''One Man's Way'' is a 1963 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Denis Sanders Denis Sanders (January 21, 1929 – December 10, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer who directed the debut performances of Robert Redford and Tom Skerritt in the 1962 film '' War Hunt''. He won two Academy Awards, ...

and written by John W. Bloch and Eleanore Griffin. The film stars Don Murray as the preacher and author

Norman Vincent Peale Norman Vincent Peale (May 31, 1898 – December 24, 1993) was an American Protestant clergyman, and an author best known for popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book '' The Power of Positive ...

. The cast also includes Diana Hyland,

William Windom William Windom (May 10, 1827January 29, 1891) was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 ...

Virginia Christine Virginia Christine (born Virginia Christine Ricketts; March 5, 1920 – July 24, 1996) was an American stage, radio, film, television, and voice actress. Though Christine had a long career as a character actress in film and television, she i ...

, Carol Ohmart and

Veronica Cartwright Veronica Cartwright (born April 20, 1949) is a British-American actress. She is known for appearing in science fiction and horror films, and has earned numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. As a child actress, sh ...

. The film was released on December 23, 1963, by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

Plot

As a young man, Norman Vincent Peale is working in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

as a crime reporter for a newspaper. Saddened by the tragedies he witnesses or writes about, Peale enters a seminary. He moves to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, becoming a minister and writing a best-selling book, ''The Power of Positive Thinking,'' that also becomes controversial. After a considerable amount of soul-searching that leads him to the brink of leaving his vocation, Peale decides to continue with his work.

Cast

* Don Murray as

* Diana Hyland as

Ruth Stafford Peale Ruth Stafford Peale (September 10, 1906 – February 6, 2008) was an American writer, editor, and speaker. She was born in Fonda, Iowa, to Canadian parents Methodist clergyman Frank B. Stafford and Loretta A. Stafford. In 1913, the family mo ...

as Reverend Clifford Peale *

as Anna Peale * Carol Ohmart as Evelyn Grace *

as Mary *

Liam Sullivan Liam Sullivan (May 18, 1923 – April 19, 1998) was an American actor and singer, originally from Jacksonville, Illinois. He began acting while a student at Illinois College and continued in theater at Harvard University. In 1951 he bega ...

as Dr. Arthur Gordon *

June Dayton June Dayton (born Mary June Wetzel; August 24, 1923 – June 13, 1994) was an American television actress who appeared in a variety of shows from the 1950s into the 1980s. Early life Dayton was born in Dayton, Ohio. She used her hometown of D ...

as Mrs. Gordon *

Ian Wolfe Ian Marcus Wolfe (November 4, 1896 – January 23, 1992) was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as a ...

as Bishop Hardwick * Charles Lampkin as Lafe * Arthur Peterson, Jr. as Instructor *

Hope Summers Sarah Hope Summers (June 7, 1902 – June 22, 1979) was an American character actress known for her work on CBS's ''The Andy Griffith Show'' and ''Mayberry RFD'', portraying Clara Edwards. Early life Hope Summers was born in Mattoon, Illino ...

as Mrs. Elwood Thompson *

Virginia Sale Virginia Sale (May 20, 1899 – August 23, 1992) was an American character actress whose career spanned six decades, during most of which she played older women, even when she was in her twenties. Over the 46 years she was active as an actr ...

as Miss S.E. Collingswood *

Ed Peck Ed Peck (March 26, 1917 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor. He is best known as Officer Kirk in ''Happy Days'' (1975–1983). Early life Peck was born in New York City on March 26, 1917. Career Peck played a captain in the Broad ...

as Harry the Reporter *

Butch Patrick Butch Patrick (born Patrick Alan Lilley; August 2, 1953) is an American actor and musician. Beginning his professional acting career at the age of seven, Patrick is perhaps best known for his role as child werewolf Eddie Munster on the CBS comed ...

as John Peale *

Tom Skerritt Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in ''M*A*S*H'', ''Alien'', '' The Dead Zone'', '' Top Gun'', '' A ...

as Grown Leonard Peale *

Bing Russell Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell (May 5, 1926 – April 8, 2003) was an American actor and Class A minor-league baseball club owner. He was the father of Hollywood actor Kurt Russell and grandfather of ex–major league baseball player Matt Franco ...

as Tom Rayburn

Critical reception

In the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', film critic Howard Thompson wrote, "As a biographical tribute to one of America's best-known Protestant clergymen, the picture is thoughtful and genteel," adding that it is "a worthy movie" that "sustains an unpretentious tone from start to finish."

References

External links

* * 1963 films United Artists films American drama films 1963 drama films Films directed by Denis Sanders Films scored by Richard Markowitz 1960s English-language films 1960s American films {{1960s-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Critical reception

See also

References

External links