''Carbine Williams'' is a 1952 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Richard Thorpe Richard Thorpe (born Rollo Smolt Thorpe; February 24, 1896 – May 1, 1991) was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His obituary called him "a capable and versatile director willing to take on any ass ...

and starring

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

, Jean Hagen and Wendell Corey. The film follows the life of its namesake, David Marshall Williams, who invented the operating principle for the

M1 Carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States carbine, caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine chambered in the .30 carbine (7.62×33mm) cartridge that was issued to the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War, and t ...

while in a North Carolina prison. The M1 Carbine was used extensively by the U.S. military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Originally filmed in black-and-white, it is also shown in a computer-colorized version.

Plot

The film follows the life of David Marshall Williams, who was a member of the Winchester team that invented the semi-automatic M1 Carbine used in

. Williams was found distilling illegal moonshine, and was held responsible for the death of a sheriff's deputy during a raid on his still. He was sentenced to thirty years' hard labor. He cycled through the prison system until a firm but compassionate warden, H.T. Peoples, allowed him to work in a prison tool shop. There, he invented the gas system for his famous rifle. Williams was released from prison in 1929 and worked with Winchester Firearms on development of the M1 Carbine.

Cast

as David Marshall 'Marsh' Williams * Jean Hagen as Maggie Williams * Wendell Corey as Capt. H. T. Peoples * Carl Benton Reid as Claude Williams * Paul Stewart as 'Dutch' Kruger * Otto Hulett as Mobley * Rhys Williams as Redwick Karson *

Herbert Heyes Herbert Harrison Heyes (August 3, 1889 – May 31, 1958) was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1915 and 1956, including the famed 1947 film '' Miracle on 34th Street'', in which he played an ahistorical "Mr. Gimbel ...

as Lionel Daniels *

James Arness James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the series ''Gunsmoke''. He has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in f ...

as Leon Williams * Porter Hall as Sam Markley *

Fay Roope Fay Roope (born Winfield Harding Roope; October 20, 1893 – September 13, 1961) was a Harvard graduate and a character actor who appeared in American theater in New York City from the 1920s through 1950, and in American film and television from ...

as District Attorney * Ralph Dumke as Andrew White * Leif Erickson as Feder *

Henry Corden Henry Corden ( Cohen; January 6, 1920 – May 19, 2005) was a Canadian-born American actor, best known for assuming the voice of Fred Flintstone after the death of Alan Reed in 1977. His official debut as Fred's new voice was in a 1965 Hanna ...

as Bill Stockton * Frank Richards as Truex * Howard Petrie as Sheriff * Stuart Randall as Tom Vennar * Dan Riss as Jesse Rimmer

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $1,787,000 in the US and Canada and $802,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $575,000.

Comic book adaptation

* Fawcett Movie Comic #19 (October 1952)

References

External links

* * * * 1952 films 1950s biographical drama films American biographical drama films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Richard Thorpe Films set in North Carolina Films set in the 1920s Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films adapted into comics 1952 drama films 1950s American films English-language biographical drama films {{1950s-US-drama-film-stub