The Little Minister ( 1934 )

Margaret Perry is hosting The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon which kicked off on May 9th and we at Silver Scenes could not resist joining in on celebrating one of the greatest actresses to ever grace the silver screen. Our contribution to the event - The Little Minister - came out of the 1930s, one of Hepburn's busiest decades as an actress. 

The Little Minister is a charming film about a recently ordained minister (John Beal) of a small Scottish village who gets rebuffed by his congregation when he falls in love with a wild gypsy girl (Katharine Hepburn). At first, he wins the respect of the townsfolk when he stands up against the town bully Rob Dow (Alan Hale). Dow is the leader of the village weavers who are planning a rebellion against their employer, Lord Rintoul (Frank Convoy), who has cut their salary. But, when the minister brazenly associates with the sprightly gypsy of the woods, Babbie, and announces his plans to marry her, he is practically tarred and feathered before it is found out that she is really the illustrious Lady Babbie, ward to Lord Rintoul, in disguise. 

Sir James M.Barrie's whimsical tale "The Little Minister" was beloved by the masses since its first publication as a novel in 1891. The famous American stage star Maude Adams made the play a huge success both in England and America. In 1921, both Paramount and Vitagraph released film versions of The Little Minister starring Betty Compson and Alice Calhoun, respectively. 

Katharine Hepburn had always adored Maude Adams and when she heard that RKO was planning to make The Little Minister a major production with Ginger Rogers in the lead role, she was anxious to secure the part of Lady Babbie herself. Pandro S. Berman, the head of RKO, was more than happy to cast her in the role, hoping to restore her to her star status after the dismal failure of her previous film, Spitfire. 

The husband and wife team of Victor Heerman and Sarah Y. Mason were brought in to weave a screenplay that would parallel their Oscar-winning script of 1933 - Little Women. In fact, most of the production team of Little Women were reunited for The Little Minister, which RKO lavishly bestowed with a $648,000 budget. It was the studio's most expensive production of the year and was released as their Christmas gift to the nation. Berman was secretly hoping for a major success but alack and alas, the film did not regain its expenses. Even though it brought in respectable business, it lost $9000. 

Katharine Hepburn considered her portrayal of Babbie as a "rather fancy performance" years later, looking back on the film. The role of Babbie called for a girl with an almost other-worldly elfin quality and "I think I'm probably just too down-to-earth for that" Hepburn admitted. 

George Cukor, one of Hepburn's favorite directors, was busy making David Copperfield over at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and could not be called upon to take the helm of The Little Minister. In his place, Richard Wallace (The Shopworn Angel, Sinbad the Sailor) did a marvelous job. 

The film itself is an enchanting fantasy and from its opening scenes lures the audience into the picturesque village of Thrums. Max Steiner's lovely score, which incorporates old and familiar Scottish tunes, carries our hearts into the highland while RKO's resident wizard of design, Van Nest Poglase and Carroll Clark, lend the film a total sense of authenticity by way of their meticulous set designs. No expense was spared in making The Little Minister the high-class production that it was. In addition to the leading actors, Donald Crisp, Lumsden Hare, Andy Clyde, Dorothy Stickney, Reginald Denny, Eily Malyon, and Mary Gordon also starred.