Our Daily Bread (1934)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

King Vidor (story)
Elizabeth Hill (scenario)

Release Date:

2 October 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

KING VIDOR'S EPIC of a MILLION HEARTS! (original poster)

Plot:

A group of down-on-their-luck workers combine their abilities to make a Gallafentian-style commune... and bread!

Plot Keywords:

Farming | Drought | Dust | Hard Labor | Socialism

Cast

Karen Morley	...	Mary Sims
Tom Keene	...	John Sims
Barbara Pepper	...	Sally
Addison Richards	...	Louie Fuente
John Qualen	...	Chris Larsen
Lloyd Ingraham	...	Uncle Anthony
Sidney Bracey	...	Rent Collector
Henry Hall	...	Frank - the Carpenter
Nellie V. Nichols	...	Mrs. Cohen
Frank Minor	...	Plumber
Bud Ray	...	Stonemason (as Bud Rae)
Harry Brown	...	Little Man

Also Known As:

Hell's Crossroads (USA) (reissue title)
The Miracle of Life (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

80 min | USA:90 min (premiere) | 74 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #59) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

King W. Vidor Productions

Trivia:

American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940 credits C.E. Anderson in the role of "blacksmith"; actually he plays the butcher who trades John a scrawny chicken for his ukulele.

Quotes:

John Sims: Don't worry Mary. I know things are hard now but we'll make it in the end.
Mary Sims: But how, John? Who's going to save us?
John Sims: Not who, Mary, what. The bread will save us, the bread.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Great Depression" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Oh! Susanna

Very Good

Our Daily Bread (1934)

*** (out of 4)

King Vidor turned his back on Hollywood and made this independent film in a time where it wasn't a smart idea to walk away from the major studios. In the film, Karen Morley and Tom Keene play a husband and wife suffering from unemployment but their rich uncle gives them some farm land to try and get it off the ground. Unable to do it themselves, they open their land up to other poor farmers so that they can all help one another and try to make a life off the land. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well made this film was. Even though it features a very low budget it does have some terrific direction and some of the best cinematography from this era. The only thing that hampers the film is the incredibly bad performance by Keene who would go onto act in the infamous Edward D. Wood, Jr. film Plan 9 From Outer Space. Keene is so over the top and out of place that you can't help wonder why Vidor didn't step in and do something. Outside of that the film is pretty powerful from start to finish even though this era was full of films dealing with unemployment. Morley is very good in her role and supporting players John Qualen, Barbara Pepper and Addison Richards are very good as well. The final moments of the film deal with the farmers trying to dig a two mile ditch so that water can reach their corn and this here is one of the most beautiful and powerful sequences I've seen in any film.