A depressing film detailing a family's struggle against the elements of nature.
The film marked a change of pace for the usual suave, devious Zachary Scott. The same year as this picture, he was absolutely memorable as Monty Berrigan, Joan Crawford's n'eer-do-well second husband in the fabulous "Mildred Pierce."
I kept waiting for Scott to have a break out scene in this film but that never quite happened. A bar room brawl as shown in the film was silly at best.
Betty Field does her best as his suffering wife, but is hampered by the unusually weak screenplay.
Nonetheless, there is a standout performance by Beulah Bondi as Granny. I think that Irene Ryan tried to imitate her in a comic way years later in "The Beverly Hillbillies." Whoever did the makeup on Bondi deserved some sort of accolade.
The young son is plagued with the "spring sickness" in the film. That's what seems to plague the entire film.
That fabulous Blanche Yurka, so magnificent as Madame De Farge in 1935's "A Tale of Two Cities" briefly appears at Scott's mother. It's a shame to have seen this great American actress reduced to the part that she had. Obviously, under contract, she had to do it. Her brief appearance totally lacked the luster that she was so capable of. Imagine, her marrying Percy Kilbride (the old Pa Kettle in the film.)
If the author wanted to write about a farmer's battle with nature, he should have read "Giants in the Earth." What a great book that was.
J. Carrol Naish's part had the potential to be quite good but again it was under-written.
This picture could have been far more exciting with better writing.
The film marked a change of pace for the usual suave, devious Zachary Scott. The same year as this picture, he was absolutely memorable as Monty Berrigan, Joan Crawford's n'eer-do-well second husband in the fabulous "Mildred Pierce."
I kept waiting for Scott to have a break out scene in this film but that never quite happened. A bar room brawl as shown in the film was silly at best.
Betty Field does her best as his suffering wife, but is hampered by the unusually weak screenplay.
Nonetheless, there is a standout performance by Beulah Bondi as Granny. I think that Irene Ryan tried to imitate her in a comic way years later in "The Beverly Hillbillies." Whoever did the makeup on Bondi deserved some sort of accolade.
The young son is plagued with the "spring sickness" in the film. That's what seems to plague the entire film.
That fabulous Blanche Yurka, so magnificent as Madame De Farge in 1935's "A Tale of Two Cities" briefly appears at Scott's mother. It's a shame to have seen this great American actress reduced to the part that she had. Obviously, under contract, she had to do it. Her brief appearance totally lacked the luster that she was so capable of. Imagine, her marrying Percy Kilbride (the old Pa Kettle in the film.)
If the author wanted to write about a farmer's battle with nature, he should have read "Giants in the Earth." What a great book that was.
J. Carrol Naish's part had the potential to be quite good but again it was under-written.
This picture could have been far more exciting with better writing.