Tripti Joshi (Editor)

The Lawton Story

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
6
/
10
1
Votes
Alchetron
6
1 Ratings
100
90
80
70
61
50
40
30
20
10
Rate This

Rate This

Country
  
United States

5.8/10
IMDb

Language
  
English

Director
  
William Beaudine Harold Daniels

Writer
  
Mildred Horn
,
A. Mark Wallock

Release date
  
1948 (1948)

Prince of peace aka the lawton story down home jesus clip


The Lawton Story of "The Prince of Peace", also known as The Lawton Story and The Prince of Peace, is a religious-themed film that later made the roadshow rounds presented by exploitation pioneer Kroger Babb. Shot in Cinecolor in 1948, based on an annual passion play created in Lawton, Oklahoma, it was presented in various forms through the years following its debut. The film also served as the debut film of child actress Ginger Prince, who was touted as her generation's Shirley Temple.

Contents

Plot and production

The film's story revolves around a six-year-old girl (Prince) who becomes the positive influence in her town of Lawton. The girl, who lives with her grandfather in a small house, successfully convinces her great-uncle, a ruthless mortgage lender, to see the performance of a passion play in Lawton. The uncle is moved by the performance and changes his greedy and sinful ways. The scenes with Prince, filmed over a six-day period by William Beaudine in Lawton, were interspersed with scenes from nearly four hours of footage of the real-life residents of Lawton in their annual Easter Sunday performance of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

It was marketed in a manner similar to other roadshow-style film productions, such as Mom and Dad. Promoters of the film often sold Bibles and faith pamphlets following screenings to capitalize on the religious element, often with a lecture during intermission. Kroger Babb had no issue with his attempts at making money off the religious topic, saying that "It's no sin to make a profit."

Babb attempted to introduce Prince in this film as a replacement for aging child star Shirley Temple. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Prince was given four musical numbers in the production, and featured prominently in the film's advertising and promotion, which referred to her as "42 inches and 42 pounds of Southern Charm" and, in reference to a sensational bathing scene with Prince, "soap washes off dirt, but only God can wash away your sins."

Reception

Even with new, professionally filmed segments, quality of the film was considered so poor—for example, telephone poles could be seen behind the crucifix—that, upon release, it was described as "the only film that had to be dubbed from English to English." It would be recut and redubbed several times, before eventually opening in Lawton to a respectable crowd, and, while it failed to be a hit, the film's run in New York City was so successful that the New York Daily News called it "the Miracle of Broadway."

Other reviews were not as glowing, however. Variety, in a review, specifically criticized Prince's performance in the film, saying the movie would have been better "had not producers seen fit to drag in a crass, commercial showcasing of a precocious moppet, apparently in an attempt to strike a broader popular market."

Cast

  • Ginger Prince - Ginger
  • Forrest Taylor - Mark Wallock (Ginger's grandfather)
  • Millard Coody - Himself/Jesus
  • Ferris Taylor - Uncle Jonathan Wallock
  • Gwynne Shipman (credited as Gwyn Shipman) - Jane (Ginger's Mother)
  • Darlene Bridges - Herself/Virgin Mary
  • Maude Eburne - Henrietta
  • Willa Pearl Curtis - Willa Pearl
  • Raymond Largay (credited as Ray Largay) - Dr. Martin
  • A.S. Fischer - Himself/Simon Peter
  • Hazel Lee Becker - Herself/Mary Magdalene
  • William Ruhl - Mr. Nelson
  • Russ Whiteman - Mr. Cole
  • Knox Manning - Narrator
  • References

    The Lawton Story Wikipedia
    The Lawton Story IMDb