The Kate Smith Hour (TV Series) The Hound of Heaven (1953) User Reviews

John Carradine and James Dean in a warm hearted Earl Hamner tale

[kevinolzak · 9/10 · 28 July 2020]

THE KATE SMITH HOUR transitioned from radio to television in a late afternoon format at 4:00PM Eastern on NBC starting in 1950, and fortunately one of the live presentations to have survived features a pre-fame James Dean coupled with veteran scene stealer John Carradine in Earl Hamner's "The Hound of Heaven," short and sweet lasting only 9 minutes. The same story became Hamner's first script for THE TWILIGHT ZONE, 1962's "The Hunt," but the author much preferred Carradine as Hyder Simpson over Arthur Hunnicutt, a role greatly expanded to a full half hour and suffering a measure of padding in the process. A native of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, Hamner parlayed this early success into a series called THE WALTONS, for which he admitted that Will Geer's Grandpa Walton was first conceived here as Hyder Simpson. It was a traumatic experience from his childhood that inspired this tale of devotion, as his father spent days searching for a beloved dog that the old man himself had accidentally shot, and thus we have the 57 year old Simpson awakening with his possum hunting hound Rip by his side (so named for his rip snorting attitude), outside what appear to be the Pearly Gates where the gatekeeper (Edgar Stehli) takes notes on how the new arrival came to die. The last thing Simpson recalls is Rip following a scent in the dark before coming to a river, apparently a drowning death for both man and beast, yet only Hyder is allowed to pass through, poor Rip to be sent to a different resting place. This proves intolerable for Simpson, no matter how many loved ones he might wish to see again: "that'd just be a place of Hell without Rip!" Imagine his surprise when a messenger sporting angel's wings (James Dean) steers them both to a happy afterlife together in Heaven, having fortunately avoided the pitfalls of damnation due to one man's love for his pet: "that IS Hell...Rip would've warned you...once he got a whiff of that brimstone...a man, he'll walk right into Hell with both eyes open, but not even the Devil can fool a dog!" John Carradine was truly the perfect choice for the lead, having played Jeeter Lester in TOBACCO ROAD hundreds of times on stage, even starting his screen career in hillbilly roles in "Tol'able David" and "Heaven on Earth," and James Dean (referred to as 'Jimmy Dean' by Kate Smith) leaves quite an impression in such a brief part. Kate returns to call attention to the hound himself, a 6 year old beagle named Mike, whose performance must be considered a triumph for the unpredictability of live television, never barking, tail wagging, very much attached to his human costar, a lost gem now happily found.