The Missouri Traveler

The Missouri Traveler
DVD Cover for The Missouri Traveler
Directed byJerry Hopper
Written byJohn Burress
Norman S. Hall
Produced byC. V. Whitney
Patrick Ford
StarringBrandon deWilde
Lee Marvin
Gary Merrill
Paul Ford
CinematographyWinton C. Hoch
Edited byTom McAdoo
Music byJack Marshall
Production
company
C. V. Whitney Pictures
Distributed byBuena Vista Film Distribution Co., Inc.
Release date
  • January 21, 1958 (1958-01-21)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Missouri Traveler is a 1958 American coming-of-age period piece drama film directed by Jerry Hopper starring Brandon deWilde and Lee Marvin. It is based on the novel of the same name by John Burress. The cinematography was by Technicolor developer Winton C. Hoch with harmonica and banjo score by Jack Marshall of The Munsters fame. The feature was distributed by the Buena Vista Corporation subsidiary of Walt Disney Productions, but the film did not carry the "Disney" trademark.

It is the second of only 3 films produced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney's C. V. Whitney Pictures; the first being The Searchers in 1956 with John Wayne and directed by John Ford, the last being The Young Land in 1959 with Patrick Wayne and Dennis Hopper.

Whitney married Mary Hosford (best-known later as socialite heiress Marylou Whitney), he gave a prominent part in this film, the same year it was released. The following year, in 1959, deWilde's career would graduate to more adult themes in Blue Denim.