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Welcome to Movies & Film
Movie Reviews, & Film Industry Commentary
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1937 – NR – 138 min.
Director: Sidney Franklin
Primary Cast: Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Walter Connelly, Charley Grapwin, Jessie Ralph, Tilly Losch, Keye Luke, Harold Huber
Stars **** (of 5)
Popcorn *** (of 5)
Film Type(s): Drama, Farmer, Revolution / Rebellion, Greed
Synopsis: Paul Muni stars as Wang Lung, a poor farmer that marries freed slave O-Lan (Luise Rainer). Based on the Donald Davis and Owen Davis’ stage adaptation of the Pearl S. Buck novel, it follows how they struggle to create a life for themselves, but greed and nature work against them all along the way, through success and failure.
Review: Engaging adaptation of Pearl S. Buck’s novel about a Chinese couples struggles with life as farmers, greed, and slavery in Boxer Rebellion era China. Muni and Rainer (in an Oscar Winning performance) were not Chinese or Asian by any means, but manage to hit all of the right notes without ringing false, creating the loving couple of Farmer Wang and former slave O-Lan. Upon it’s release, Earth was well received both by the Public and Critics alike and kept attention with it’s then-advanced Visual Effects, camera work, and beautiful music Score. The Locust sequence in the final act is among the best Special Effects found until the mid-1950s and along with the Palace sacking sequence utilizing the (literal) Cast-of-Thousands are highlights of a drama full of dramatic highlights. Karl Fruend also won an Oscar for his Cinematography. This was the last of the films made by Legendary film Producer, Irving Thalberg, who died shortly before filming ended.
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