Tobacco Road (1941)

Hillbilly family life in 1941 rural Georgia.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Erskine Caldwell (based on the novel by), Jack Kirkland (stage play)

Stars:

Charley Grapewin, Gene Tierney, Marjorie Rambeau

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charley Grapewin	...	Jeeter
Marjorie Rambeau	...	Sister Bessie
Gene Tierney	...	Ellie May
William Tracy	...	Dude Lester
Elizabeth Patterson	...	Ada Lester
Dana Andrews	...	Capt. Tim
Slim Summerville	...	Peabody
Ward Bond	...	Lov
Grant Mitchell	...	George Payne
Zeffie Tilbury	...	Grandma
Russell Simpson	...	Chief of Police
Spencer Charters	...	County Clerk
Irving Bacon	...	Teller
Harry Tyler	...	Auto Dealer
Charles Halton	...	Mayor

Storyline

Shiftless Jeeter Lester and his family of hillbilly stereotypes live in a rural backwater where their ancestors were once wealthy planters. Their slapstick existence is threatened by a bank's plans to take over the land for more profitable farming; subplots involve the affairs and marriages of son Dude and daughter Ellie May.

---

Plot Keywords:

hillbilly | plantation | trees | jalopy | flat tire | 

---

Taglines:

Produced by the men who gave you..."GRAPES OF WRATH"

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Broadway play by Jack Kirkland based on Erskine Caldwell's novel opened 4 December 1933 and set a record for longevity on Broadway when it closed on 31 May 1941 after 3,281 performances. It was revived on Broadway twice in the next two years, bring its total running time there to nearly ten years (1933-1943). Opened at the Theatre Masque and then moved to the 48th Street Theatre followed by the Forrest Theatre for the original production. The play was revived in 1942, 1943 and 1950. The original Broadway production is the seventeenth longest running show ever as of February, 2013.

---

Goofs

The morning following a torrential rain storm, dirt roads are absolutely dry.

---

Quotes

Lov Bensey: I want a young wife. I ain't gonna take no 23 year old woman for a wife, have everybody laughin' at me.

---

Connections

Referenced in I Love Lucy: Men Are Messy (1951)

---

Soundtracks

In the Sweet Bye and Bye
(uncredited)
Music by Harry von Tilzer
Lyrics by Vincent Bryan
Sung a cappella by Marjorie Rambeau
Reprised by her, Harry Tyler and others at the auto dealer's

User Reviews

Hillbilly Hell

After a bank purchases the land, a family of hillbillies faces eviction if it can't come up with the rent. Based on a Caldwell novel that in turn became a stage play, this is very broad comedy that rarely rises above the level of The Three Stooges. Grapewin plays a lazy farmer who has so many children that he and his wife can't keep track of them. Tracy is horribly over-the-top as one of the grown children living at home. Tierney is third billed as Tracy's useless sister but barely has a line of dialog. Rambeau does OK as a neighbor. Andrews plays the only character who has some dignity. Every once in a while Ford came up with a real clunker, and this is one of them.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tobacco Road

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,900,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1