This Earth Is Mine
Encyclopedia
This Earth Is Mine is a 1959 drama film
directed by Henry King
and starring Rock Hudson
and Jean Simmons
. The film portrays the lives and loves of the Rambeau family, a California winemaking dynasty trying to survive during Prohibition in the United States
.
The patriarch of the family, Phillipe (Claude Rains
), wanting to keep the winemaking heritage of his family pure, refuses to deal with bootleggers eager for a ready-made supply of alcohol. John, however, is not so righteous, and arranges deals with Chicago gangsters for the valley's wine supply. Violence, gunplay, and wildfires ensue. Elizabeth is caught in the middle, between Andre, the gentle man she is to marry (but who wants to be a priest) and John, the passionate man ready to make a deal with the devil to survive. And John may already have started a family of his own, fathering an illegitimate child with a vinyard worker—and the woman's husband is not one to go along with the whole sordid mess. Months, and years, of lies, blackmail and conflict follow, ending with the romantic union of John and Elizabeth, and their commitment to the Rambeau winemaking heritage.
Continuing his explanation, John points out his house nearby, where his invalid mother Charlotte now lives, and says that he now knows that Martha's husband (John's uncle, Francis Fairon) is his real father, even though everyone claims that Charlotte's late husband had been the biological father to both John and his sister Monica. John then takes the speechless Elizabeth into his arms and kisses her, but she pulls away and runs into the house.
The next day, John gets into an argument with Philippe by insisting that they ignore Prohibition laws and sell their grapes (and wine) to bootleggers. Philippe, who loves John, insists on remaining lawful, explaining once again how he will continue to cultivate and study wines until the time comes to sell them legally. John volunteers to show Elizabeth around the winery, bitterly pointing out the vast stores of wine going to waste. When he asks her about her past and tries to kiss her again, she once again pulls away. As they wander the estate, one of the female workers, Buz Dietrick, flirts with John. Back at the house, Martha spirits Elizabeth away to a lunch with Andre, who is quite comfortable with the idea of an arranged marriage.
Meeting with the local association of grape growers, John tells them that he will make them rich by selling their grapes to a syndicate in Chicago. Some of the traditional growers insist on gaining Philippe's approval first. Ignoring them, John leaves for Chicago to meet with the syndicate — soon after, thugs arrive in the Napa Valley and force the growers to sign contracts.
When John returns to Napa months later, the growers, now grown rich from John's arrangement with the Chicago syndicate, welcome him warmly. John meets the growers at a nightclub, where he finds Buz sitting with her boyfriend, Luigi Griffanti. They all watch Elizabeth and Andre (still not married) dance. John once again romances Elizabeth, who, hoping to dissuade his interest, reveals to him that her father had sent her away from England because she had been involved in a torrid love affair with a cruel man, and she now desires a safe marriage with Andre. A jealous John accuses her of "prostituting" herself for real estate, and she slaps him. John then turns to Buz for comfort, convincing her to leave Luigi and drive off with him. Later, Andre drives Elizabeth home, where he confesses that he is growing to love her. Inside, Martha, aware of Elizabeth's ambivalent feelings over John, confronts her about her past, urging her to marry Andre before he realizes he is getting "damaged goods."
John returns home and tells his mother he will leave the next day for Chicago. The next day Elizabeth, having had a change of heart, races off to see John before his train leaves — she finds him at the station and tells him she loves him. Thrilled, John insists that she wait for his return.
A few months later, a pregnant Buz shows up at the estate to inform Phillipe that the baby is John's — Buz and her father blackmail Philippe. Elizabeth, nearby, hears all, and collapses with grief. Martha directs Buz to tell Luigi the baby is his. Buz and Luigi soon marry, but she fights with both him and his mother when they want to name the baby Cesare, and she wants to name the baby ... John.
Months pass. Martha tries to convince an impatient Andre to wait for Elizabeth to set a wedding date. When John finally returns to Napa Valley, Elizabeth is up in the mountain orchard with Philippe, listening to him explain that this is sacred ground to him, as it was his first plot of land, and his beloved wife is buried here. At the estate, Martha greets John coldly and warns him that he must now conduct business through her, because Philippe is ill. After successfully persuading Martha that they can make millions by selling the Rambeau grapes to the Chicago syndicate, John drives to the mountain orchard. There, Philippe, horrified by John's shady dealings, commands him to leave, as does Elizabeth, who tells him she knows the truth about Buz's baby. Protesting that he can prove that Buz has lied, John races away, accidentally throwing a lit cigarette into the parched fields, starting a blaze. By the time the fire is noticed, it is too late, and the out-of-control wildfire destroys most of the mountain orchard.
