The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Harry Harrison Kroll (novel)
Paul Green (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 October 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Heart-racked by soul-stirring emotions...position and wealth beckoning...A seductive daughter of the rich madly yielding in his arms...The call of his people and childhood sweetheart ringing in his ears...Would you make the same decision as BARTHELMESS

Plot:

A tenant farmer's son is caught in the middle of owner-tenant disputes when he falls for the plantation owner's seductive daughter.

Plot Keywords:

Education | Poverty | Tenant Farmer | Cotton | Sharecropper

Cast

Richard Barthelmess	...	Marvin Blake
Dorothy Jordan	...	Betty Wright
Bette Davis	...	Madge Norwood
Hardie Albright	...	Roland Neal
David Landau	...	Tom Blake
Berton Churchill	...	Lane Norwood
Dorothy Peterson	...	Lilly Blake
Russell Simpson	...	Uncle Joe
Tully Marshall	...	Slick
Henry B. Walthall	...	Eph Clinton
Edmund Breese	...	Holmes Scott
John Marston	...	Russell Carter
Erville Alderson	...	Sock Fisher
William Le Maire	...	Jake Fisher (as William LeMaire)
Clarence Muse	...	A Blind Negro

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2725-R, 29 September 1936 for re-release)

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

Bette Davis said in an interview with Barbara Walters that "I'd like to kiss you but I just washed my hair" was her all-time favorite movie line.

Quotes:

Madge: Cigarette?
Marvin Blake: No Thanks.
Madge: Don't drink, don’t smoke... you'll be a preacher yet, won't you Marvin, or something different...? But you'll have to get loose from them.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Girl I Left Behind Me

Musically Interesting

With all the emphasis on Bette Davis in this film, it is easy to overlook the musical interest. I counted four different musical groups, each assigned to a different "class". There was the marching band at the funeral (black used at a poor white event), the jug band (white, at the poor white party), the jazz band (black, at the rich white party), and the blues singer. This is a surprisingly rich array of styles.

Interestingly, only the blues singer (Clarence Muse) is credited.