is running to remain the judge of Fairfield, Kentucky, and encounters a series of situations that call upon him to choose between the correct and moral course of action and the one that would ensure re-election. In each instance, he follows a virtuous path, breaking up a fight before it turns nasty, accosting a mob to prevent a lynching, and attending the funeral procession of a fallen lady.