Unaware of the fire, John rushes to Buz's house, where mother-in-law Griffanti, upon hearing John's name, figures out that John is her grandson's actual father. As Buz agrees that she will tell Elizabeth that the baby is not John's, Luigi, at his mother's urging, attacks John in a jealous rage. John manages to get away, but Luigi pulls out a gun and shoots him.
At the hospital, John is diagnosed with temporary partial paralysis — when Elizabeth visits to beg his forgiveness, he turns away from her bitterly. Soon, he is able to walk with crutches, and returns home, where he tells his uncle Francis and mother Charlotte that he knows about their affair, which resulted in his birth. John takes the blame for the orchard fire — in return, he forgives the two of them for their deceit, and asks for their forgiveness in exchange.
Months later, Philippe dies, and matriarch Martha gathers the family together for the reading of the will. To Martha's shock and dismay, Philippe has divided the estate equally between his children and grandchildren — he also leaves the mountain orchard to John, the valley vineyards to the still-unmarried Elizabeth, and nothing to Martha. Although Martha is greatly pained by what she sees as an injustice, both she and her husband Francis realize that now she will finally be more interested in her husband and her marriage, instead of the family business.
Within a few weeks, John has restored his mountain orchard to health. One day, Elizabeth joins him with a gift: a grape vine cutting from her valley vineyard. They graft the valley cutting onto a mountain vine, talk about the melding of "valley sweetness" with "mountain strength", and, finally, fall into each other's arms, declaring their love for each other.
was written by Casey Robinson
, best-known for writing most of Bette Davis' best films. Director Henry King
had been successfully directing Hollywood films since the 1920s — this film was one of his last. Film composer Hugo Friedhofer
(who had won an Oscar for Best Music for 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives
) wrote the music; three-time Oscar-winner Winton C. Hoch was the cinematographer.
Production company was Vintage Productions, in partnership with Universal–International Pictures. Production dates for the film were September 2, 1958 through early November, 1958. The production was filmed in Technicolor, with monoaural sound. Napa Valley locations used for filming were:
Local residents of the Napa Valley were used as extras in some scenes, and the stars were taught proper vineyard procedures by locals — a difficulty for left-handed Rock Hudson, for whom a left-handed teacher had to be found to demonstrate the proper way to attach a bud from one plant to the root of another, an scene important to the plot at the end of the film.
The New York opening of the film was June 26, 1959; the Los Angeles opening was July 8, 1959.
... although the winemaking community appears to have enjoyed it:
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Henry King
Henry King (director)
Henry King was an American film director.Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres, and first started to take small film roles in 1912. He directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the...
and starring Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
and Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
. The film portrays the lives and loves of the Rambeau family, a California winemaking dynasty trying to survive during Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
.
Summary
Elizabeth (Jean Simmons), an English cousin of the Rambeau family, arrives in California in 1931 for a casual visit with her aunt and uncle, only to find her future pre-determined with a pre-arranged marriage to Andre Swann, a young cousin of another branch of the family. Another cousin, John Rambeau (Rock Hudson), disagrees with those plans, informs Elizabeth that she's being married off to consolidate the family's wine holdings, hints at other dark secrets of the Rambeau family, and casually romances her. Elizabeth is conflicted over the entire series of eventsThe patriarch of the family, Phillipe (Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
), wanting to keep the winemaking heritage of his family pure, refuses to deal with bootleggers eager for a ready-made supply of alcohol. John, however, is not so righteous, and arranges deals with Chicago gangsters for the valley's wine supply. Violence, gunplay, and wildfires ensue. Elizabeth is caught in the middle, between Andre, the gentle man she is to marry (but who wants to be a priest) and John, the passionate man ready to make a deal with the devil to survive. And John may already have started a family of his own, fathering an illegitimate child with a vinyard worker—and the woman's husband is not one to go along with the whole sordid mess. Months, and years, of lies, blackmail and conflict follow, ending with the romantic union of John and Elizabeth, and their commitment to the Rambeau winemaking heritage.
