"Spencer's Mountain" is an enjoyable family drama with touches of humor throughout. The outdoor scenery is spectacular. The film was shot in Grand Teton National Park, around Jackson Hole, WY, and in California. The movie is based on a 1961 novel of the same title, by Earl Hamner Jr. Some of the characters and experiences in the film are from his background, growing up near the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia during the Great Depression.

Hamner would write another novel in 1970 that further expands on his boyhood growing up as the oldest child in a large family. That book, "The Homecoming: A Novel About Spencer's Mountain," led to the 1971 movie by the same title that in turn spawned the nine-year TV series, "The Waltons."

I don't know why this film was set in Wyoming instead of Virginia, but the expansive shots of the scenery could be one reason. By the middle 20th century, it would have been hard to find shots like that in Virginia that didn't show much more modern development. "The Homecoming" was also shot in Wyoming in 1971, although the story was clearly set in Virginia.

Many people who watched the later film and then the Waltons on TV (1972- 81) didn't know that this movie was part of Hamner's story of Walton's Mountain as well.

The cast of "Spencer's Mountain' is very good. Henry Fonda excelled as Clay Spencer. Another reviewer commented about the types of role he played, and I agree that Fonda was best with this type of role. He also was good with dramatic roles, but he didn't have the stuff for comedy. He was mildly OK in a couple that he made, but not too good in the others. That's probably why he made so few comedies. His forte in Westerns was as the bad guy.

Maureen O'Hara is wonderful as Olivia Spencer and James MacArthur plays Clayboy. That's the role that Richard Thomas had in the later film and the series as John-Boy. The rest of the cast are all quite good.

This is a somewhat different story than what Hamner writes for the Waltons. The special home that Clay starts to build for Olivia, and then the fire that destroys it. It's an interesting and entertaining movie that most should enjoy.

My above comment is alluding to the overall blandness of the film. It isn't a BAD film, but it seems a bit too gosh-darn happy and perfect and unremarkable--sort of like the Stepford Wives meet The Waltons (the latter was the obvious movie version of Spencer's Mountain). And because of that it's so inoffensive and ordinary that I have no desire to see it again. The sad thing is the acting was pretty good (it's hard to go wrong with Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara) but the story just wasn't compelling. Overall, it's a time passer and that's about all. About the only thing that is interesting is watching a younger Jame McArthur ("Danno" from Hawaii 5-0--also the son of Helen Hayes) playing the role later played by Richard Thomas.

Clay Spencer (Henry Fonda) loves to drink but dislikes the church. He gets pastor drunk and has to do some light blackmail to get his flock back. He and his wife (Maureen O'Hara) raise a large family in a small religious community in the mountains. Their oldest boy Clayboy (James MacArthur) is desperate to get out and attend college.

This is adapted from a novel and I don't know anything about the book. I do like Fonda anchoring this but the best part is the first act with the preacher. There is a good fight and a fun fight. After that, there is a rambling flow to this which isn't helped by Clayboy who is both utterly clueless and sometimes whiny. That might be too harsh but he doesn't give any reason to root for him. If he wants an education, it would help to show more clearly his hunger for reading. Instead, the clearest hunger is delivered by a sex-starved blonde. I like following Henry Fonda for being Henry Fonda. The rest is akin to a less compelling Little House on the Prairie.