American Harvest

This movie is kind of weak in the plot, but it's a nice documentary about custom combining, a great American tradition since World War II. Kansas farmer gets stormed out and figures the best way to make money is to start up a custom combining crew. However, he can't afford the then-state-of-the-art Gleaner rotaries or John Deere 8820s. He can't even afford 7700s or even 105s. He custom combines with John Deere 95s. He operates on a shoestring budget with a ragamuffin crew. Rivalry with another crew results in hi-jinks. In this movie you get to see combine demolition derby and Ernie Brookins's Jumpin' Combine. The conflict is resolved peacefully, but, then, that's the way things should be.

Men, eh? They soon build up intolerance toward each other. It's all that testosterone, you know. Anyways, like Macduff in "Macbeth", you gotta combine the typical male qualities (strength, kicking people's heads in) with the typical female qualities (trust, honesty, belief) to succeed. All of which has only very little bearing on this TV drama. Things are going bad for the Duncans, dirt-poor wheat farmers. In times such as this, you need good neighbours; trouble is, Walter Duncan (Wayne Rogers) can't stand the sight of neighbour Krab Hogan (Earl Holliman) - well, would you trust someone called Krab? And while you're pondering that, would you starve or ask someone for help? That's the story. Goodnight.