Plot
In 1931, Lon Rambeau sends his daughter Elizabeth Rambeau away from London to Napa Valley, California to visit Lon's father Philippe Rambeau and Phillipe's sister Martha Fairon, owners of vast vineyards and a grand estate. Philippe and Martha welcome Elizabeth lavishly, then reveal the real reason for the celebration of her arrival: her betrothal, unknown to Elizabeth, between her and her cousin, Andre Swann. John Rambeau, obviously disliked by matriarch Martha, arrives at the party, flirts with Elizabeth and leads her out into the vineyards, where he mischievously reveals Rambeau family secrets: Philippe uses marriage to tighten the family hold on the valley; Phillipe's sister Martha and daughter Charlotte (John's mother) had been married off to local landowners in order to increase the vineyard holdings — Phillipe now wants to marry off grand-daughter Elizabeth to Andre in order to absorb the Stag's Leap Winery (also, Andre had wanted to become a priest, but was not allowed to do so, and had been forced to join the family business).Continuing his explanation, John points out his house nearby, where his invalid mother Charlotte now lives, and says that he now knows that Martha's husband (John's uncle, Francis Fairon) is his real father, even though everyone claims that Charlotte's late husband had been the biological father to both John and his sister Monica. John then takes the speechless Elizabeth into his arms and kisses her, but she pulls away and runs into the house.
The next day, John gets into an argument with Philippe by insisting that they ignore Prohibition laws and sell their grapes (and wine) to bootleggers. Philippe, who loves John, insists on remaining lawful, explaining once again how he will continue to cultivate and study wines until the time comes to sell them legally. John volunteers to show Elizabeth around the winery, bitterly pointing out the vast stores of wine going to waste. When he asks her about her past and tries to kiss her again, she once again pulls away. As they wander the estate, one of the female workers, Buz Dietrick, flirts with John. Back at the house, Martha spirits Elizabeth away to a lunch with Andre, who is quite comfortable with the idea of an arranged marriage.
Meeting with the local association of grape growers, John tells them that he will make them rich by selling their grapes to a syndicate in Chicago. Some of the traditional growers insist on gaining Philippe's approval first. Ignoring them, John leaves for Chicago to meet with the syndicate — soon after, thugs arrive in the Napa Valley and force the growers to sign contracts.
When John returns to Napa months later, the growers, now grown rich from John's arrangement with the Chicago syndicate, welcome him warmly. John meets the growers at a nightclub, where he finds Buz sitting with her boyfriend, Luigi Griffanti. They all watch Elizabeth and Andre (still not married) dance. John once again romances Elizabeth, who, hoping to dissuade his interest, reveals to him that her father had sent her away from England because she had been involved in a torrid love affair with a cruel man, and she now desires a safe marriage with Andre. A jealous John accuses her of "prostituting" herself for real estate, and she slaps him. John then turns to Buz for comfort, convincing her to leave Luigi and drive off with him. Later, Andre drives Elizabeth home, where he confesses that he is growing to love her. Inside, Martha, aware of Elizabeth's ambivalent feelings over John, confronts her about her past, urging her to marry Andre before he realizes he is getting "damaged goods."
John returns home and tells his mother he will leave the next day for Chicago. The next day Elizabeth, having had a change of heart, races off to see John before his train leaves — she finds him at the station and tells him she loves him. Thrilled, John insists that she wait for his return.
A few months later, a pregnant Buz shows up at the estate to inform Phillipe that the baby is John's — Buz and her father blackmail Philippe. Elizabeth, nearby, hears all, and collapses with grief. Martha directs Buz to tell Luigi the baby is his. Buz and Luigi soon marry, but she fights with both him and his mother when they want to name the baby Cesare, and she wants to name the baby ... John.
Months pass. Martha tries to convince an impatient Andre to wait for Elizabeth to set a wedding date. When John finally returns to Napa Valley, Elizabeth is up in the mountain orchard with Philippe, listening to him explain that this is sacred ground to him, as it was his first plot of land, and his beloved wife is buried here. At the estate, Martha greets John coldly and warns him that he must now conduct business through her, because Philippe is ill. After successfully persuading Martha that they can make millions by selling the Rambeau grapes to the Chicago syndicate, John drives to the mountain orchard. There, Philippe, horrified by John's shady dealings, commands him to leave, as does Elizabeth, who tells him she knows the truth about Buz's baby. Protesting that he can prove that Buz has lied, John races away, accidentally throwing a lit cigarette into the parched fields, starting a blaze. By the time the fire is noticed, it is too late, and the out-of-control wildfire destroys most of the mountain orchard.
