Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

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

bkoganbing Probably Samuel Goldwyns's Roseanna McCoy a story based on the real life Hatfield/McCoy feud would be better known and received today if Paramount had not beaten Goldwyn to the hillbilly saga. Their films, The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine and Shepherd Of The Hills cover the subject far better and are in color.It's Romeo and Juliet once again in a different setting in this film. During a county fair Johnse Hatfield played by Farley Granger meets and flips for young Roseanna McCoy played by newcomer Joan Evans. A hornet stings her and Granger with some first aid with amorous overtones saves her from infection. After that true love will try to win out even over a pair of families who have been feuding for generations.The clan patriarchs are Charles Bickford and Raymond Massey for the Hatfields and McCoys respectively a pair of actors who could convey merciless hate better than most. The women are pretty good to in that department with Aline McMahon for the McCoys and Hope Emerson for the Hatfields. But the guy to watch in this film is Richard Basehart who did a fine line of psychotics in many of his film roles. He just loves being a Hatfield because it gives him an excuse to kill. A McCoy is just someone he's got permission to shoot at will, they're in 365 day hunting season as far as Basehart is concerned.Color would have been nice, but some of the rural area of California substituted nicely for the Appalachins. Roseanna McCoy is not a bad film, but I prefer the ones I cited already from Paramount.

mbking-2 Call it a guilty pleasure, but I find this movie satisfying on several levels. I was hooked from the opening shot with Lee Garmes' cinematography capturing writer John Collier's evocation of the mysticism of the mountains, enhanced by the choral version of Frank Loesser's theme song. The fact that Joan Evans was a complete unknown discovered in a New York City High School worked for me. She seemed confused and overwhelmed much of the time, which was natural, given Farley Granger's heavy breathing and bodice-ripping efforts in her direction. As previously discussed, the supporting cast is terrific, with Raymond Massey and Charles Bickford as the patriarchs of the opposing families. They clearly enjoyed chewing up the scenery in their respective roles. Aline MacMahon is wonderful as Ma Hatfield, working tirelessly to end the hostility between the families, to little avail. Mention must be made of the youngsters, played by Gigi Perreau, Peter Miles and William Mauch (formerly Billy of the Mauch twins), for whom I felt concern whenever the bullets started to fly. I was most fortunate to view a beautiful 16mm print of the film. Lee Garmes' lighting and compositions are stunning indeed.