The Southerner (1945 film)
Encyclopedia
The Southerner is a 1945 American film directed by Jean Renoir
, based on the novel Hold Autumn in Your Hand by George Sessions Perry
. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Director, Original Music Score and Sound. Renoir was named Best Director by the National Board of Review
, which also named the film the third best of 1945. The film was later featured in an episode of Cinema Insomnia
.
Future director Robert Aldrich
was an assistant director on this film.
magazine gave the film a favorable review and wrote, "The Southerner creates too little hope for a solution to the difficulties of farm workers who constantly look forward to the day when they can settle forever their existence of poverty with a long-sought harvest - a harvest that invariably never comes...Zachary Scott and Betty Field give fine performances, as do Beulah Bondi, the grandmother, Percy Kilbride, Charles Kemper and J. Carrol Naish.
Bosley Crowther
, the film critic of the New York Times at the time, liked the film and wrote, "The Southerner may not be an "entertainment" in the rigid Hollywood sense and it may have some flaws, but it is, nevertheless, a rich, unusual and sensitive delineation of a segment of the American scene well worth filming and seeing."
Nominations
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
, based on the novel Hold Autumn in Your Hand by George Sessions Perry
George Sessions Perry
George Sessions Perry was an American novelist, World War II correspondent and one of the highest paid popular magazine contributors of his time. He is remembered best for his 1941 novel Hold Autumn in Your Hand, which won the National Book Award and the Texas Institute of Letters award in 1941...
. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Director, Original Music Score and Sound. Renoir was named Best Director by the National Board of Review
National Board of Review Awards 1945
-Best English Language Films:#The True Glory#The Lost Weekend#The Southerner#The Story of G.I. Joe#The Last Chance#The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp#A Tree Grows In Brooklyn#The Fighting Lady#The Way Ahead#The Clock...
, which also named the film the third best of 1945. The film was later featured in an episode of Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo.- Format :Typically, Mr. Lobo opens each episode by promising to screen a well-known horror or science fiction classic ; however budgetary limitations, acts of God or other circumstances...
.
Future director Robert Aldrich
Robert Aldrich
Robert Aldrich was an American film director, writer and producer, notable for such films as Kiss Me Deadly , The Big Knife , What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte , The Flight of the Phoenix , The Dirty Dozen , and The Longest Yard .-Biography:Robert...
was an assistant director on this film.
Cast
- Zachary ScottZachary ScottZachary Scott was an American actor, most notable for his roles as villains and "mystery men".-Life and career:...
as Sam Tucker - Betty FieldBetty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
as Nona Tucker - J. Carrol NaishJ. Carrol NaishJoseph Patrick Carrol Naish was an American character actor born in New York City. Naish was twice nominated for an Academy Award for film roles, and he later found fame in the title role of CBS Radio's Life With Luigi , which was also on CBS Television .Naish appeared on stage for several years...
as Devers - Beulah BondiBeulah BondiBeulah Bondi was an American actress.Bondi began her acting career as a young child in theater, and after establishing herself as a stage actress, she reprised her role in Street Scene for the 1931 film version...
as Granny Tucker - Percy KilbridePercy KilbridePercy W. Kilbride was an American character actor. The son of Irish immigrants, he made a career of playing country hicks, most memorably as Pa Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle series of feature films.-Career:...
as Harmie - Charles KemperCharles KemperCharles Kemper was an American stage-trained film character actor born in Oklahoma. The heavy-set film actor had memorable roles in films including The Southerner , Scarlet Street , Gallant Journey , The Shocking Miss Pilgrim , and his last film role as Pop Daly in the film noir On Dangerous Ground...
as Tim - Blanche YurkaBlanche YurkaBlanche Yurka was an American theatre and film actress.Born in St Paul, Minnesota, Yurka was an opera star before she became an actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1910 and established herself as a character actor, also appearing in several films...
as Mama Tucker - Norman LloydNorman LloydNorman Lloyd is an American actor, producer, and director with a career in entertainment spanning more than seven decades. Lloyd, who currently resides in Los Angeles, has appeared in over sixty films and television shows....
as Finlay - Estelle TaylorEstelle TaylorEstelle Taylor was an American Hollywood actress whose career was most prominent during the silent film era of the 1920s....
as Lizzie - Paul HarveyPaul Harvey (actor)Paul Harvey was an American actor who appeared in at least 177 films.-Selected filmography:*They Shall Have Music *Behind the News *Moonlight Masquerade *Spellbound...
as Ruston - Noreen Nash as Becky Devers
- Jack NorworthJack NorworthJack Norworth was a U.S. songwriter, singer and vaudeville performer.Norworth is credited as co-writer of a number of Tin Pan Alley hits. He wrote the lyrics of the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in 1908, his most long lasting hit. But it wasn't until 1940 that he actually witnessed a Major...
as Dr. White - Nestor PaivaNestor PaivaNestor Paiva was an American actor of Portuguese descent who portrayed the innkeeper on Walt Disney's live-action television series Zorro by ABC and its feature film The Sign of Zorro which was shot in Burbank's Walt Disney Studios.-Career:Nestor appeared in motion pictures and television shows...
as Bartender - Paul E. Burns as Uncle Pete Tucker
- Jay Gilpin as Jot Tucker
- Jean Vanderwilt as Daisy Tucker
Critical reception
The staff at VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine gave the film a favorable review and wrote, "The Southerner creates too little hope for a solution to the difficulties of farm workers who constantly look forward to the day when they can settle forever their existence of poverty with a long-sought harvest - a harvest that invariably never comes...Zachary Scott and Betty Field give fine performances, as do Beulah Bondi, the grandmother, Percy Kilbride, Charles Kemper and J. Carrol Naish.
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
, the film critic of the New York Times at the time, liked the film and wrote, "The Southerner may not be an "entertainment" in the rigid Hollywood sense and it may have some flaws, but it is, nevertheless, a rich, unusual and sensitive delineation of a segment of the American scene well worth filming and seeing."
Awards
Wins- National Board of Review: NBR Award, Best Director, Jean Renoir; 1945.
Nominations
- Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: Oscar, Best Director, Jean Renoir; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Werner Janssen; Best Sound, Recording Jack WhitneyJack WhitneyJack Whitney was an American sound engineer. He won two Academy Awards, one for Best Sound Recording and the other for Best Visual Effects. He was nominated six more times in the category Best Sound.-Selected filmography:Won...
(Sound Services Inc); 1946.