Hell-Bent fer Heaven

by Hatcher Hughes

Basis for the 1926 J. Stuart Blackton-directed film Hell-Bent for Heaven featuring Patsy Ruth Miller and John Harron. Very scarce Pulitzer Prize-winning play, set amongst the mountain people of the Carolinas.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Fiction

187 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1924

Reviews

[Dave Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

When dialect drowns a storyline

I discovered the play #hellbentferheaven by playwright #hatcherhughes as part of my #pulitzerprizereadingchallenge , being the recipient of the #1924 #pulitzerprizefordrama . Set in the mountains of my home state of #northcarolina in the #postwar period , the story centers on the return of #sidhunt to his ancestral home intent to marry #judelowry , the girl he left behind, only to discover a religious fantatic rival with his own intentions to marry her. Using her family's inclination towards intense religiosity, rival #rufepryor likewise stokes long buried feudal hostility between the Hunts and Lowrys as a means of driving a wedge between Sid and Jude. The play takes place during a single rainy summer evening and the over use of dialect makes it difficult to follow some of the dialogue. That drama prize was given to a #columbiacollege professor by the university who was administering the prize over the will of the jury contributed to its obscurity.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

The most interesting thing about this piece of shit that won the Pulitzer was that "the choice sparked controversy in literary circles and the media because the prize jury had actually selected George Kelly's The Show-Off, but was overruled by Columbia University, which was administering that year's Pulitzers. Hatcher Hughes was a Columbia professor."

I couldn't even get through the first act due to the annoyance of the mountain dialect.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty appalling. It’s basically a religious nutcase meddling with the grudges between two families for his own gain. It’s as simple as that. To be honest, it’s remarkable that this won a Pulitzer, but apparently there was some controversy surrounding that. This definitely should not have won it. It’s also written with strong mountain accents, so it’s hard to read and understand at first. But eventually your brain does adjust to the accent.

[Anna Muthalaly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dialect is hard to get through and this play seemed to have left little to no mark on the American theater scene but, if you push through the bulk of it, the last ~~quarter of the show is like fairly high tempo and has a satisfying sense of comeuppance so, there’s that. But like, why would you even read that far in the first place?

This was the 8th play I read in my quest to read everything awarded the Pulitzer price for drama

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminds me of OTHELLO. The mountain dialect is a bit hard to decipher, at times.