La terre chinoise

Sure, 65 years have passed since Thalberg's last production was filmed. But fellow IMDB members, come on, this movie is surely one of the masterpieces of the 30's! It is a 10.

This was the first movie I saw at New York's Museum of Modern Art, around 1970 (I was a teenager). Expensive looking yet with scenes of such poverty, masterfully photographed, often thrilling, and always engaging, to me it was MGM movie-making at its best. What did audiences feel when they glimpsed a locust attack, the person by person destruction of a mansion, the horrific poverty and then the splendor of wealth.

Last week, those watching the Academy Awards had a glimpse of the "senior" Oscar winner in attendance, Luise Rainer. How grand to see an actress who arguably delivered one of the most masterful, haunting performances in history electing to return for a celebration.

Ok, so she should not have won the year before (Great Ziegfeld), but don't blame Luise. Talkies were only a decade old when this was released, and her dialogue limited. But as Olan, her use of visual and vocal is memorable.

Large scale and touching, what more could a movie lover want!

Let's eliminate any discussion about the use of non-Asian actors playing Asian roles. The movie is 67 years old. In 1937 studio chiefs believed that any actor could/should be able to play any role. Actors were under contracts, and did not always have a choice about what role they played. End of story.

This is a truly great epic story of love, individual rights, class strata, and men/women issues. The centerpiece of the film is two brilliant performances by Luise Rainer and Paul Muni.

Muni plays Wang, a Chinese farmer, who is about to take a wife (Rainer). From the start, he treats her with respect, during a time when women were looked on as little more than hired help. Without giving too much of the movie away, they go through the highs and lows of all relationships, and even though the story may take place in late 19th/early 20th century,the story and much of their feelings, seems credible.

Other than the fact that the movie is about 5-10 minutes longer than it needs to be, and the performances of Charley Grapewin and Walter Connolly are typical 1930's cartoon characters, this is a really wonderful movie that, unfortunately, has become a victim of political correctness.

9 out of 10

What Irving Thalberg did in making this film today would never be attempted again. Making a Chinese story with occidental players even if they are of the caliber of Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Charley Grapewin, and Walter Connolly among others.

Perhaps it's partly because the story was written by a westerner, Pearl Buck who got a Pulitzer Prize for her novel in 1932. Ms. Buck, daughter of Chinese missionaries, probably brought China closer to the consciousness of America than any other person. Not the political struggles of China, but the lives and toil of the every day people we find in The Good Earth. Unfortunately later on, Pearl Buck became an apologist for the Kuomintang China of Chiang Kai-Shek in all its virtues and excesses. The rest of her literary output never matched The Good Earth.

In The Sundowners there is a great description of comparing China to Australia by Peter Ustinov. When asked the difference, Ustinov said China was very big and very full and Australia was very big and very empty. That's what you see in The Good Earth, China very big and very full of people, more than she can deal with at times.

The Good Earth tells the story of Wang Lung (Paul Muni) as a young man who purchases a wife from a large house where she was a slave. The woman O-Lan (Luise Rainer) bears him two sons and sees him through all the good times and bad they have, drought, famine, revolution, and a climatic locust plague.

Luise Rainer won the second of two consecutive Oscars for portraying O-Lan. She may have set some kind of record in that it has to be the leading player Oscar performance with the least amount of dialog. Everything she does practically is done with facial expressions, her performance could have been on a silent film with very minimal subtitles. I think only John Mills in Ryan's Daughter had fewer words and he was playing a mentally retarded man.

Muni is not always appreciative of how supportive she is in that male dominated culture. Rainer helps in the field, bears and raises the kids, does the housework. When Muni becomes a man of property he takes a Chinese second trophy wife who causes him a lot of grief. Still Rainer stoically bears it all. Still Muni is not a bad man and it's a tribute to the film and his acting and Buck's writing that you don't hate him and the culture gap is bridged.

We've got a group of oriental players now who do more than just Kung Fu movies. I'm surprised The Good Earth of all films has not been remade at this point. I'll bet the Chinese government would even let some American company do it on an actual location.

Till then we've got this great classic to appreciate and enjoy.

The Good Earth is a film about love, marriage, family, and the land that you live on. But more precisely its about faithfulness to those institutions and bedrocks of society as shown through O-Lan and her farming family in China.

A wonderful story by Pearl Buck, Great direction by Sidney Franklin and Victor Fleming [uncredited], very good acting headed by Paul Muni, great cinematography by Karl Freund, and special effects 20 years ahead of their time make this a classic.

However as good as those elements to this film are the reason The Good Earth is one of the 100 greatest films of all time is O-Lan. O-Lan, O-Faithful O-Lan. How you linger in my memory. One of my two favorite female character-performances in film history. The other is Scarlett O'Hara. Two peas in a pod? No, more like night and day. Both beautiful in their own way. It amazes me that these two character-performances came from films directed by Victor Fleming within two years of each other. Louise Rainer as O-Lan gives a performance as subtle and subdued as the character she plays. While Vivien Leighs performance is as perky and over the top as the character she plays. O-Lan is discreet and selfless. Scarlett is brash and self-absorbed. O-What a double feature Gone With the Wind and The Good Earth would make. O-Lan and Scarlett. Ying and Yang.

If you are a "liberated woman" than The Good Earth may not be for you. But as for me, O-Lan is the salt of the good earth.

An epic movie from Old Hollywood about Chinese farmer Wang (Paul Muni), his wife O-Lan (Luise Rainer), and their struggles with famine, locusts, and greed. Muni is terrific. He's a divisive actor for many. I think he's one of the best actors of his era. Others think he's hammy and over-the-top. Luise Rainer won an Oscar for her sensitive, quiet performance as O-Lan. Charley Grapewin brings his grizzled old-timer persona he used in many films to this one. He's great fun to watch whether he's in China or Oklahoma. Also winning an Oscar was the great cinematographer Karl Freund, possibly best known today for his Universal horror films. It's a beautiful-looking film. Obviously, the elephant in the room is the casting of white actors as some of the Chinese characters. That's going to be a deal-breaker for politically correct types. If you're one of them, just spare yourself the faux outrage and watch something else. For everybody else, check this out and enjoy a classic film with a lot to offer.