Customer Reviews

Cabin in the Cotton [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Directed by Michael Curtiz, this film focuses on the symbiotic relationship between southern planters and their tenant farmers or sharecroppers. It was, inevitably, a relationship fraught with conflict and was a social issue that this film sought, in some measure, albeit melodramatically, to address. It was an issue that would later be more eloquently addressed by the classic film "The Grapes of Wrath".

"Cabin in the Cotton" is representative in style of a cinematic effort that still showed the transition the film industry was making from silent films to talkies, as it has some of the stylized accouterments representative of a silent film. It begins with the written word from which the viewer gleans the context in which the movie is to be viewed. The leading male role, that of Marvin Blake, the sharecropper's son, is played by Richard Barthelmess, a noted silent film actor. Unfortunately, he plays it as if he were doing a silent film, down to the painted lips that he sports in some scenes, a la Ramon Navarro. Why he sports these painted lips in some scenes and not in others is somewhat puzzling. Moreover, his acting, while perhaps impressive in a silent film, is notably unimpressive in a talkie. He is clearly miscast as the sharecropper's son who rises above his station in life and becomes the love interest of the plantation owner's southern belle daughter, fetchingly played by Ms. Davis.

The story is simple. Sharecroppers are taken advantage of by the planter who keeps them as virtual slaves. Sharecroppers look to get back at the planter. Sharecroppers steal from the planter in an effort to balance the books, so to speak. The planter seeks redress for this. Marvin Blake, the sharecropper's son who got an education of sorts, is now the planter's right hand man. Caught in between the divergent interests of the competing groups, Blake is forced to come to a decision about what he is to do to reconcile the two groups, both of which are clearly getting out of hand in their efforts to win for their side.

Blake should have been portrayed by someone for whom the viewer would root. Unfortunately, Barthelmess does not cut it. He is, at times, laughable, at other times, contemptible and simpering in the role. He makes the viewer want to give him a swift kick in the can. He does not demonstrate the qualities of which leaders are made and that is a quality demanded of his role.

Bette Davis, on the other hand, is wonderful as Madge Norwood, the attractive daughter of the planter whose sharecroppers are bedeviling him. She is vampish, seductive, and beguiling, as the love interest with whom the hapless Blake is totally besotted. She plays Blake like a violin, and he falls for her like a puppy dog for its mistress. This, of course, breaks the heart of a sharecropper's daughter, who loves Blake wholeheartedly. To see who triumphs, watch this film. It is a must for all Davis fans.

Bette Davis and Richard Barthelmess star in Cabin In The Cotton, a 1932 film that depicts the constant battle between cotton farmers (planters) and the cotton pickers (tenants) who pick the cotton in exchange for an extremely meager existence courtesy of the cotton farmers. The plot moves along well and the acting is rather convincing, too.

The action starts when Marvin Blake (Richard Barthelmess) gets an offer from the wealthy cotton farmer Norwood (Berton Churchill) to go to school and make something of himself instead of picking cotton. Trouble is, after Marvin gets his diploma Norwood insists that Marvin work for him in his store by keeping the crooked books. The books document that Norwood cheats the cotton pickers out of their money; and meanwhile the cotton pickers have figured out a way to steal cotton from Norwood so they can "get even with Norwood.

Marvin's problems heat up when he is pulled from both sides: Norwood wants Marvin's loyalty even though Norwood's crooked practices contributed to the early death of Marvin's father. At the same time the cotton pickers want Marvin to spy on Norwood for them and help them steal cotton. Marvin's problems only get worse when he is torn between his affection for a sweet country girl named Betty (Dorothy Jordan) and Norwood's daughter Madge (Bette Davis).

What's Marvin to do? How will he decide which side to pick? How will he avoid threats to his safety? No spoilers here--you'll just have to watch the movie to find out.

The choreography works well in Marvin's father's funeral procession scene and the cinematography offers great shots of Bette Davis leaning out of an upper floor window looking down at Betty who comes to talk with Marvin.

Overall, The Cabin In The Cotton gives us an early look at Bette Davis, who was then a mere 24 years old and fighting to be taken seriously as a Hollywood actress. This also marks the beginning of the end of Richard Barthelmess's career because parts for him were becoming fewer and fewer even if he did make the transition to sound movies. I highly recommend this film for Bette Davis fans; and fans of movies from the 1930s will also like this film which is replete with social commentary.

Enjoy!

"Cabin in the Cotton" could have been a powerful screen story, but this adaptation from the novel left much on the cutting room floor. Davis is well-cast as a rich southern flirt who toys with the affections of the poor son of a share cropper Barthelmess (who works a the store owned by Davis's father). Davis is vivacious and luminous in her scenes which include singing "Willie the Weeper" This is the movie in which cotained Davis's all-time favorite line:"Yur'e cute!-A'hd luve ta kiss ya but I jes wash'd ma haya!"

