Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

sol- Tired of working for others, a brash farmhand buys a farm of his own to operate with his wife, but things are not as easy as all that in this downbeat drama directed by Jean Renoir. As a Frenchman, Renoir is a curious choice to helm the project since the film is very much about the American Dream and the persistence of those trying to achieve it. There is a memorable scene early on in which the protagonist delights at catching a fish by hand in a pond at his farm, but any such initial joy soon turns to anguish as he realises just how unprepared and he and his wife are to raise their two children in farm-life conditions, oblivious to the need for fresh vegetables, milk, etc. Anguish is also generated by the not very kind or giving nature of their neighbours who, in reality, are just down to earth. Having fallen into the public domain over the years, 'The Southerner' is sometimes hard to watch given the grainy visuals that exist on most DVD prints, but the key to whether one takes to the film (or not) will mostly likely lie in how much one can sympathise with the protagonist. On one hand, he is a stubborn man who puts his kids' life in jeopardy since he refuses to listen to the advice of others. On the other hand, he is a dreamer who will stop at nothing in a quest to better his life. Certainly, audiences at the time liked the film quite a bit, but it is less certain what contemporary viewers will make of it.

wes-connors Texas cotton-picker Zachary Scott (as Sam Tucker) watches his uncle die in the fields and decides to take the old man's advice, "Grow your own crop." Fully aware of the challenge ahead, Mr. Scott takes his family to live as sharecroppers on a farm he hopes will become profitable. Scott, attractive wife Betty Field (as Nona), their two pre-teen children and cranky old Beulah Bondi (as "Granny") move into a dilapidated shack on the property. We never know what is holding the rickety structure up; built to fall, the leaning shack looks like it wouldn't stand up during a light breeze. The family's struggle becomes even more difficult than Scott imagined. Most notably, his son becomes deathly ill due to lack of milk and vegetables. There is no help from nasty J. Carrol Naish (as Devers), who lives next door. Far from neighborly, Mr. Naish won't even give a cup of milk to save the boy's life...This may be masterpiece-maker (see 1937's "La Grande Illusion") Jean Renoir's most admired "Hollywood" effort, if not his greatest produced in the US. One of the year's most acclaimed films, "The Southerner" won awards from the highly-regarded "National Board of Review" (Best Director) and Venice Festival (Best Film). While less frequently noted, Zachary Scott finished at #8 in the "New York Film Critics" poll as the year's Best Actor. The star also supported Joan Crawford in "Mildred Pierce" (later in 1945). Scott was at a career peak and his failure to receive an "Academy Award" nomination is somewhat surprising. Scott's performance for Mr. Renoir is excellent; it even helps to balance some of the film's more off-putting, cartoonish qualities. Veteran cinematographer Lucien Andriot contributes to the poetic bleakness, and Renoir's production designer Eugene Lourie shows his usual skills.******* The Southerner (4/30/45) Jean Renoir ~ Zachary Scott, Betty Field, Beulah Bondi, J. Carrol Naish

