mark.waltz Roseanna McCoy (Joan Evans) has come of age to attract boys, and her over-protective family is determined to make sure she stays virtuous. Papa Raymond Massey and mama Aline MacMahon are God-fearing country folk whose feud with the no-good Hatfields goes back generations. When Roseanna meets Johnse Hatfield (Farley Granger), the son of Pa McCoy's worst enemy (Charles Bickford), he bewitches her like Heathcliff did Cathy in "Wuthering Heights". Sucking out the poison in Roseanna from the sting of a hornet, Johnse finds he can't release her from his soul, and no matter how she fights, he is now in her soul as well. Johnse takes her to meet his parents, and while Bickford isn't at all in favor of a Hatfield/McCoy romance, ma Hope Emerson (the year before she got hisses as the nasty matron in "Caged") is little more receptive, even though she tries to hide it. Johnse is determined to prove to the McCoys that he doesn't have the killer instinct they assume all the Hatfields have, but once one of the nastier Hatfields (played by Richard Basehart) shoots Roseanna's younger brother (Marshall Thompson), the war is back on.This is an attractive film to look at, extremely well acted by a bunch of pros, yet there is little explanation to convince me why these two families hate everybody in the other family with such vengeance. The ending, too (SPOILER ALERT), had me cold, as a sense of good will comes out of nowhere. I don't think in real life, such peace would erupt so quickly out of violence, although there may be some cheering for the way one of the film's villains is dealt with. I longed for a reunion between the matriarch and patriarch of each of the clans, to give further detail to why these families are so reluctant to declare a truce, but they never appear together, except in different shots of the fathers during the final battle.

wes-connors Out picking flowers, pretty Joan Evans (as Roseanna McCoy) gets stung by not only a hornet, but also handsome Farley Granger (as Johnse Hatfield). Guess you could call it love at first bite. Of course, their feudin' families ("The Hatfields and the McCoys") are against the young duo getting hitched... The meeting of the hillbilly "Romeo and Juliet" is one of the couple's few good scenes, with Mr. Granger leaping to Ms. Evans' aid, and sucking insect poison from her arm. The original casting idea, to star Cathy O'Donnell from Granger's "They Live by Night" (1948), might have worked. Richard Basehart (as Mounts Hatfield) easily goes to the head of a strong supporting cast. Little Peter Miles (as Randall McCoy) has a memorable shooting scene. And, many of the locations, by Lee Garmes, are beautiful.***** Roseanna McCoy (8/18/49) Irving Reis ~ Joan Evans, Farley Granger, Richard Basehart, Peter Miles

dollpenguin I really expected to like Roseanna McCoy because it had a really good premise and fine actors. Unfortunately, the way the characters were developed left much to be desired. Johnse Hatfield is introduced as a stalker, which may have been acceptable in 1949. However, I have watched many movies from that era and the way Johnse behaved (supposedly)out of desire for her would never have been acceptable.Johnse's actions concerning Roseanna McCoy may have been begrudgingly tolerated after a long courtship. But from his first several meetings with her, it is made clear that Johnse is a loathsome and dumb, albeit handsome, brute. I understood Roseanna McCoy was supposed to be extremely naive, but some of the ridiculous choices she made left me wanting to see bad things happen to her. It did not seem like Roseanna cared about anything or anyone, including herself.The lovers' families were feuding just like in Romeo and Juliet, but that is where the similarities end. Johnse was certainly no Romeo and Roseanna was definitely not Juliette. The love story seemed very forced, and not just because Johnse takes what he wants, world be damned. In the third act, the movie tries to create sympathy for the two characters but it is far too late. Johnse and Roseanna were the two characters I cared about least in the movie.As other reviewers have stated, the cinematography was excellent in Roseanna McCoy. I just wish the rest of the film had been as fine as the camera-work.

rfkeser For this big, classy production, Sam Goldwyn transposed the Capulet/Montague conflict to the Hatfield/McCoy story. John Collier concocted a quirky screenplay with eccentric details of mountain magic, as well as some droll humor at the expense of the rustics ["Don't talk with your knife in your mouth!"] These efforts sink under the ploddingly literal direction of Irving Reis and the disastrous casting of Joan Evans in the title role [only marginally competent even as an ingenue]. Farley Granger has the appropriate dash for Romeo, but seems too squeaky clean for the squalid Hatfield family. It's still interesting for the exceptionally fine supporting cast and the graceful location camerawork of old master Lee Garmes.