
103 minutes
2/11/1938
This is a story about family relationships, set in the time before and during the American Civil War. Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm. It is a rich story about striving for excellence, the tension of father-son rebellion, and the love of a mother that can never die.

Walter Huston
as Ethan Wilkins

James Stewart
as Jason Wilkins

Beulah Bondi
as Mary Wilkins

Gene Reynolds
as Jason Wilkins as a Child

Guy Kibbee
as George Ames

Charles Coburn
as Dr. Charles Shingle

John Carradine
as President Lincoln

Ann Rutherford
as Annie Hawks

Leatrice Joy Gilbert
as Annie Hawks as a Child

Charley Grapewin
as Jim Meeker

Leona Roberts
as Sister Clarke

Gene Lockhart
as Quid

Clem Bevans
as Elder Massey

Arthur Aylesworth
as Rufus Inchpin

Sterling Holloway
as Chauncey Ames
Charles Peck
as Chauncey Ames as a Child

Robert McWade
as Dr. Lupus Crumm

Minor Watson
as Captain Griggs

Ward Bond
as Lout Laughing in Church (uncredited)

Frank McGlynn Jr.
as Lout Laughing in Church (uncredited)