MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 80 this week

The Good Earth (1937)

 -  Drama | Romance  -  6 August 1937 (USA)
7.7
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.7/10 from 2,574 users  
Reviews: 49 user | 19 critic

The story of a farmer in China: a story of humility and bravery. His father gives Wang Lung a freed slave as wife. By diligence and frugality the two manage to enlarge their property. But ... See full summary »

Director:

Writers:

(screen play), (screen play), 2 more credits »
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 1553 titles created 10 months ago
 
a list of 3595 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 2916 titles created 16 May 2011
 
a list of 1284 titles created 12 Nov 2011
 
a list of 538 titles created 19 Nov 2011
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Good Earth (1937)

The Good Earth (1937) on IMDb 7.7/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Good Earth.
Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Joel and Priscilla have been in love since they were children. Mark announces his engagement to her without obtaining her permission. While Joel and Mark are at sea Mark is abandoned in ... See full summary »

Director: William Nigh
Stars: Ramon Novarro, Joan Crawford, Ernest Torrence
Summertime (1955)
Romance | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A lonely American woman unexpectedly finds romance in Venice, Italy.

Director: David Lean
Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, Isa Miranda
Dodsworth (1936)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A retired auto manufacturer consents to a European vacation to please his vain wife, who is in denial about her age and uses the trip as a chance to flirt with other men.

Director: William Wyler
Stars: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.

Director: Orson Welles
Stars: Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.

Director: Elia Kazan
Stars: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield
Now, Voyager (1942)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

Boston spinster blossoms under therapy and finds impossible romance.

Director: Irving Rapper
Stars: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Sunrise (1927)
Certificate: Passed Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X  

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

Director: F.W. Murnau
Stars: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
Certificate: Passed Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Childhood friends are torn apart when one of them marries the woman the other once fiercely loved.

Director: Clarence Brown
Stars: John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.

Director: Barbra Streisand
Stars: Nick Nolte, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A frail waif, abused by her brutish boxer father in London's seedy Limehouse District, is befriended by a sensitive Chinese immigrant with tragic consequences.

Director: D.W. Griffith
Stars: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Stars: Einar Sissener, Tove Tellback, Stub Wiberg
Certificate: Passed Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Prudence Cole is an unsophisticated Quaker girl being raised by her two aunts. Prudence is flirted with by snobbish Henry Garrison, who actually disdains the girl for her lack of ... See full summary »

Director: Robert G. Vignola
Stars: Marion Davies, Forrest Stanley, June Elvidge
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
Wang
...
...
Tilly Losch ...
Lotus
...
Jessie Ralph ...
Cuckoo
Soo Yong ...
Aunt
...
Elder Son
Roland Lui ...
Younger Son
Suzanna Kim ...
Little Fool
Ching Wah Lee ...
Ching
Harold Huber ...
Cousin
Olaf Hytten ...
Liu - Grain Merchant
William Law ...
Gateman
Mary Wong ...
Little Bride
Edit

Storyline

The story of a farmer in China: a story of humility and bravery. His father gives Wang Lung a freed slave as wife. By diligence and frugality the two manage to enlarge their property. But then a famine forces them to leave their land and live in the town. However it turns out to be a blessing in disguise for them... Written by Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

famine | farmer | money | slave | city | See more »

Taglines:

China . . . . Land of unrest . . . tomorrow they may Starve !

Genres:

Drama | Romance

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

6 August 1937 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Die gute Erde  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$2,800,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

(Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Hays Office - which supervised every Hollywood script at the time - insisted on rewrites to remove contentious subject matter. In all, they demanded more than 20 rewrites. See more »

Goofs

During one scene, Wang Lung beats his son for being with his second wife. As the son crawls away, it is obvious he was protected by wearing a thick pad on his back. See more »

Quotes

O-Lan: When I go back in that house, it will be with my son in my arms. I'll have a red coat on him... and red flower trousers... and a hat with a gilded Buddha and tiger-faced shoes, and I'll go into the kitchen where I spent my days as a slave and into the great hall where the old mistress sits with her pipe, and I'll show myself and my son to all of them.
O-Lan: [Smiles, contented] Hmm.
Wang Lung: Well... Now, I... I haven't heard you speak so many words since you came to this house.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The type-style used appears to be lettering hammered into brass. Even the style of the letters seems to be from china or Asia. Note the style on "N" and "O". See more »

Connections

Referenced in Lost Angel (1943) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Good Stuff, Perhaps A Re-Make Some Day?
2 June 2006 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

This is a bit long (2 hours, 20 minutes) but it had a a lot of the famous Pearl Buck novel in it. In other words, a lot of ground to cover.

It was soap-operish at times but had some visually dramatic moments, too, capped off by a locust attack at the end of the film. That was astounding to view. Considering this film is about 70 years old, the special-effects crew on this film did a spectacular job.

Paul Muni and Luise Rainer were award-winning actors in their day and they don't disappoint here, both giving powerful performances. The only problem is credibility as all the Asians are played by Caucasions and some of them, like Walter Connolly, just don't look real. I'd like to see a re-make of this movie with all-Asian actors, not for PC reasons but to simply make the story look and sound more credible.


23 of 33 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
I disagree about the race issue... loyaltubist
Comparison to Book? greeneyes49505
Best Line! Makes me cry. profprimbud
DVD of "The Good Earth" may be coming! gregcouture
OH MAN! neilpoe
Jessie Ralph ? b1987714
Discuss The Good Earth (1937) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?