As the movie is only loosely based on the homonymous novel by author Harold Bell Wright, I had ignored its original story line, and just watched it as a western drama with John Wayne, Betty Field, Harry Carey and Beulah Bondi, told by the director Hathaway and his screenwriters Stuart Anthony and Grover Jones.

I thought of different possible backstories. Here is one.

"Gunslinger Daniel Howitt (Harry Carey) falls head over heels in love with the delicate mountain flower Sarah Matthews. He decides to walk away from his past sinful life and build a new honest one with her."

"Marry a mountain girl, and you marry the whole mountain"

"Sarah fears the wrath of her family, especially her sister Molly, who would never accept outsider Daniel, so she keeps their relationship a secret."

"Daniel has mixed feelings when he hears that she is pregnant and rides away to think things over."

"Far away from the Ozark Mountains, he arrives in a small town, where he sees someone from his past. A man who had done him wrong and gotten away. Daniel had sworn to kill him when they ever meet again."

"There was the sound of two shots fired and only one man is left standing. Daniel is arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison."

"Sarah is left alone to fend for herself, not knowing what had happened to Daniel. Soon her family becomes aware of her situation. She is shamed and shunned by everyone."

"What will become of her and baby Matt?"

Side notes:

There seems to be a Shepherd of the Hills place near Branson, Missouri, with an Adventure Park and much more, like information about the author Harold Bell Wright, a farm, old Matt's cabin and shows.

• The Shepherd of the Hills Homestead.

• The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theater Documentary 1976.

• Shepherd Of The Hills Outdoor Drama: Branson's Original Show!!.

• Shepherd of the hills play.

I watched the movie last night for my first time (possibly watched it at some point during my growing-up or early adulthood years, but if so don't remember), on a cable t.v. channel that aired it in a 2-hrs. time slot with regular commercials breaks scattered throughout. As this movie, full theatrical release duration, is 98 mins., clearly the channel I watched it on made significant cuts to enable the aired film to fit in the 2-hrs. time slot.

I like and was easily interested enough in the movie and its good cast (including the several familiar supporting players of the '30s and '40s), and curious about what bits were edited out of the t.v. broadcast watched, so decided to seek out and purchase this on DVD, and look forward to when receiving the 2014 Universal Vault Series release in the coming days.

Hopefully at least a little more mention of details of Howitt's backstory is included in the complete 98 mins. film.

@wonder2wonder said:

As the movie is only loosely based on the homonymous novel by author Harold Bell Wright, I had ignored its original story line, and just watched it as a western drama..., told by the director Hathaway and his screenwriters Stuart Anthony and Grover Jones.

?

brat, I took that to mean "same-titled, but otherwise not [really] the same story, novel".

@wonder, was that what you were meaning? I must admit that homonymous is a word I've probably never in my life used.

Yes. I wrote my post quickly and didn't edit it to exclude certain words I use in my conversations. Although it is not a common adjective, you can find it also on other sites like IMDb and Wikipedia.

Another good write-up, genplant. Hope you're doing OK.