Unaware of the fire, John rushes to Buz's house, where mother-in-law Griffanti, upon hearing John's name, figures out that John is her grandson's actual father. As Buz agrees that she will tell Elizabeth that the baby is not John's, Luigi, at his mother's urging, attacks John in a jealous rage. John manages to get away, but Luigi pulls out a gun and shoots him.
At the hospital, John is diagnosed with temporary partial paralysis — when Elizabeth visits to beg his forgiveness, he turns away from her bitterly. Soon, he is able to walk with crutches, and returns home, where he tells his uncle Francis and mother Charlotte that he knows about their affair, which resulted in his birth. John takes the blame for the orchard fire — in return, he forgives the two of them for their deceit, and asks for their forgiveness in exchange.
Months later, Philippe dies, and matriarch Martha gathers the family together for the reading of the will. To Martha's shock and dismay, Philippe has divided the estate equally between his children and grandchildren — he also leaves the mountain orchard to John, the valley vineyards to the still-unmarried Elizabeth, and nothing to Martha. Although Martha is greatly pained by what she sees as an injustice, both she and her husband Francis realize that now she will finally be more interested in her husband and her marriage, instead of the family business.
Within a few weeks, John has restored his mountain orchard to health. One day, Elizabeth joins him with a gift: a grape vine cutting from her valley vineyard. They graft the valley cutting onto a mountain vine, talk about the melding of "valley sweetness" with "mountain strength", and, finally, fall into each other's arms, declaring their love for each other.
Production
The screenplay for the film, based on the novel The Cup and the Sword by American novelist Alice Tisdale HobartAlice Tisdale Hobart
Alice Tisdale Hobart born Alice Nourse in Lockport, New York, was an American novelist. Her most famous book, Oil for the Lamps of China , which was also made into a film, drew heavily on her experiences as the wife of an American oil executive in China amid the turmoil of the overthrow of the...
was written by Casey Robinson
Casey Robinson
Casey Robinson was an American producer and director of mostly B movies and a screenwriter responsible for some of Bette Davis' most revered films...
, best-known for writing most of Bette Davis' best films. Director Henry King
Henry King (director)
Henry King was an American film director.Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres, and first started to take small film roles in 1912. He directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the...
had been successfully directing Hollywood films since the 1920s — this film was one of his last. Film composer Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer was an American film music composer born in San Francisco. His father was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany.Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13...
(who had won an Oscar for Best Music for 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell, a United States paratrooper who lost both hands in a military training accident. The film is about three United States...
) wrote the music; three-time Oscar-winner Winton C. Hoch was the cinematographer.
Production company was Vintage Productions, in partnership with Universal–International Pictures. Production dates for the film were September 2, 1958 through early November, 1958. The production was filmed in Technicolor, with monoaural sound. Napa Valley locations used for filming were:
- Beaulieu VineyardBeaulieu VineyardBeaulieu Vineyard is a vineyard near Rutherford, California, belonging to the appellation Rutherford AVA. It was established by Georges de Latour and his wife Fernande in 1900.-History:...
- Beringer Vineyards
- Cella Vineyards
- Charles Krug Vineyards
- Christian Brothers Vineyards
- Inglenook WineryInglenook WineryThe Inglenook Winery produced estate bottled wines in Rutherford, California in the Napa Valley. The winery was founded in 1879 by a Finnish Sea Captain Gustave Niebaum. Niebaum died in 1908 and the winery was shut down during Prohibition...
- Italian Swiss Colony Vineyards
- Louis M. Martini Vineyards
- Mayacamas VineyardsMayacamas VineyardsMayacamas Vineyards is a California wine producer located in the Mt. Veeder AVA in the Mayacamas Mountains within the Napa Valley AVA, bordering the Sonoma Valley AVA...
- Paul Masson Mountain Winery
- Schramsberg VineyardsSchramsberg VineyardsSchramsberg Vineyards is a well-known winery located in Calistoga, California in the Napa Valley region. The vineyard, which was originally founded in 1862 produces a series of sparkling wines using the same method as champagne. Schramsberg is considered one of the premium brands in the...
- Sebastiani Vineyards
- Stags' Leap WineryStags' Leap WineryStags' Leap Winery is a winery located near Yountville, California, in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley. The winery's estate vineyard was first planted in 1893. In 1997, Stags' Leap was purchased by Beringer Wine Estates, which in 2000 was in turn purchased by the Australian company Foster's...
