The Southerner (1945)
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The Southerner was Jean Renoir's favorite of his American films. Shot on location, the film stars Zachary Scott as a sharecropper who yearns for a place of his own. On a tiny, scraggly patch of land, Scott tries to make a go of things, along with his wife Betty Field, his grandmother Beulah Bondi, and his children Jean Vanderwilt (aka Bunny Sunshine) and Jay Gilpin. Though a proud, independent man, Scott is forced by circumstance to seek help from neighboring farmer J. Carroll Naish, whose life experience have left him bitter and vituperative. The two men become enemies, but are reunited by their mutual love of fishing. Scott suffers a setback when a rainstorm destroys his cotton crop. He is about to go wearily back to working for others (specifically, factory owner Charles Kemper, who also narrates the film) when he is convinced by his never-say-die family to persevere on his own. Director Jean Renoir also wrote the script for The Southerner--in fluent English rather than French, as mental exercise. Told at a leisurely, unhurried pace, the film is the one American Renoir effort that comes closest to his "slice of life" dramas of the 1930s. The Southerner was not a box office hit, but did win the effusive praise of critics, not to mention the Venice Film Festival "best picture" award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 91 mins
Complete Cast:
- Zachary Scott - Sam Tucker
- Beulah Bondi - Granny Tucker
- Percy Kilbride - Harmie Jenkins
- Jay Gilpin - Jot Tucker
- Charles Kemper - Tim, the Narrator
- Nestor Paiva - Bartender
- Dorothy Granger - Party Girl
- Florence Bates - Rose
- Paul E. Burns - Uncle Pete Tucker
- Jean Vanderwilt - Daisv
- Jack Norworth - Doc White
- Betty Field - Nona Tucker
- Bunny Sunshine - Daisy Tucker
- J. Carrol Naish - Henry Devers
- Blanche Yurka - Ma Tucker
- Norman Lloyd - Finlay Hewitt
- Estelle Taylor - Lizzie
- Paul Harvey - Ruston
- Noreen Nash - Becky
- Earl Hodgins - Wedding Guest
- Almira Sessions - Customer at Store
- Director(s):
- Jean Renoir
- Writer(s):
- Hugo Butler, Nunnally Johnson, Jean Renoir
- Producer(s):
- David L. Loew, Robert Hakim
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- Subtitles:
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- 1945 - The Southerner - National Board of Review - Best Director
- 1946 - The Southerner - Venice International Film Festival - Critics' Prize for Best Film
