The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)

A tenant farmer's son is caught in the middle of owner-tenant disputes when he falls for the plantation owner's seductive daughter.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Paul Green (screen play) (as Professor Paul Green), Harry Harrison Kroll (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Richard Barthelmess, Bette Davis, Dorothy Jordan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Barthelmess	...	Marvin Blake
Dorothy Jordan	...	Betty Wright
Bette Davis	...	Madge Norwood
Hardie Albright	...	Roland Neal
David Landau	...	Tom Blake
Berton Churchill	...	Lane Norwood
Dorothy Peterson	...	Lilly Blake
Russell Simpson	...	Uncle Joe
Tully Marshall	...	Slick
Henry B. Walthall	...	Eph Clinton
Edmund Breese	...	Holmes Scott
John Marston	...	Russell Carter
Erville Alderson	...	Sock Fisher
William Le Maire	...	Jake Fisher (as William LeMaire)
Clarence Muse	...	A Blind Negro

Storyline

Sharecropper's son Marvin tries to help his community overcome poverty and ignorance. While working in the general store he learns that the owner has been cheating his tenants. He is in love with owner's daughter, Madge, but sides with the tenants in his threat to expose the planters and their cheating.

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Plot Keywords:

romantic rivalry | romantic triangle | tenant farmer | sharecropper | cotton | 

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Taglines:

Is blood thicker than LOVE?...more compelling than passion?

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Hütte im Baumwollfeld

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

First National Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an article in the March 8, 1934 of Daily Variety, this was one of three American films allowed to be shown in the Soviet Union at the time because the government approved of its social content.

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Goofs

Ms. Madge enters the Dry Goods store owned by her father ( at about 10.78 minutes), and asks Marvin to a party that begins at 8:30. While Madge is running to her home after saying the famous line,"I'd like ta kiss ya but I've just washed my hair," she tells him the party is at 8:00. So the party goes from 8:30 to 8:00 for no reason.

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Quotes

Madge: Cigarette?
Marvin Blake: No Thanks.
Madge: Don't drink, don't smoke... you'll be a preacher yet, won't you Marvin, or something different...? But you'll have to get loose from them.

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Crazy Credits

Foreword In many parts of the South today, there exists an endless dispute between the rich land-owners, known as planters and the poor cotton pickers, known as tenants or 'peckerwoods'. The planters supply the tennants with the simple requirements of every day life and in return the tennants work the land year in and year out. A hundred volumes could be written on the rights and wrongs of both parties, but it is not the object of the producers of 'The Cabin in the Cotton' to take sides. We are only concerned with an effort to picturize these conditions.

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Connections

Referenced in Get Shorty (1995)

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Soundtracks

Love Theme
(1932) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played at Madge's party as dance music while Madge and Marvin are outside
Reprised on radio when Madge and Marvin are alone
Reprised as background music when Madge pleads to Marvin not to leave

User Reviews

Tale of two stars traveling in opposite directions

This film is probably most important because it showcases two stars - Bette Davis and Richard Barthelmess - whose careers are traveling in opposite directions. Barthelmess actually headlines here, but he is a silent star whose career is on the decline, and he has a hard time getting parts after 1934. Bette Davis is a star on the rise, in only her first year of her contract with Warner Bros. where she will become a major star.

Unlike many silent era stars, Barthelmess' problem was not his voice but his acting style. He was just a little too wooden to turn in a truly dynamic performance, and this film is no exception. The story is pretty interesting - Barthelmess plays Marvin Blake, a sharecropper's son who is educated by the plantation landowner and ends up keeping his books. His loyalty is torn between the planter who is sponsoring him, and whose daughter attracts him, and the sharecropper families with whom he grew up. The planter owns everything and is always charging high fees and interest via the company store and thus cheating the sharecroppers out of what they need. The sharecroppers have cooked up a plan to short the planter some of their cotton and sell it themselves and reap the rewards.

It's really hard to take sides in this film because everyone seems so unsympathetic - both sides are stealing from the other without any remorse or much redeeming value for that matter. It is worth a look if you can find it, although it is not yet on DVD.