Don't let Barbara Stanwyck's big city accent fool you in this rural drama about a veteran farm woman who becomes the poster child for earth mother. Her character was raised in Chicago, the daughter of a gambler, so obviously, she'd have some tough sounding voice, just like the Brooklyn born Stanwyck had. This was a turning point in Barbara Stanwyck's career, because after being in several truly bad early sound films, she had training from one of the masters (Frank Capra) in the art of screen acting and by 1932, was able to gain some of the best available roles through the rarely heard option of studio free lancing.
This film version of Edna Ferber's best selling novel shows her determination to make a new life for herself after the death of her father, moving into the home of a hard working farmer and teaching school. Marrying local farmer Earle Foxe, she is soon a widow with a young son (Dickie Moore) to support, nicknaming him "So Big" as he gets older, even referring him with that name when he's all grown up and handsome (played by Hardie Albright), yet not necessarily the idealistic boy he once was. Stanwyck's former private student (played as a youngster with an obvious crush on Stanwyck by Dick Winslow), having run off to get away from cabbages, returns for a visit, now played by George Brent. An idealistic young artist (Bette Davis) befriends Albright and reunites him and Stanwyck with Brent, home from working as a famous artist in Europe, hopefully waking Albright up to the babbity little phony he may turn into if he continues his affair with the married Chicago socialite Mae Madison.
Why this doesn't get a higher ranking is based on the fact that this was greatly edited, because so many important details are obviously missing. One classic still from the movie shows screen legends Stanwyck and Davis meeting, while in the final print, the camera only pans from Davis praising Stanwyck to Albright for her earthiness and Stanwyck and Brent reuniting. For fans of two actresses I consider in the top five of all time screen legends, it is a major disappointment. Brent, second billed, has what is nothing more than a cameo, on screen for maybe ten minutes. The detail of the first half of the film is truly outstanding, showing Stanwyck's enthusiasm at being out in the great outdoors and how the local farmers teased her about her fascination with the local crops, especially cabbages. A hysterically funny scene has her jelly sandwiches getting more attention at a local picnic basket auction than some old crone's roast duck, and the pickle faced widow's fury at being passed over by some young interloper.
There are touching performances by Dorothy Peterson as the wife of the farmer Stanwyck moves in with, an obvious fragile woman who puts on airs of strength; Noel Francis as a down to earth street walker in Chicago who opens her big heart to Stanwyck and Moore when they arrive at the stockyards to sell their crops; and Robert Warwick as Stanwyck's father who teaches the young Selina (Anne Shirley) how to make even the smallest things in life a huge adventure. It's ironic to see young Dawn O'Day (who soon changed her name to Anne Shirley) playing Stanwyck's character, considering that they played mother and daughter later on in "Stella Dallas", both receiving Oscar nominations. Under the direction of William Wellman, this really had the makings of a classic and one that would have been remembered at award time had it not cut out so much of the meat. The Jane Wyman remake in 1953 featured a bit more detail and for years was the only version of this story out for viewing. But the restored print of this early production is neat and clean, but unfortunately too streamlined for such a potential epic of "Cimarron" caliber.
This film version of Edna Ferber's best selling novel shows her determination to make a new life for herself after the death of her father, moving into the home of a hard working farmer and teaching school. Marrying local farmer Earle Foxe, she is soon a widow with a young son (Dickie Moore) to support, nicknaming him "So Big" as he gets older, even referring him with that name when he's all grown up and handsome (played by Hardie Albright), yet not necessarily the idealistic boy he once was. Stanwyck's former private student (played as a youngster with an obvious crush on Stanwyck by Dick Winslow), having run off to get away from cabbages, returns for a visit, now played by George Brent. An idealistic young artist (Bette Davis) befriends Albright and reunites him and Stanwyck with Brent, home from working as a famous artist in Europe, hopefully waking Albright up to the babbity little phony he may turn into if he continues his affair with the married Chicago socialite Mae Madison.
Why this doesn't get a higher ranking is based on the fact that this was greatly edited, because so many important details are obviously missing. One classic still from the movie shows screen legends Stanwyck and Davis meeting, while in the final print, the camera only pans from Davis praising Stanwyck to Albright for her earthiness and Stanwyck and Brent reuniting. For fans of two actresses I consider in the top five of all time screen legends, it is a major disappointment. Brent, second billed, has what is nothing more than a cameo, on screen for maybe ten minutes. The detail of the first half of the film is truly outstanding, showing Stanwyck's enthusiasm at being out in the great outdoors and how the local farmers teased her about her fascination with the local crops, especially cabbages. A hysterically funny scene has her jelly sandwiches getting more attention at a local picnic basket auction than some old crone's roast duck, and the pickle faced widow's fury at being passed over by some young interloper.
There are touching performances by Dorothy Peterson as the wife of the farmer Stanwyck moves in with, an obvious fragile woman who puts on airs of strength; Noel Francis as a down to earth street walker in Chicago who opens her big heart to Stanwyck and Moore when they arrive at the stockyards to sell their crops; and Robert Warwick as Stanwyck's father who teaches the young Selina (Anne Shirley) how to make even the smallest things in life a huge adventure. It's ironic to see young Dawn O'Day (who soon changed her name to Anne Shirley) playing Stanwyck's character, considering that they played mother and daughter later on in "Stella Dallas", both receiving Oscar nominations. Under the direction of William Wellman, this really had the makings of a classic and one that would have been remembered at award time had it not cut out so much of the meat. The Jane Wyman remake in 1953 featured a bit more detail and for years was the only version of this story out for viewing. But the restored print of this early production is neat and clean, but unfortunately too streamlined for such a potential epic of "Cimarron" caliber.