Only 34 reviews so far for a certified American classic that if not in the top 100 Hollywood films of the twentieth century is damn close? Almost as puzzling as why the Oscars rejected Cicely Tyson's subtle portrayal of dignity for Liza Minnelli's hammy chorus girl. (Paul Winfield's brilliant interpretation of the angry, loving father losing out to another dad, Brando's Don Vito Corleone, is of course, more defensible). However, IMDB indifference aside, this is a wonderful study of a poor, black, rural family's struggles in the segregated American South of the 1920s. It's a story we've seen many times before but rarely so de-sentimentalized. Lonnie Elder's fine screenplay and Martin Ritt's blessedly and unexpectedly low key direction seem to go out of their way to defang lugubriousness, so to speak, before it can bite us in our tear ducts. The result is a film that is moving without being schmaltzy or hokey and if you think that's all that common I defy you to come up with another example off the top of your head. Throw in John Alonzo's lovely cinematography which provides a nice, ironic contrast with the decidedly unlovely existence of the Morgan family, and Taj Mahal's wonderful blues/country score (which didn't even garner an Oscar nomination ,much less an award) and you can see why this is one of those rare films you can watch repeatedly and the experience still feels fresh. Give it an A. PS...Best performance by a dog in a movie since "Old Yeller".