Review of The World Changes

I was very surprised to encounter this little-remembered early Paul Muni film, on TCM. I discovered that it's also available on YouTube! It certainly doesn't deserve it's status as one of Muni's more obscure films. It's the saga of a Scandinavian pioneer Dakota sod buster's son, Orin Nordholm, who wants to get off his family farm, and drive herds of cattle up from Texas to the rail heads. This he does, after some advice from Buffalo Bill(didn't know Bill was into cattle driving?). Then, he heads for Chicago, where he strikes up a partnership with a meat packer. and marries his daughter(terrible choice, as things turn out!). Doesn't take him long to become a kingpin in the business., with his adoption of refrigerated cars to carry dressed meat portions, rather than the traditional hauling of cattle to markets. He is always looking for ways to cut costs, expand and improve his business. Unfortunately, his wife(played by Mary Astor) hates anything to do with livestock stockyards and butchering livestock. Thus, she counters Orin's dream that his sons will follow him into his business. Mrs. Nordholm tries to steer her offspring toward becoming professionals in the East, or marrying such or British royalty. As a dyed-in -the- wool agriculturist, Orin has nothing but distain for such ideas, considering such people the worthless idle rich. Eventually, he drives his wife insane, and she dies of a heart attack....,,,,,Many years later, after Orin has been persuaded to sell his business, the stock market crash of '29 takes a big toll on the financial health of his sons, one of who commits suicide, becoming hopelessly in debt. Also, the marriage of his daughter is cancelled. Soon, Orin, feeling his health failing, pleads with his grandson, Orin III to marry the granddaughter of his first love, back in Dakota, whom he abandoned in his footloose youth, and move with her, and Orin's 90y.o. mother, back to their Dakota farm. This is done, and Orin's body is buried on the farm.........Orin is partially based upon the notable pioneer in industrial scale meat packing: G.F. Swift. The initial film portions dealing with Orin's Dakota life and cattle driving, is purely fictional. Probably, the family problems that dominate the last half are also fictional. However, Swift did build his meat packing empire from Chicago, as dramatized. He was instrumental in getting the first practical refrigerated train car developed, thus greatly reducing the cost of meat products to consumers, along with making profit for himself. Initially, the obstinate railroads refused to carry his refrigerated cars, fearing the obsolescence of their cattle cars and stockyards. Finally, he found a small company that agreed to carry his cars, inducing the others to follow suit. As alluded to in the film, Swift was constantly looking for new products to utilize the waste from his operations, so that he could brag that he used the whole carcass, "except for the squeal". However, the film does not bring out the importance of Swift's pioneering use of economies of scale and vertical integration, as well as his use of assembly line processing. Henry Ford was impressed by all these features , on a visit to the main plant. All of these innovations, along with refrigerated cars drastically reduced the price of meat products to consumers, especially in the East.......... Interestingly, if we assume Orin died in 1930, when his mother was said to be 90, and assume she was 16 when he was born, then he lived to about 75, which is the age at which Swift died..........It's amazing how Muni's makeup was gradually altered to make him look progressively older, being quite white-haired toward the end. Initially, his hair was colored blondish, helping to make him look about 20, his real age being 38.