Will Rogers
Judge William 'Billy' Priest
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Synopsis
In a Kentucky town, a widowed judge tempers courtroom procedure with humour and sympathy. A young lawyer's romance and a townsman's concealed past bring social standing, family pressure and public judgment into conflict. Judge Priest tries to keep human understanding alive in a community that can be quick to condemn.
Cast
DirectorsJohn Ford
Historical context
John Ford drew on Irvin S. Cobb's Kentucky stories, with Will Rogers as the central figure. The film's nostalgia for post-Reconstruction life coexists with racial stereotypes and hierarchies that require historical perspective. Ford later returned to related material in The Sun Shines Bright.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Will Rogers — Melbourne Spurr · Public domain
- Tom Brown — film screenshot (Fox Film Corporation) · Public domain
- Anita Louise — Max Munn Autrey · Public domain
- Henry B. Walthall — Tower Magazines, Inc., photographer unknown · Public domain
