The Good Earth (1937)

Director:

Sidney Franklin

Writers:

Talbot Jennings (screenplay) and
Tess Slesinger (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 August 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

China . . . . Land of unrest . . . tomorrow they may Starve !

Plot:

The story of a farmer in China: a story of humility and bravery. His father gives Wang Lung a freed slave as wife...

Plot Keywords:

Farmer | Famine | Slave | Money | City

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Paul Muni	...	Wang Lung
Luise Rainer	...	O-Lan
Walter Connolly	...	Uncle
Tilly Losch	...	Lotus
Charley Grapewin	...	Old Father
Jessie Ralph	...	Cuckoo
Soo Yong	...	Aunt
Keye Luke	...	Elder Son
Roland Lui	...	Younger Son
Suzanna Kim	...	Little Fool
Ching Wah Lee	...	Ching
Harold Huber	...	Cousin
Olaf Hytten	...	Liu - Grain Merchant
William Law	...	Gateman
Mary Wong	...	Little Bride

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | West Germany:12 | UK:A | South Korea:All | Sweden:15 (DVD rating) | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #2584)

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

For the second year in a row, Luise Rainer won a Best Actress Oscar, becoming the first performer to win two Academy Awards and the first to win two Oscars in two years.

Goofs:

Continuity: Unexplained sequence of events or possible error in continuity. Toward the beginning of the film, Farmer Wang walks to the Great House to meet his bride, O-Lan. He is carrying a basket. It appears to be empty. As he enters a market, the farmer declines to buy peaches. We don't see him purchase goods or trade for anything. We don't see him filling the basket. However, the next scene shows him at the door of the house with a full basket. Later, he does buy peaches. At this point, however, we're still not made aware how he has money or silver.

Quotes:

O-Lan: When I go back in that house, it will be with my son in my arms. I'll have a red coat on him... and red flower trousers... and a hat with a gilded Buddha and tiger-faced shoes, and I'll go into the kitchen where I spent my days as a slave and into the great hall where the old mistress sits with her pipe, and I'll show myself and my son to all of them.
O-Lan: [Smiles, contented] Hmm.
Wang Lung: Well... Now, I... I haven't heard you speak so many words since you came to this house.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "My Three Sons: The Good Earth (#7.20)" (1967)

Good Stuff, Perhaps A Re-Make Some Day?

This is a bit long (2 hours, 20 minutes) but it had a a lot of the famous Pearl Buck novel in it. In other words, a lot of ground to cover.

It was soap-operish at times but had some visually dramatic moments, too, capped off by a locust attack at the end of the film. That was astounding to view. Considering this film is about 70 years old, the special-effects crew on this film did a spectacular job.

Paul Muni and Luise Rainer were award-winning actors in their day and they don't disappoint here, both giving powerful performances. The only problem is credibility as all the Asians are played by Caucasions and some of them, like Walter Connolly, just don't look real. I'd like to see a re-make of this movie with all-Asian actors, not for PC reasons but to simply make the story look and sound more credible.