I found the novel Spencers' Mountain in a gas station book rack in 1973 when I was a 14 year old coming of age. The novels main character,unlike the movie,was Clay boy, the son who was a few years older than I was in real life, so I really related to him and loved the book that was a loose memoir of Earl Hamner Jr.s childhood growing up in the hard depression era Virginia Appalachian mining country.
The book was told from Clay boys' view point, and He was the narrator of the story. Most of the stories in the movie were in the book but the focus was shifted to the father, Clay, because it had become a vehicle for it's star, Henry Fonda.
I didn't see this film till sometime in the 1980's and at first I was greatly disappointed by this change in the stories emphasis. I have now come to enjoy the film for it's own merits, especially the beautifully photographed Teton mountains. In real life Earl Hamner didn't get to go to college till after WWII, on the GI bill. As usual the book is much better than the movie and I even named my second son Clay.
The book was told from Clay boys' view point, and He was the narrator of the story. Most of the stories in the movie were in the book but the focus was shifted to the father, Clay, because it had become a vehicle for it's star, Henry Fonda.
I didn't see this film till sometime in the 1980's and at first I was greatly disappointed by this change in the stories emphasis. I have now come to enjoy the film for it's own merits, especially the beautifully photographed Teton mountains. In real life Earl Hamner didn't get to go to college till after WWII, on the GI bill. As usual the book is much better than the movie and I even named my second son Clay.