The Good Earth (1937)

All I really knew going in was that this would be my first viewing from the '30s in nearly four months, that it was based on a Pearl S. Buck novel, and that the Academy nominated it for Best Picture. Of course, Oscar nods from the '30s tend not to look so good anymore, so I tempered my expectations.

The exact period is ambiguous, but sometime after the arrival of trains and before the first World War, northern Chinese farmer Wang Lung (Paul Muni) has an arranged marriage to kitchen slave O-Lan (Luise Rainer, becoming the first winner of consecutive Oscars for leading roles). They have a good life for a while, gaining wealth and kids, until a famine yields tragedy and drives them to seek relief in the south. The chaos of an attempted revolution changes their fortune, but a new high for wealth goes to Lung's head, and his arrogant decisions, not least a second marriage to Lotus (Tilly Losch), threaten to tear the family asunder.

I'm guessing the first concern to come to your mind is the casting. Irving Thalberg, who died shortly before the release of TGE, would have liked to film in China with real Chinese actors, but consensus held that U.S. audiences weren't ready for that yet. The studio would have picked Anna Mae Wong opposite Muni if not for the Hays Code injunction against "miscegenation."

Fortunately, yellowface aside, the depiction is about as respectful as we could expect for the time. It's actually more positive than the book. Part of that may come from the sense that the story could take place almost anywhere. Yes, the culture treats women and girls badly, and a lot of the dialog involves dishonest insults for superstitious reasons, but those details could easily have been omitted without sacrificing coherence overall. Even corrupt and feckless characters, like Lung's uncle (Walter Connolly), hardly come across as racial caricatures.

Rainer certainly lays the drama on thick. O-Lan's pitiful past has made her laconic and rarely anywhere close to joyful. Some reviewers think she makes Muni look like a ham, but I didn't really mind either of their performances.

The cinematography also won an Oscar. Be warned: A late scene shows a lot of close-ups of live locusts. I've never been more put off by those bugs.

As the title hints, land is a recurring theme. To Lung, it is nearly synonymous with wealth, even during a famine. I find it interesting when he and someone else disagree on the value of real estate in general.

At 138 minutes, the film feels pretty long, yet oversimplified. We hardly learn anything about the children (e.g., their names), even after they grow up. We get only a rough idea of how Lotus causes irreconcilable consternation. And O-Lan's chronic health problem is never specified.

Is the first half better? Maybe a little. Poverty is easier to sell as a bad thing than prosperity. But the story would be incomplete without a series of switches. TGE lives up to its second word, however barely.