The Good Earth (film)
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| The Good Earth | |
|---|---|
 original film poster |
|
| Directed by | Sidney Franklin Victor Fleming Gustav Machatý |
| Written by | Pearl S. Buck (novel) Donald Davis (play) Owen Davis (play) Talbot Jennings Tess Slesinger Claudine West |
| Starring | Paul Muni Luise Rainer Walter Connolly Tilly Losch Charley Grapewin |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart Edward Ward |
| Cinematography | Karl Freund |
| Editing by | Basil Wrangell |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) |
| Release date(s) | January 29, 1937 |
| Running time | 138 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,800,000 (estimated) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Good Earth (1937) is a movie based on the 1931 book of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck about Chinese peasants who struggle through their lives.
Many of the characters were played by Western actors who were made to look Asian with aide of many new make-up techniques that were first used on this movie. The film starred Paul Muni as Wang Lung. For her role as his wife O-Lan, Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
The film was adapted by Felix E. Feist (uncredited), Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was in itself adapted from the novel. The film was directed by Sidney Franklin, Victor Fleming (uncredited) and Gustav Machaty (uncredited).
Besides Rainer's Oscar, the film also won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Karl Freund. It was nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture.
Tagline: China . . . . Land of unrest . . . tomorrow they may Starve !
[edit] Cast
- Paul Muni..............Wang Lung
- Luise Rainer...........O-Lan
- Walter Connolly......Wang Lung's 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
[edit] Trivia
- Irving Thalberg envisioned casting only Chinese actors for the movie, but gave up the idea because there were not enough suitable Chinese actors.
- Because the Second Sino-Japanese War was in progress, the Chinese government threatened not to approve the movie if any Japanese actors were cast in any role.
- Furthermore, during World War 2/Second Sino-Japanese War, there was a lot of racial tension and hostility towards Japanese Americans.
- Because Irving Thalberg died before the movie was completed, it stated in the credits that this was his "last great achievement"
- Luise Rainer won an Oscar for Best Actress for her work in the movie.
[edit] External links
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