Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

The Good Earth Overview:

The Good Earth (1937) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by Sidney Franklin, Victor Fleming (uncredited), Gustav Machatý (uncredited) and Sam Wood (uncredited) and produced by Irving Thalberg and Albert Lewin.

SYNOPSIS

Excellent, painstaking adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's 1931 tome about a Chinese peasant family whose rise to wealth nearly destroys them, save for the saintly O'Lan. The special effects and the cinematography are wonderful, and Rainer won the second of her consecutive Oscars for Best Actress. This was Thalberg's last production and is dedicated to his memory.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1937 --- Ceremony Number 10 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressLuise RainerWon
Best CinematographyKarl FreundWon
Best DirectorSidney FranklinNominated
Best Film EditingBasil WrangellNominated
Best PictureMetro-Goldwyn-MayerNominated

The Good Earth BlogHub Articles:

The Good Earth (1937, Sidney Franklin)

For maybe the first ninety minutes of The Good Earth, it seems like the most interesting thing to talk about is going to be how the filmmakers were able to make the lead characters in the film appear sympathetic while they were being, frankly, un-American. It makes sense, since the main characters a... Read full article


The Good Earth (1937, Sidney Franklin)

For maybe the first ninety minutes of The Good Earth, it seems like the most interesting thing to talk about is going to be how the filmmakers were able to make the lead characters in the film appear sympathetic while they were being, frankly, un-American. It makes sense, since the main characters a... Read full article


The Good Earth (1937, Sidney Franklin)

For maybe the first ninety minutes of The Good Earth, it seems like the most interesting thing to talk about is going to be how the filmmakers were able to make the lead characters in the film appear sympathetic while they were being, frankly, un-American. It makes sense, since the main characters a... Read full article


The Good Earth (1937, Sidney Franklin)

For maybe the first ninety minutes of The Good Earth, it seems like the most interesting thing to talk about is going to be how the filmmakers were able to make the lead characters in the film appear sympathetic while they were being, frankly, un-American. It makes sense, since the main characters a... Read full article


The Good Earth (1937) (2)

The Good Earth Directed by Sidney Franklin Written by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West based upon the novel by Pearl S. Buck 1937/USA Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Repeat viewing Unidentified laborer: I don’t know but it has something to do with food. Something about MGM’s worthy... Read full article


See More The Good Earth Articles

The Good Earth Quotes:

No Quote for this film.
The Good Earth Facts
The location shots in China were filmed by director George W. Hill for a movie that was later abandoned. Hill had died by the time this film went into production.

The first time that Irving Thalberg's name appeared onscreen. The movie - the last one he produced - was dedicated to him "as his last great achievement."

The play by Owen Davis and Donald Davis, based on Pearl S. Buck's novel, opened in New York on 18 October 1933 at the Guild Theater with Claude Rains and Alla Nazimova in the lead roles and ran for 56 performances.

James Stewart, who worked as a contract player at MGM in the 1930s, tested for, and almost got, the part of Wang Lung.

Because the Sino-Japanese war was in progress, the Chinese government threatened not to approve the movie if any Japanese actors were cast in any role.

See More Facts about The Good Earth >>