Review of The Cabin in the Cotton

This was not a "big" movie from Warner Brothers, but a relatively inexpensive film starring its lesser actors. It just so happens that one of these "lesser" actors turned out to be a very young and vivacious Bette Davis. Sure, her accent is a bit broad, but she does a lovely job playing the happy-go-lucky daughter of a rich Southern land owner. Richard Barthlemess plays a poor but decent guy caught between loyalties to the land owner and the sharecroppers he knows and loves. Perhaps the biggest down-side to this film is Barthelmess--his character often seems very weak and wussy--though he does a great job in the end standing up to both sides. On the plus side, the dialog and direction is generally very good, and like most Warner films it's great entertainment tied to an interesting social message. Not the best film by any means, but well-made and worth seeing.