Dragon Seed (1944)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Directors:

Harold S. Bucquet
Jack Conway

Writers:

Pearl S. Buck (novel)
Marguerite Roberts (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

August 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

The lives of a small Chinese village are turned Upside down when the Japanese invade it. And heroic young Chinese woman leads her fellow villagers in an uprising against Japanese Invaders.

Plot Keywords:

China | Village | Invasion | Literacy | Farm

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Jade Tan
Walter Huston	...	Ling Tan
Aline MacMahon	...	Ling Tan's Wife
Akim Tamiroff	...	Wu Lien
Turhan Bey	...	Lao Er Tan - Middle Son
Hurd Hatfield	...	Lao San Tan - Youngest Son
J. Carrol Naish	...	Japanese Kitchen Overseer
Agnes Moorehead	...	Third Cousin's Wife
Henry Travers	...	Third Cousin
Robert Bice	...	Lao Ta Tan - Eldest Son
Robert Lewis	...	Captain Sato
Frances Rafferty	...	Orchid Tan - Lao Ta's Wife
Jacqueline deWit	...	Wu Lien's Wife
Clarence Lung	...	Fourth Cousin
Paul E. Burns	...	Neighbor Shen

Runtime:

147 min (copyright length) | USA:148 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #10000) | Finland:K-16 | Argentina:Atp | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Chinatown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Filmed in 1943 on the MGM lot in Culver City during the Second World War, the film features an unusual assortment of non-Asian actors with odd accents playing Chinese and Japanese: Russian-born and Stanislavski-trained Akim Tamiroff as Wu Lien; Turhan Bey, Viennese born son of a Turkish father and Czechoslovakian mother as the middle son, Lao Er Tan; New England patrician Katharine Hepburn as his wife; American Aline MacMahon, no longer one of the wisecracking Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), as the wife of Ling Tang; English born Henry Travers (best remembered as Clarence the Angel from It's a Wonderful Life (1946)) as the Third Cousin;" Irish-America J. Carrol Naish as the Japanese Kitchen Overseer; and finally Jewish-American Robert Lewis, co-founder of the Actors Studio and Meryl Streep's teacher at the Yale Drama School as the Japanese Captain Sato.

Quotes:

Ling Tan: [referring to Jade's son] He has his eyes open. Make sure the one who teaches him has his eyes open.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

Chee Lai

An Underrated World War II Drama

Many critics consider the 1944 drama,"Dragon Seed" to be an overlong epic that has unconvincing characterizations of Chinese people. It's true that some of American actors in this film don't look Chinese,but a majority of them do. With that said,"Dragon Seed" is one of the best films about World War II. I have ever seen. It contains excellent performances by the entire cast and deals with a part of the war that is rarely mentioned, the Japanese occupation in China in the late 1930's. The film is based on a popular novel by Pearl S. Buck and tells the story of Ling Tan(Walter Huston)and his family of farmers.Tan and his wife(Aline MacMahon)try to keep the ancient Chinese customs alive in their household, but they soon realize that this is impossible. Jade,(Katharine Hepburn)Tan's daughter-in-law and many people in China are finding out ways to protect themselves against Japanese invaders. When the Japanese come, their lives are destroyed forever. The farmers are forced to share most of their land with the invaders,homes and personal belongings are destroyed,the invaders storm into homes and kill people, and people flee to get away from all the chaos. As a viewer,you see a family courageously surviving turmoil the best way that they can. The film is entertaining all the way through. Katharine Hepburn gives one of the greatest and most underrated performances of her career.She should have gotten,at least,an Oscar nomination for it. Walter Huston and Aline MacMahon are equally brilliant as the wise heads of the family. Agnes Moorehead gives a fascinating performance as a nasty in-law,who will do anything to get what she wants. Of course, this film has the usual high MGM production values. I give it a 9 out of 10.