Many people get the idea that living in a rural area away from the crowded and overpopulated cities of America is something to be enjoyed, for it's a relatively quiet and carefree existence. This movie shows that it was not always that way. What makes The Southerner such a relevant movie even today is how it portrays the difficulties of day to day life, and how fast it comes at you, whether or not you're ready. The first thing we witness in this movie is Sam Tucker (Zachary Scott), a guy who is farming cotton in a field with his wife Nona (Betty Field) and elderly uncle. Not even 5 minutes into the movie, we see how hard things are for Sam and his family. After suffering a heatstroke, his uncle dies suddenly. Sam then tries to start his own farm, but the farm itself doesn't belong to him. Living with Sam are his wife, son Jot, Daisy (their daughter), and an old woman only referred to as Granny who does nothing but nag him. Soon after, Sam meets the guy who lives on the farm near his, Henry Devers (J Carrol Naish), who is very rude to him despite just meeting him. Devers says he's had a hard life, with one of his children dying from Pellagra, so when he sees "novices" like Sam trying to make an honest living, he wants to laugh in their faces. Nevertheless, Devers lets Tucker borrow some of his water, as the latter has no functioning well. Meanwhile, Tucker and his family eat whatever they can get their hands on, such as possums. Tucker's son later becomes ill with the same sickness that killed Henry's child, which is caused by a lack of vegetables and dairy in one's eating habits. Nona takes Jot to a pediatrician, who tells her to get a cow. However, the Tucker family is extremely poor, so they have to lease one from a store instead. Meanwhile, Devers, still having some kind of grudge against the Tuckers for some reason, instructs his nephew Finley (Norman Lloyd) to desecrate the Tucker garden. When Sam finds out about this, he starts a fight with Henry at his farm, with Henry saying he's tired of coming in second place to people who haven't worked as hard as him. After Sam leaves, Henry tells his nephew to fetch his gun for him. Intent on killing Sam, Henry thinks twice when he sees Sam has successfully hooked a huge catfish that Henry has been trying to get for years. Henry tries to steal credit for catching it, which Sam surprisingly agrees to on the condition that he can keep using Henry's well. At a party later on, Sam is hit on the head and passes out, but awakened by a horrible storm. Upon getting back to his farm, he finds the entire place (and garden) leveled by flooding. Sam has finally had enough of farming and confides to his friend that he is willing to get a factory job in a city. He realizes that city people and rural people need each other, despite living in different environments. Without farmers, cities would starve, and without urbanites, farmers wouldn't have their tractors or machines. However, at the end of the movie, Sam and his wife are still working the fields, confident that things are going to get much better. This is a satisfying movie to watch. I think it's very similar to Rocky, because it shows how even though some people are destined for greatness or wealth one day, you still have to work to get it. If everything came to you free of charge, nothing in life would be enjoyable. If you commit yourself to any activity and know you're going to succeed, what would be the point? I liked how it pointed out towards the end that urban and rural environments need each other to survive, when most people today would ignorantly believe rural america could be erased from the map and nobody would care. Although he plays a minor role, it was nice to unexpectedly learn that Norman Lloyd, who only just died last year at the incredible age of 106, is in this film. He plays Finley, nephew (and basically lapdog) of his violent and unapproachable uncle Henry. It's a small role, but I was glad to see it. The only thing I didn't care for in this movie is the grandmother, played by Beulah Bondi. She was known for playing a wide array of old women, but her performance here is just obnoxious. Sam does all he can to provide for his family but all she ever does is complain. To summarize, The Southerner is one movie that arguably portrays people living in the south United States as simpleminded (which actually got it banned there for a while), but it deserves respect for showing how hard life can be for some members of society.
Review of The Southerner
