Associate producer: Albert Lewin. Producer: Irving Thalberg (completed by Bernard Hyman after Thalberg's death on 14 September 1936).
Copyright 8 February 1937 by Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Astor, 2 February 1937. U.S. release: 6 August 1937. U.K. release: April 1937. 14 reels. 138 minutes. Dedicated to the memory of Irving Grant Thalberg.
SYNOPSIS: Chinese peasant farmer finds out the hard way that wealth does not bring happiness.
NOTES: Best Actress, Luise Rainer (defeating Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth, Greta Garbo in Camille, Janet Gaynor in A Star Is Born and Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas).
Best Cinematography, Karl Freund (defeating Gregg Toland's Dead End and Joseph Valentine's Wings Over Honolulu).
Also nominated for Best Picture (The Life of Emile Zola), Directing (Leo McCarey for The Awful Truth), Film Editing (Lost Horizon). Number 2 (Zola was first) in the Film Daily annual poll of U.S. film critics.
Negative cost: $2,816,000. Initial domestic rental gross: $3,557,000.
COMMENT: The days are long since past when western actors, their eyes perfunctorily taped, were acceptable as orientals. The farce is compounded when, as here, such players are mixed with the genuine articles. Even aside from this dated anachronism (yes, it was an anachronism that most people accepted in 1937, — now it's a dated anachronism).
"The Good Earth" is often slow-moving and over-talkative. Its many dialogue scenes are as tediously paced as they are pedantically written and unimaginatively staged.
Oddly enough, Luise Rainer has little to say. She is given less dialogue than the other major players, but the director makes up for this lapse by inserting constant close-ups of her soulful expression. None of the players distinguish themselves either (except maybe Tillie Losch who not only makes a very late entrance but doesn't even speak with her own voice).
Karl Freund's sepia photography is not viewed at its original quality in the present black-and-white prints. Even the celebrated locust plague sequence can now be easily detected as amateurish special effects matting, cut in with studio close-ups.
True, some of the other action scenes retain their power (particularly the looting of the warehouse), despite a very obvious photographic and directorial disparity between actual location sequences (the boarding of the train) and studio inserts.
All told, The Good Earth is a dated hodge-podge of a picture. Its dated acting styles and conventions are as unacceptable to today's audience as its naive and laughably simplistic philosophy.
Copyright 8 February 1937 by Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Astor, 2 February 1937. U.S. release: 6 August 1937. U.K. release: April 1937. 14 reels. 138 minutes. Dedicated to the memory of Irving Grant Thalberg.
SYNOPSIS: Chinese peasant farmer finds out the hard way that wealth does not bring happiness.
NOTES: Best Actress, Luise Rainer (defeating Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth, Greta Garbo in Camille, Janet Gaynor in A Star Is Born and Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas).
Best Cinematography, Karl Freund (defeating Gregg Toland's Dead End and Joseph Valentine's Wings Over Honolulu).
Also nominated for Best Picture (The Life of Emile Zola), Directing (Leo McCarey for The Awful Truth), Film Editing (Lost Horizon). Number 2 (Zola was first) in the Film Daily annual poll of U.S. film critics.
Negative cost: $2,816,000. Initial domestic rental gross: $3,557,000.
COMMENT: The days are long since past when western actors, their eyes perfunctorily taped, were acceptable as orientals. The farce is compounded when, as here, such players are mixed with the genuine articles. Even aside from this dated anachronism (yes, it was an anachronism that most people accepted in 1937, — now it's a dated anachronism).
"The Good Earth" is often slow-moving and over-talkative. Its many dialogue scenes are as tediously paced as they are pedantically written and unimaginatively staged.
Oddly enough, Luise Rainer has little to say. She is given less dialogue than the other major players, but the director makes up for this lapse by inserting constant close-ups of her soulful expression. None of the players distinguish themselves either (except maybe Tillie Losch who not only makes a very late entrance but doesn't even speak with her own voice).
Karl Freund's sepia photography is not viewed at its original quality in the present black-and-white prints. Even the celebrated locust plague sequence can now be easily detected as amateurish special effects matting, cut in with studio close-ups.
True, some of the other action scenes retain their power (particularly the looting of the warehouse), despite a very obvious photographic and directorial disparity between actual location sequences (the boarding of the train) and studio inserts.
All told, The Good Earth is a dated hodge-podge of a picture. Its dated acting styles and conventions are as unacceptable to today's audience as its naive and laughably simplistic philosophy.