I recorded this film from TCM to watch at my leisure, and that's what I did--watched it over three sittings. The lead role (Frederic March, whom I like) was a pompous, ornery, overbearing preacher. His character seemed to move around a lot in his early years, but the reasons for his moves wasn't very clear: Did his congregations get tired of him? Did he have wanderlust? Did his denomination's hierarchy think he was the right person for a new challenge (a la Bing Crosby in Going My Way)?
Even though the bulk of the film occurred over less than 20 years (based on the ages of his children and historical events), both the preacher AND his wife seemed to age at a much faster rate than their chronological ages would attest to (but it was the early 20th century, so maybe people did turn gray at 40, which is what happened to the wife).
Near the end of the film, as the lead character was the minister of a church in Denver, he had an opportunity to move to a church in California. He and his wife visited the church and loved both it and the parsonage--but, in consultation with his wife inside the California church, he decided not to accept the offer. Then, once his new church in Denver WAS built, he accepted a position in Iowa (from which they'd moved several years earlier) WITHOUT consulting his wife, which was more the rule than the exception.
I just read that this film was nominated for a best picture Oscar; that was a huge error: the main character wasn't as much a Christian as he was a schemer--with the wife, with his congregations, and with the church counsels to which he answered.
Even though the bulk of the film occurred over less than 20 years (based on the ages of his children and historical events), both the preacher AND his wife seemed to age at a much faster rate than their chronological ages would attest to (but it was the early 20th century, so maybe people did turn gray at 40, which is what happened to the wife).
Near the end of the film, as the lead character was the minister of a church in Denver, he had an opportunity to move to a church in California. He and his wife visited the church and loved both it and the parsonage--but, in consultation with his wife inside the California church, he decided not to accept the offer. Then, once his new church in Denver WAS built, he accepted a position in Iowa (from which they'd moved several years earlier) WITHOUT consulting his wife, which was more the rule than the exception.
I just read that this film was nominated for a best picture Oscar; that was a huge error: the main character wasn't as much a Christian as he was a schemer--with the wife, with his congregations, and with the church counsels to which he answered.