The Little Minister

The Little Minister is the third of J. M. Barrie's three "Thrums" novels (a fictional town based on his home of Kirriemuir), which first brought Barrie to fame. It was written in 1891, then adapted into a play in 1897. Four silent film versions were made, and a fifth "talky" was made in 1934 starring Katherine Hepburn.

Set in rural 1840s Scotland, the plot focuses on labor and class issues while telling the story of Gavin Dishart, a staid cleric newly assigned to Thrums' Auld Licht church, and Babbie, a member of the nobility who disguises herself as a gypsy girl in order to interact freely with the local villagers and protect them from her guardian, Lord Rintoul, who wants to keep them under his control. Initially the conservative Dishart is appalled by the feisty girl, but he soon comes to appreciate her inner goodness. Their romantic liaison scandalizes the townspeople, and the minister's position is jeopardized until Babbie's true identity is revealed.

Movie
Hepburn initially rejected the role of Babbie, then reconsidered, against the advice of her agent Leland Hayward, when Margaret Sullavan was offered the role. The film was budgeted at $650,000, which at the time was considered a high amount, and much of it was spent on exterior shooting in California's Sherwood Forest and Laurel Canyon and on the elaborate village set constructed on the RKO back lot. (It later was used in a number of films, including Laurel and Hardy's Bonnie Scotland).

The soundtrack includes the traditional Scottish tunes "The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond," "Comin' Thro' the Rye," and "House of Argyle." The 3-CD set Max Steiner: The RKO Years 1929-1936 includes ten tracks of incidental music Steiner composed for the film.


 * Katharine Hepburn as Babbie
 * John Beal as. Reverend Gavin Dishart
 * Alan Hale, Sr. as Rob Dow
 * Donald Crisp as Doctor McQueen
 * Lumsden Hare as Tammas Whammond
 * Andy Clyde as Wearyworld
 * Beryl Mercer as Mrs. Margaret Dishart
 * Billy Watson as Micah Dow
 * Dorothy Stickney as Jean Proctor
 * Mary Gordon as Nanny Webster
 * Frank Conroy as Lord Milford Rintoul
 * Eily Malyon as Lady Evalina Rintoul
 * Reginald Denny as Captain Halliwell

In his review in the New York Times, Andre Sennwald described the film as "a tender and lovingly arranged screen edition of Sir James's rueful little Scottish romance . . . in its mild-mannered and sober way, The Little Minister proves to be a photoplay of genuine charm." However the film ultimately lost $9,000 and contributed to Hepburn's reputation as "box office poison."