L'homme du Sud

Renoir was still a master and had definitely not lost his touch when he made this saga about a year in the life of a desperately poor farming family trying to make it. The only thing that mars it, keeping it from rating a 10, are the cutesy-poo children and the saccharine music on the soundtrack, making it perfectly clear exactly how you were supposed to feel at any given moment. I suppose these were necessary nods to Hollywood conventions of the time. Kudos must go to Zachary Scott for the courage of his performance in the lead. An underrated actor, Scott was nearly always cast playing lounge lizards and other assorted slimeballs. Here he appears without his mustache and is almost unrecognizable. Given that Scott aspired to a career as a Gable-type leading man, this role was not a good career move. But it is definitely the performance of his career, and along with the equally outstanding performance of Betty Field, makes the film. Incidentally, I could have done without the over the top performance of Beulah Bondi as Granny; throughout the film I kept hoping Scott would strangle her.

I saw this film on a Saturday morning and loved it. It's about a man, his wife, their two children and the grouchy grandma, who are dirt poor (and I mean that literally) farmers. It's based on the book by George Sessions Perry called "Hold Autumn in Your Hand," but the movie and the book are completely different in style and manner. I personally like the movie more, as it showed the family's togetherness much better than the book. A wonderful Renoir film (I think my favourite of all his) and definitely a must see. The courage of the family is really touching. I gave it a...10/10.

Beautifully shot, absorbing film about the close-knit Tucker clan - Sam (Zachary Scott), the handsome dad who loves being a farmer, Nona (Betty Field), a good wife and mother who always seems to look well-groomed in spite of her hard work, two really cute kids, and then there's ornery old Granny (Beulah Bondi), she of the sharp tongue and stubborn will. In a gorgeously photographed scene where they are working for hire in the bright, sunlit fields picking cotton - the couple watches as their Uncle dies in the fields saying in his last breath "Grow your own crops", and they decide to do just that. Soon they have rented a property where they can raise cotton and be their own masters, so to speak - well, the house turns out to be nothing but a broken-down, ramshackle shack, the whole place needs loads and loads of work - but one good thing" it has "good earth". Troubles ensue - trouble with the neighbors, trouble getting food, sickness troubles, weather troubles, oh brother!

Well, this is an excellent, heartfelt, and well photographed film done in an unusual, distinctive style. The actors who play the Tucker family do a good job in making this actually seem like a real family and make you want to root for them - but it is Beulah Bondi as cantankerous Granny who really steals this film for me - I really enjoyed her scenes and thought they added a little spice to this! The hardships this clan has to go through can be hard to watch sometimes, but the story is involving and the film is quite memorable.

I have a copy of this movie and have watched it several times. Most of my family has as well. My father has a speaking part in the movie. His name is Isadore J. Blanco and is the 17 year old that is featured while working out in the field. My father passed away On Veterans Day November 12, 1996. He was a wonderful human being and it's a joy to be able to see and hear him speak as a teenager.

Many of the younger generation do not know of the lives of these poor field working families. Many of the older children did not complete elementary school because working to put food on the table was much more important. Survival was what drove these families. Many young men later enlisted in the military to better their lives.

"The Southerner" is a very good film starring Zachary Scott, Betty Field, Beulah Bondi, Norman Lloyd, J. Carrol Naish, and Blanche Yurka. It's the story of a man, Sam Tucker, working as a cotton picker along with his wife and parents. As his father lays dying in the field, he tells his son to own his own land. Sam quits his job and makes arrangements to work the land of his former boss, with the goal of ownership. He's not welcome by his closest neighbor (Naish) and the house on the land is nothing but a shack. The family nearly starves during the winter; the daughter can't go to school because she doesn't have a coat; his son falls ill with "spring sickness" (probably rickets). Nevertheless, Sam and Nona (Field) keep working, Sam knowing that working the land and feeling the sun is the only way he can live.

This is a very absorbing film. You not only see, but feel the struggles of the family and how hard they work no matter the odds, with strength and determination.

Betty Field was a good choice as Nona - she's plain and tired-looking, with a bright smile. The devotion she has to Sam and he to her is very touching. As a couple, she and Scott are very effective. Beulah Bondi is very good as the irascible, annoying, wizened grandmother either complaining or predicting doom and gloom. Naish gives an excellent performance as a jealous and unhelpful neighbor, and Norman Lloyd is appropriately slimy as his worker. It's always hard to relate the skinny Lloyd, who usually played villains, with the older, revered Dr. Auschlander in "St. Elsewhere" - he's had quite a career. As of this writing, he's 93 and still working.

Zachary Scott is okay as Sam but it's not a comfortable fit. The part required more warmth, more depth, and more internal grit; it's a Henry Fonda role. Still, for not being Scott's normal type of sophisticated or villainous part, he handles it well.

A good film, beautifully directed by Jean Renoir, who was nominated for an Oscar. There are some stunning cinematic moments as well. Worth watching for sure.