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Old Man Hofnagel is a well-to-do farmer of the Pennsylvania Dutch country, known and respected from Allentown to Lancaster as a potent "hex-doctor." A seventh son, he believes implicitly in his own powers. He informs a village woman that if she would know which of several suitors to accept, she should put initialed onions beneath her pillow, be guided by the onion that sprouts first. For a lovecharm he prescribes a drop of blood in a glass of water. To keep witches out of a churn he recommends a hot flatiron. Benign, fond of his family, Father Hofnagel spits with loathing at the mere mention of regular doctors.
He accepts his daughter's marriage to a "medicaler" with bitter resignation but he is overjoyed when she bears a boy who, he believes, will inherit the Hofnagel power. When the baby contracts diphtheria Hofnagel prevents his son-in-law from administering antitoxin by shooting him in the shoulder, kills the baby with his own mumbo-jumbo. These events are developed in a sharp atmosphere of authenticity, tautly directed by Arthur Beckhard, expert handler of family groups (Another Language). Good performances: William F. Schoeller as Hofnagel, Jules Epailly as a rival wizard, Victor Kilian as a slow-witted yokel.