The above is 1st the opening from the film itself and the second is a video essay that Jonathan Rosenbaum did with this and Dreyer's Gertrud.
"Maybe there’s one that I love to look at again and again. That’s The Sun Shines Bright. That’s really my favorite. At Republic, old man [studio head Herbert] Yates didn’t know what to do with it. The picture had comedy, drama, pathos, but he didn’t understand it. His kind of picture had to have plenty of sex or violence. This one had neither, it was just a good picture. But Yates fooled around with it after I left the studio and almost ruined it."
— John Ford
How right he is! There are a few different versions of this wonderful film and this is the 101 minute director's cut. There is also a 92 minute theatrical version that Ford was forced to cut. When the movie failed, the studio made him take a couple of more minutes out of it. For a movie that has so much charm tied in with it's pacing this was regrettable. I hate to have to pick, but especially when it comes to underrated Ford, this and his episode of How the West was Won (The Civil War segment) are favorites.
Ford had made Judge Priest with Will Rogers in 1934 and he revisits the character here, weaving three Priest tales together.. There is such a lovely sense of humanity and tact here that is both tied into the characters and the mis en scene that Ford places them in. You get a sense of a world lost and recreated before your eyes.
Two caveats: These are not my links (I have coded them below, replace "hxxp" with "http") and there are two audio tracks included and the default one is in Spanish. Just switch over to the second audio track and enjoy.
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=V2CWZ835
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=NWP28RP8
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=X1QKWHR7
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=RTUYKSDX
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=DVO9STPG
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=RM1J36X0
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