The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (20th Century Fox) (1961)

CAST THE THRILLING ADVENTU (Y MOUNTAIN Ki CREDITS Jimmie Rodgers Directed by Chad Andrew McLaglen Screenplay Luana Patten Barre Lyndon Melissa Turner Produced by Chill Wills Maury Dexter Major Buford Director of Photography Floyd Crosby, A.S.C. Linda Hutchings Margaret Dean Supervising Film Editor Jodie Copelan, A.C.E. Robert Dix Caleb Turner Production Supervisor Harold E. Knox a last the beloved novel is on the screen in CINEMaScoPE an COLOR by DE LUXE George Kennedy Assistant Director Nathan Dillon Ira Stewart Set Decorator Shirley O’Hara Joseph Kish Mrs. Turner Wardrobe Ken Miller Clark Ross Reuben Makeup Hear Jimmie Sing: aoe © een | Jack Obringer “KINGDOM COME" and | TTI ol Hess wenoes=Se) MIME RODGERS LUANA PATTEN CHILL WILLS General Dean ae Cosstarzing Produced by Directed by Screenplay by Music LINDA HUTCHINGS.. MAURY DEXTER «ANDREW D. MCLAGLENBARRE LYNDON Henry Vars a ee oe Lois January Based on the novel by John Fox, Jr. A CinemaScope DeLuxe Color Picture MAT—304 Released through Twentieth Century Mrs. Dean 132 lines x 3 cols. (396 lines) Fox Film Corporation. 3 cols. x 912 inches SYNOPSIS (Not For Publication) Chad (JIMMIE RODGERS), the “Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come,” is a Kentucky Mountain boy in his late teens. His family has been wiped out by sickness and he is bound over to Nathan Dillon (GEORGE KENNEDY) to work out the family’s debts. He escapes with his dog, Luke, only to run into Dillon again in the small rural community of Kingdom Come, where he is rescued by Caleb Turner (ROBERT DIX), blacksmith and schoolmaster, and taken to live at the Turner home. : Chad gets along very well with Mr. and Mrs. Caleb Turner (SHIRLEY O'HARA) , their younger son, Reuben (KEN MILLER), and their pretty teenage daughter, Melissa (LUANA PATTEN). While learning about farming he is at given school work by Caleb, who imbues the boy with a desire to go to college. When it comes time to float logs down the river from Kingdom Come to Lexington, Chad goes along with the idea of entering college. In Lexington he bids $5.00 for a thoroughbred horse at an auction, and attracts the attention of Major Buford (CHILL WILLS), a wealthy widower, who suggests that the boy stay at his home while going to school. Buford soon begins to look upon Chad as a son, enters him at Fayette College and sponsors him with the local gentry. Although busy attending college and carrying the mail for income, Chad falls in love with Margaret (LINDA HUTCHINGS) , daughter of General (NEIL HAMILTON) and Mrs. Dean (LOIS JANUARY), neighbors of the Bufords. News of the outbreak of the War Between the States comes during a ball at Buford’s home. After the guests have left Chad painfully tells the Major that it is his decision to go with the North. Chad joins Caleb Turner and enlists in the Union Army where he is put to work riding dispatches. He returns briefly to Kingdom Come to see Melissa, since he is naturally estranged from the Dean family owing to his choice. Returning from Kingdom Come he is ambushed by Nathan Dillon, now a cutthroat guerilla, and kills Dillon’s son while escaping. Returning to his company, he moves South and the Union forces retake Lexington. Chad’s next assignment is to cut off the Southern forces near Kingdom Come where he finds himself fighting a group under the command of Major Buford. Both the Major and Chad are wounded and Caleb is killed. After the Major and Chad have made their peace Buford dies. Chad and Melissa return to the scene of the battle after the war and place a joint tombstone over the graves of Caleb and Buford on it is engraved the legend: “Every man on both sides was in the right who did his duty.”