Summary
Set against the jagged, unforgiving topography of the Southern Appalachians, A Magdalene of the Hills is a searing depiction of the collision between ancestral blood feuds and the encroaching machinery of industrial capitalism. The narrative ignites when Herbert Grayson, a timber tycoon, erroneously accuses young mountaineer Len Mathis of arson, leading to a fatal pursuit that leaves Len dead and his kin—venerable John Mathis and the spirited Renie—sworn to a vendetta of lead and black powder. The arrival of Eric Southard, Grayson’s nephew tasked with acquiring the Mathis acreage, serves as the catalyst for a precarious romance born from a misunderstanding involving a punctured 'jitney' tire and a rifle shot. As Renie navigates the treacherous waters of forbidden love and the threat of a forced marriage to the boorish Bud Weaver, the plot descends into tragedy. A predatory assault by the foreman Peets results in his death at Renie’s hands, casting her into a judicial crucible where her illiteracy and the weight of the Grayson-Mathis feud threaten to condemn her. Ultimately, the film serves as a melodramatic examination of redemption, where the 'Magdalene' of the hills finds salvation not through penance, but through the dismantling of systemic prejudice and the reconciliation of warring factions.
Synopsis
Herbert Grayson has timber holdings in a Southern state. One of his mills is burned, and he accuses Len Mathis, a young mountaineer. In trying to avoid arrest Len is killed, and old John Mathis, his father, swears to shoot Grayson or any member of his family on sight. His young daughter, Renie, makes the same vow. Grayson is anxious to gain control of lands owned by Mathis, Grayson's nephew, Eric Southard, volunteers to effect the purchase. On his arrival, he telegraphs his uncle, disclosing his identity to the station-agent, who loses no time in telling the bystanders. Eric starts for the home of Peets, his uncle's foreman, in the village "jitney," as Renie, rifle in hand, is walking across the hills to Hibbitsville to get cartridges. One of the tires of the automobile bursts, and Renie, thinking the noise that of a gun, creeps behind Eric and the chauffeur, who are mending the tire, and makes them throw up their hands. When they explain that the tires contain wind, she shoots one in order to prove it, and while the chauffeur is repairing the damage she and Eric sit by the roadside. She learns in the village that Eric is Grayson's nephew, and goes to Peets' cabin to avenge her brother. Trying to shoot through the window, she misses Eric, who returns her fire, and slightly wounds her. He carries Renie home, and she tells her father she has been wounded by dropping her own gun. Eric and Renie fall in love. John Mathis has promised Renie's hand in marriage to Bud Weaver, as soon as he earns the necessary $100 with which to set up housekeeping. Eric writes to his uncle, refusing to further his schemes in the mountains. Eric is summoned to the Mexican border with the National Guard. He promises Renie to return for her. Bud Weaver demands his bride, and old John, true to his promise, sets a date for the wedding. Eric, stricken with typhoid fever, has been sent back to New York to recuperate, but Renie, unable to read or write, cannot communicate with him. The night before the wedding Renie tries to run away, and discovered by her father, has to tell him the reason. Old John gives her her rifle and shows her the door. Renie goes to Peets' cabin to try to learn news of Eric, and Peets takes advantage of her loneliness. In the ensuing struggle, Renie's gun is fired, and Peets is killed. Some men who are passing break into the cabin and Renie is arrested charged with murder. In a New York hospital Eric is convalescent. He learns that Renie has shot Peets and that her trial will be held in a few days. Eric hurries to Hibbitsville and plans her defense. At the trial, the feud between the Grayson and the Mathis factions is brought out, making the case against Renie look serious, but Eric appeals to the sympathies of the mountaineers in her behalf, and the jury returns a verdict of "not guilty." Eric and Renie are married, and Grayson, having come to a realization of the needs of the mountaineers, begins a new regime of helpfulness among the hills.
Review Excerpt
"In the nascent years of American cinema, the Southern Highlands frequently served as a canvas for explorations of 'the other'—a place where the rigid structures of civilization dissolved into the mist of the Blue Ridge. A Magdalene of the Hills (1917) stands as a formidable artifact of this era, a celluloid intersection where the burgeoning industrial age collides with the iron-clad codes of mountain honor. Directed by John W. Noble and penned by the visionary June Mathis, the film offers more t..."