(name actually mentioned as part of the plot) - Sucram Ranch
Local residents of the Napa Valley were used as extras in some scenes, and the stars were taught proper vineyard procedures by locals — a difficulty for left-handed Rock Hudson, for whom a left-handed teacher had to be found to demonstrate the proper way to attach a bud from one plant to the root of another, an scene important to the plot at the end of the film.
The New York opening of the film was June 26, 1959; the Los Angeles opening was July 8, 1959.
Credited roles
- Rock HudsonRock HudsonRoy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
played John Rambeau - Jean SimmonsJean SimmonsJean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
played Elizabeth Rambeau - Dorothy McGuireDorothy McGuireDorothy Hackett McGuire was an American actress.-Career:Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse...
played Martha Fairon - Claude RainsClaude RainsClaude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
played Philippe Rambeau - Kent SmithKent SmithKent Smith was an American actor who had a lengthy career in film, theater, and television.Born Frank Kent Smith in New York, New York, Smith made his acting debut on Broadway in 1932 in and, after spending a few years there, moved to Hollywood, California, where he made his film debut in The...
played Francis Fairon - Anna LeeAnna LeeAnna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
played Charlotte Rambeau - Ken Scott played Luigi Griffanti
- Augusta Merighi played Mrs. Griffanti
- Francis Bethencourt played Andre Swann
- Stacy Graham played Monica
- Peter ChongPeter ChongPeter Chong is a former prisoner convicted of racketeering and extortion, described by prosecutors as the former leader of the Wo Hop To syndicate in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
played Chu - Geraldine Wall played Maria
- Alberto Morin played Petucci
- Penny Santon played Mrs. Petucci
- Jack Mather played Dietrich
- Ben Astar played Yakowitz
- Dan WhiteDan White (actor)Dan White was an American actor, well known for appearing in several Western films.-Early life:Dan White was born to George and Orpha White in Falmouth, Florida, one of twelve siblings. The Whites moved to Lakeland during World War I. By age 14, White was in show business...
played Judge Gruber - Lawrence Ung played David, the Chauffeur
- Robert Aiken played Tim Rambeau (as Ford Dunhill)
- Cynthia ChenaultCynthia ChenaultCynthia Chenault is an American television actress and producer/writer active from the mid-1950s to the present. She used the screen name 'Cindy Robbins' in her acting credits.- Television career :...
played Buz Dietrick (as Cindy Robbins) - Don CornellDon CornellDon Cornell was an American singer prominent mainly in the 1940s and 1950s noted for his smooth but robust baritone voice....
played Singer of Title Song (voice)
Uncredited roles
- Lionel Ames played Nate Forster
- Jean Blake played Suzanne
- Olga Borget played Bit Part
- Gino DeAgustino played The Porter
- Adonis De Milo played Mamoulian
- George DeNormand played Ronald Fairon
- Paul King played Bit Part
- Karyn KupcinetKaryn KupcinetKaryn Kupcinet was an American actress who was found dead at her West Hollywood, California home, in the days following the JFK assassination. It has been theorized that her death, officially ruled a homicide, was connected to the assassination or was the result of an accidental fall...
played Clarissa Smith - Alexander Lockwood played Dr. Regis
- Torben MeyerTorben MeyerTorben Emil Meyer was a Danish character actor who appeared in over 190 films in a 55-year career.-Early career:...
played Hugo - Thomas Murray played Bit Part
- Emma Palmese played Bit Part
- Emory ParnellEmory ParnellEmory Parnell was an American vaudevillian and actor who appeared in over 250 films in his 36 year career...
played Berke - Josephine Parra played Juanita
- Janelle Richards played Cousin
- Ethel Sway played Bit Part
- Philip Tonge played Dr. Albert Stone
- Cecil Weston played Rambeau friend
Critical reception
The film was not well-received:- VARIETY (January 1, 1959): This film is almost completely lacking in dramatic cohesion. It is verbose and contradictory, and its complex plot relationships from Alice Tisdale Hobart's novel, "The Cup and the Sword" begin with confusion and end in tedium.
- New York Times (June 27, 1959): In describing the intramural trials and tribulations besetting a wealthy clan of California vineyard owners, under the title "This Earth Is Mine," Universal-International has come up with an ambitious family saga as handsome as it is hollow. ... It opened yesterday at the Roxy, where the grapes stole the show.
... although the winemaking community appears to have enjoyed it:
- The film gives simple-to-understand descriptions of both the winemaking process and how to taste and appreciate wine. It’s bad melodrama, but it’s first class Napa Valley history.