Wild Harvest (1947)

Joe is the head of an itinerant combine crew, working the harvests against rival crew boss Alperson. Joe's buddy Jim joins the crew with startup money. Farmer's niece Fay falls for Joe. He ... See full summary »

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

Houston Branch (story), John Monks Jr. (screenplay),

Stars:

Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour, Robert Preston

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Alan Ladd	...	Joe Madigan
Dorothy Lamour	...	Fay Rankin
Robert Preston	...	Jim Davis
Lloyd Nolan	...	Kink
Richard Erdman	...	Mark Lewis (as Dick Erdman)
Allen Jenkins	...	Higgins
Will Wright	...	Mike Alperson
Griff Barnett	...	Rankin
Anthony Caruso	...	Pete
Walter Sande	...	Long
Frank Sully	...	Nick

Storyline

Joe is the head of an itinerant combine crew, working the harvests against rival crew boss Alperson. Joe's buddy Jim joins the crew with startup money. Farmer's niece Fay falls for Joe. He puts her off. To get back she marries Jim whom she prods into high-grading the grain (skimming off some for private sale). The last payment on Joe's machinery is due just as he discover's what his buddy has been doing.

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Plot Keywords:

wheat | farmer | skimming | panhandle | harvest | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Big Haircut

Filming Locations:

Arvin, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the "wheat fields" shown in the movie - other than stock footage - are actually alfalfa fields. The location shots were filmed in the area around Arvin, California, where there isn't much wheat but there are huge areas of farmland consisting of alfalfa, which is used to feed the thousands of cows in the surrounding dairy farms.

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Connections

Referenced in Harvesting the High Plains (2012)

User Reviews

The original custom combining movie.

This is the original custom combining movie, made not long after the original Massey-Harris Harvest Brigade of World War II, back when men were men and work was work and movies were movies. Every custom combining movie should have a fire or a tornado, and this one has a fire. It's rather realistic. Alan Ladd is famous for Shane. Robert Preston is famous for The Music Man and has had a lot of roles. This movie proves that a good man doesn't need an extravagant, spoiled, lazy, conniving woman. The climax of Wild Harvest is releasing a combine off the back of a speeding truck. Massey-Harris collectors have a magazine called Wild Harvest.