L'uomo del Sud

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 notable for giving ZACHARY SCOTT his first real chance to shine as a promising new movie actor headed for stardom, teaming him with the always reliable BETTY FIELD as the wife of a dirt poor farmer in this Depression-era saga, uplifting despite the adversity of their situation due to Jean Renoir's fine direction.

"Grow your own crop," Scott, a Texas farmer, is told by his dying uncle. He struggles with his family to do just that--and THE SOUTHERNER becomes a tale of survival against the cruel twists and turns of nature. BEULAH BONDI is the stubborn Granny whose bark is worse than her bite, but she does tend to get annoying in her whining ways.

Working the land and making farmland self-supporting is never an easy matter and it gets plenty of negative treatment here with the odds against the struggling family at every turn. J. CARROLL NAISH and NORMAN LLOYD as hard-nosed neighbors make themselves utterly unlikeable (but believable) as Scott's uncooperative neighbors, unwilling to spare some milk for him when his son is ill. PERCY KILBRIDE comes to his rescue with a rented cow and later becomes his father-in-law, marrying BLANCHE YURKA.

But there are still hardships ahead, including a severe storm that destroys all the crops, serving to emphasize the man against nature theme of the entire story. Everything is destroyed but the human spirit.

Scott, Field and Bondi give heartfelt performances, with Bondi a bit over-the-top as Granny. It's not in the same class with THE GRAPES OF WRATH but it does create a sympathetic portrait of farmers who work the land.

Based on a novel called "Hold Autumn in Your Hand", it stands the test of time largely because of the performances.

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.

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 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.