weezeralfalfa One of only a few films I am aware of from the classic Hollywood era that is devoted to dramatizing the plight of poor white farmers in the southern US during the early 20th century. Others I can think of include: "Tobacco Road", "The Grapes of Wrath"(both directed by John Ford),"Sergeant York"(in part), and "The Yearling", none of which feature cotton growing in the humid South, as does this film, and all of which have a higher profile in recent times than this film, despite its several Oscar nominations. This is an engaging story, with conflicts over whether to try to make it as an independent farmer or to look for an easier and more predictable factory job. clearly, Pa Tucker prefers the country environment.We have mostly 3 generations of Tuckers living under the same leaky roof, including cantankerous Granny, who is often a pain, but can give some insights on the problems she experienced in her younger days as a farm wife as these relate to their present situation. As she related, near starvation and sickness have taken a heavy toll of her extended family over the years. One of the serious problems she is familiar with is 'spring sickness', which is hinted to be pellagra, a common vitamin (niacin) deficiency in the South of those times, caused by too much reliance on corn products, mostly corn meal mush, in their diet. Native Americans had long ago discovered how to prevent this problem by treating the corn with wood ashes, but European settlers never figured out that this treatment was important when their diet was too limited to corn products. The doctor rightly recommended that they include more vegetables and, in the short run, milk, in their diet. Presumably, the latter supplied needed calcium and additional protein, as one of the important symptoms of severe pellagra is skeletal demineralization. In the film, only the boy develops pellagra symptoms, but actually it was much more common among women and girls, as they tended to receive less varied nutrition than men. Back to the story: The Tuckers have rented unusually fertile bottom land to grow their cotton and kitchen garden crops. Unlike Cooper, in "Sergeant York", they don't have to deal with frequent rocks and steep hills. Unlike the Joads, in "The Grapes of Wrath", they don't have to deal with persistent drought, dust storms, and being displaced by mechanized corporate agriculture.Unlike the Baxters in "The Yearling", their crops aren't eaten by wildlife, although domestic stock do make a mess of their veggie garden at one point. But, they do learn that farming on rich bottom land encompases the life and career-threatening risk of occasional devastating floods and hurricanes. Meanwhile, some physical altercations while in town provide some comic relief. J. Carrol Naish played Devers, the Tucker's hard bitten, not often sympathetic, older neighbor.Naish was an excellent, sometimes charismatic, character actor, often playing Native Americans, Italians or Latinos, including Mexican Santa Anna in "The Last Command" and Sitting Bull in "Anne Get Your Gun", and later in "Sitting Bull". He played ethnics in several Fox and MGM musicals, where he served primarily for comic relief. I most remember him as the charmingly irreverent Italian Bayou fisherman in the musical drama "The Toast of New Orleans"Betty Field looks too apple pie fresh as a supposedly dirt poor ignorant southern farm wife. Besides, she was primarily raised in New England. Otherwise, she is fine as the leading lady. Zachary Scott, a native Texan, comes across as more believable in his role. Beulah Bondi, as granny, came across as the most authentic of the Tuckers. She apparently played a rather similar role in the film "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine". Unfortunately, she lost out in her most coveted role, as Ma Joad, in "The Grapes of Wrath". Thus, her role in the present film somewhat makes up for that lost opportunity. With all their problems, the Tuckers come across as spunky and optimistic in their precarious situation, quite different from the decadent downtrodden Lesters in "Tobacco Road", also in a vary precarious financial situation.

adamshl It's too bad this film is always being compared with John Ford's production of "The Grapes of Wrath." While they both cover general ground, they are quite different structurally. "The Southerner" is almost plot less, relying on slices of early American life as homesteaders struggle to keep their farms intact.Apparently the critics are divided on this one, many calling it one of Jean Renior's greatest achievements, while others feel it only slightly above average. Admittedly, attention to innovative stark realism is paired with some rather predictable stock situations. All in all though for me, it's an engrossing film, and an honest one.A great point of interest is Zachary Scott, in his second screen role. Minus his characteristic mustache and playing a simple "tiller of the soil," he seemed strangely cast. We're so used to his ultra-slick, amoral roles, that seeing him in this film is rather startling. Not to say he wasn't good at it. There's just something about his angular face and sharp, thin nose, that suggests he ought to be more in a tailored tux than wrinkly overalls.Reading Scott's bio was informative: not a particularly happy life and career, despite his impressive seventy total credits. I got the feeling that Warner Bros. simply didn't know what to do with him, following "Mildred Pierce" and "Flamingo Road." Maybe they felt he was so convincing in these sinister roles that the public wouldn't buy him as other types. Whatever the case, his private life seemed rather glum and lacking vitality. (Could also be his first name may have been a downer in the long run.) The supporting cast of "The Southerner" is fine, and the film remains a strong depiction of early rural life in America.