OVERLOOKED FILM: TOL'ABLE DAVID (1921 and 1930)

Tol'able David is an acclaimed 1921 silent film, which won the 1921 Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor and which was selected in 2007 for the National Film Registry.  It starred Richard Barthelmess, Gladys Hulette, Walter P. Lewis, 

A 1930 remake starred Richard Cromwell, who was born LeRoy Melvin Radabaugh; with no previous professional experience, he tried out for this role and was chosen out of thousands of applicants and was given his new stage name by Columbia mogul Harry Cohn.  Cromwell went on to be featured in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The Road Back, Jezebel, and Young Mr. Lincoln, among others.  He was briefly married to a young Angela Lansbury.

Joining Cromwell in  the remake of Tol'able David were Noah Beery, Joan Peers, Henry B. Walthall, Tom Keene, and James Bradbury.  Far down on the list of credits was an actor billed as Peter Richmond, who was actually John Carradine in his first credited movie role; the "Peter Richmond" name was a holdover from his stage career and was adopted as a homage to Carradine's uncle.  Carradine was one of the most prolific actors of the Twentieth century, with 353 IMDb credits.  F. Gwynplaine Macintyre notes that Carradine plays "a hillbilly named Buzzard, giving precisely the performance you'd expect to see from John Carradine as a hillbilly named buzzard."  Carradine doesn't disappoint here, but nor does he surprise."

David Kinemon (Barthelmess, '21; Cromwell, '30), son of a West Virginia tenant farmer, longs to b e treated like a man, but is constantly reminded that he is still a boy, "tol'able" enough,  but not a man.  Then outlaw Iscah Hatburn (Walter P. Lewis, '21; Harlan Knight, '30)  and his two sons, Luke (Ernest Torrence, '21; Warner Richmond, '30) and "Little Buzzard" (Ralph Yearsley, '21; John Carradine, '30) move into the neighboring Harburn farm.   David is sweet on Hatburn's granddaughter Esther  (Gladys Hulette, '21; Joan Peers, '30) , who warns him not to interfere.  Then the Harburns kill David's pet dog (Lassie, '21; uncredited, '30) and cripple his brother (Warner Richmond, '21; Tom Keene, '30) .  David's father (Edward Gurney, '21; Edmund Breese, '30) was about to face the Hatburns but suffered a fatal heart attack.  David's family loses their tenancy and he has a hard time finding work, but eventually gets his brother's old job delivering mail.  A showdown with the Hatburns ends up with David being shot.  in a gun battle with the Hatburns he comes out victorious, no longer "Tol'able David," but a man deserving of respect.

The film (both versions) was produced and directed by Henry King.  King and screenwriter Edmond Goulding produced the screenplays for both versions, based on Joseph Hergesheimer's 1917 short story.  Despite having the same talents behind the cameras, the 1930 film is considered a poor shadow of the original film.

The 1930 version of the film is not available online, but the 1921 silent is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkxEWjUrxbA