Which John Ford film stars Will Rogers as Judge William Priest?

The John Ford film starring Will Rogers as Judge William Priest is Judge Priest.

Released in 1934 by Fox Film Corporation, the picture was based on the Judge Priest character created by humorist Irvin S. Cobb. Rogers plays the genial “Billy” Priest, who presides over court in the fictional Kentucky community of Fairfield during the post-Reconstruction era.

The film blends courtroom comedy, romance and small-town drama. Its supporting cast includes Stepin Fetchit as Jeff Poindexter, Hattie McDaniel as Aunt Dilsey and Henry B. Walthall as Reverend Ashby Brand. Ford uses the judge’s cases and election campaign to explore local loyalties and social tensions.

The title can be confused with The Sun Shines Bright, Ford’s 1953 film using related Judge Priest material. That later film stars Charles Winninger, not Rogers. Rogers’s performance in the 1934 film helped make him the leading U.S. box-office star of that year.