{"id":75188,"date":"2021-08-19T13:41:16","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T20:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=75188"},"modified":"2021-08-19T13:47:20","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T20:47:20","slug":"good-earth-the-1937","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=75188","title":{"rendered":"Good Earth, The (1937)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;What good is this land now?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Poster-201x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-75189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Poster-201x300.png 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Poster-686x1024.png 686w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Poster-86x128.png 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Poster-181x270.png 181w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Poster.png 721w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA poor Chinese farmer (Paul Muni) married to a former slave (Luise Rainer) flees with his starving young family to a city in the south, where they beg for food until Rainer stumbles upon a bag of jewels during a revolutionary uprising. Once they&#8217;re back on their now-thriving farm, Muni requires his grown sons (Keye Luke and Roland Lui) to work for him, and falls for a beautiful singer (Tilly Losch) who he takes as his second wife &#8212; but will Rainer approve of this arrangement?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>China<\/li>\n<li>Farming<\/li>\n<li>Luise Rainer Films<\/li>\n<li>Paul Muni Films<\/li>\n<li>Survival<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nMGM&#8217;s big-budget adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Good_Earth\">Pearl S. Buck&#8217;s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel<\/a> was Irving Thalberg&#8217;s final production before his death at age 37, and remains notable for netting Luise Rainer her second Best Actress Oscar in a row (after her Oscar-winning performance in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=21299\"><em>The Great Ziegfeld<\/em><\/a>). Peary doesn&#8217;t review <em>The Good Earth<\/em> in his <em>GFTFF<\/em>, but he does mention it in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>, where he writes somewhat snarkily that Rainer stands out as the film&#8217;s &#8220;only Chinese peasant with an Austrian accent&#8221;, and concedes she &#8220;did a satisfactory job, even if she spent too much of the picture using a stunned, hurt expression, as if she&#8217;d just stubbed her toe and didn&#8217;t want anyone to know her pain&#8221; (ouch!). <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer2-1024x751.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"469\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer2-1024x751.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer2-300x220.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer2-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer2-768x563.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer2-368x270.png 368w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer2.png 1401w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m more impressed by Rainer&#8217;s expressive performance than Peary; while her accent <em>is<\/em> disconcerting (and of course it&#8217;s terribly disappointing that Chinese-American actors weren&#8217;t assigned to the lead roles), Rainer otherwise fully embodies this put-upon yet resilient female who is ultimately responsible for her family&#8217;s success, albeit behind the scenes. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer-Kids.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer-Kids-1024x743.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer-Kids-1024x743.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer-Kids-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer-Kids-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer-Kids-768x557.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer-Kids-372x270.png 372w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Rainer-Kids.png 1421w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a particularly harsh and haunting scene, Rainer acknowledges that another baby has been born (we hear its cry), but insists to Muni that they are able to travel &#8212; and nothing more is seen or heard of this latest child. Muni is occasionally hammy but mostly effective as her husband, who seems like a straight-up fellow until he (predictably) falls for the wiles of a seductive singer (Losch): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-Losch.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-Losch-1024x725.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"453\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-Losch-1024x725.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-Losch-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-Losch-128x91.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-Losch-768x544.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-Losch-381x270.png 381w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-Losch.png 1445w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps most impactful, however, is the realistic depiction of a family driven to literally eat dirt in order to stave off hunger: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Baby-Girl.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Baby-Girl-1024x736.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"460\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Baby-Girl-1024x736.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Baby-Girl-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Baby-Girl-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Baby-Girl-768x552.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Baby-Girl-376x270.png 376w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Baby-Girl.png 1427w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>These early sequences of gut-wrenching poverty make it easier to understand how and why Communist revolution was seemingly inevitable in China: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Revolution.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Revolution-1024x742.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Revolution-1024x742.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Revolution-300x217.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Revolution-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Revolution-768x556.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Revolution-373x270.png 373w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Revolution.png 1429w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Karl Freund&#8217;s cinematography is noteworthy throughout, and the ending locust swarm sequence is particularly well handled: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts7.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts7-1024x743.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts7-1024x743.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts7-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts7-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts7-768x557.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts7-372x270.png 372w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts7.png 1415w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This adaptation remains worth a look, and should be seen once by all film fanatics simply for Rainer&#8217;s performance.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Luise Rainer as O-Lan<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Pearls.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Pearls.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1427\" height=\"1035\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-75224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Pearls.png 1427w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Pearls-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Pearls-1024x743.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Pearls-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Pearls-768x557.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Pearls-372x270.png 372w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1427px) 100vw, 1427px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Paul Muni as Wang Lung<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-1024x732.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"458\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-1024x732.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-128x91.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-768x549.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni-378x270.png 378w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Muni.png 1415w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Karl Freund&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Republic.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Republic-1024x731.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"457\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Republic-1024x731.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Republic-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Republic-128x91.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Republic-768x548.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Republic-378x270.png 378w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Republic.png 1427w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The impressive locust sequence<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts2-1024x735.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"459\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-75194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts2-1024x735.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts2-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts2-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts2-768x551.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts2-376x270.png 376w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Good-Earth-Locusts2.png 1423w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, once, for Rainer&#8217;s performance and several highly effective sequences. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0028944\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1886good.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/the-good-earth\/review\/2030277544\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/182\/the-good-earth#articles-reviews?articleId=27609\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-good-earth\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;What good is this land now?&#8221; Synopsis: A poor Chinese farmer (Paul Muni) married to a former slave (Luise Rainer) flees with his starving young family to a city in the south, where they beg for food until Rainer stumbles upon a bag of jewels during a revolutionary uprising. Once they&#8217;re back on their now-thriving farm, Muni requires his grown sons (Keye Luke and Roland Lui) to work for him, and falls for a beautiful singer (Tilly Losch) who he&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=75188\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75188"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75234,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75188\/revisions\/75234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}