Richard Barthelmess stars as the young son of a sharecropper who finds himself torn between his loyalty to other sharecroppers and to their landowner, for whom he has become a trusted employee. Barthelmess disagrees with the exploitation of the sharecroppers by the landowners, but he also disagrees with the sharecroppers' response of stealing and unrest. Complicating things for Barthelmess is the fact that he has fallen in love with the landowner's daughter, Bette Davis. Barthelmess spends the whole movie looking confused, no doubt trying to figure out how anyone is going to believe him playing a young man. He never seems to get a grasp of the character and he comes across as awkward, and at times, laughable. Davis acts circles around him, very appealing in an early role as the tempting Madge. She provides the film its only spark. The direction of Michael Curtiz in this early sound film is admirable, and with a better leading man and tightened script, this could have been a much more memorable film due to its socially significant theme. As it is, it's an interesting piece of early Thirties' cinema, containing one of the film world's famous bits of dialogue. But it could have been more than it is.

Bette Davis got good reviews for her role as a flirty rich girl in this early Michael Curtiz melodrama. Richard Barthelmess plays a poor sharecropper's son who wants to make something of his life; he goes to work for planter Berton Churchill. Davis plays Churchill's daughter, and she and Barthelmess fall for each other. Barthelmess does well for himself businesswise, but trouble begins when he learns that Churchill has been bilking the sharecroppers out of their hard-earned profits. More trouble comes after the sharecroppers rebel against Churchill and his harsh ways, and then ask Barthelmess to join their cause. At a highly charged meeting of the two sides, Barthelmess threatens Churchill with his information about cooking the books to bilk the sharecroppers, Churchill crumbles, and Barthelmess becomes a hero. There is nothing particularly memorable about this predictable ending, but Davis deserves her good reviews and Barthelmess is earnest in his role. Five stars to whomever it was that came up with the name "Peckerwood" for the sharecropper's community and getting away with it.

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.

"Cabin in the Cotton" a 1932 Warners release, is the earliest film of Bette Davis's career which demonstrates her ability to play unsympathetic characters.

The film is a long winded story about share croppers and corruption in the deep south and it is typical of Warner Brothers at the time to tackle a subject involving social injustice. The film stars Richard Barthemless and his performance is a relic from the silent era, stilted and overdone. Davis said he reserved his acting for the close ups and we can see what she means. Davis, herself, plays a southern belle who seduces boyish Barthemeless in a surprisingly explicit scene. She is slim and sexy.

The film is worth seeing for a glimpse of the raw young Davis and it does contain her famous line "I'd like to kiss you but I just washed my hair".

The above quotation, contained in this little potboiler from 1932, was La Davis's very favourite line of all-time from her entire career in the movies! The role of Madge, the cankered young temptress gave Davis something to work with. Richard Barthelmess, an excellent actor from the silent era, was past his peak at forty-something - in 1932; he probably held very little interest for the notoriously difficult Hungarian director Michael Curtiz - Davis later wrote that Curtiz would refer to her as "A no-good sexless bum, a lousy , no good actress....... and words which are generally unprintable. Historically, a semi-important film (TCM certainly likes it!) because in it, Davis creates one of the great voyeuristic experiences the cinema has afforded us......Bette's voice, a call sign pitched between a taunt and a whine, resonates with trampish selfishness. A classic seduction has those Davis eyeballs prominently ogling poor Richard from under that famous bulging, shining forehead, her fingers clutching his hand as he nervously lights a cigarette for her, the flirtatious sag of her body against the shop counter, the breathy little ballad of WILLIE THE WEEPER (who had the dope habit and had it bad). Obviously a female in heat, Bette slips in "something more restful" and the erotic rustle of her waist-sash being untied before she rises into the sreen, bare-shouldered and presumably totally naked has left Barthelmess helpless! As Madge Norwood, a planter's spoiled child, Bette got to act. Davis presents a budding specimen af a Deep Southern nympho, stealthily seducing the conscience-bowed sharecropper's son (Barthelmess) who's employed by her Daddy..........Barthelmess was too old for his role and obviously unhappy and uncomfortable in his playing. In 1939, Davis would again be directed by the tyrannical Curtiz in her first Technicolor film - which hopefully will available again on video (AND SOON!) - THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX based upon Maxwell Anderson's esteemed play ELIZABETH THE QUEEN. Curtiz had to eat humble pie this time; Davis, by now was also known as the "Queen of Hollywood"!! Ironic.

If you're looking for great Davis flicks, keep looking. This film is OK, but Bette was an ingenue at the time and her role was quite limited.

This is capitalism in a nutshell. It is a marvel that capitalism has survived but the simplest explanation is that the words "socialism" and "communism" were captured by a bunch of bandits in the east, turning these fine two words into the equal of the words "dictatorship", "mass slaughter" and "holocaust" (from national socialism = nazis). If you ask me, these bandits were secretly paid lackeys of capitalism but who is gonna prove that?
In this film we see how the son must betray his slaving father on his deathbed in order to "make it" in the world of capitalism. Now, the son doesn't go that far in this film but we can see that in reality many sons did and that this was only the start of their betrayal.
The film offers a phony solution and a kind of agreement between masters and slaves but we can forget about that. That baloney was only put in there so that the film could be produced. Even with this ridiculous end this film is still one of the ten best films ever made, since the nine others I can think of in a haste (like Matrix, They Live, Great Expectations, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Paths of Glory, Cutter's Way, Who'll Stop the Rain, Dr. Zhivago and The Third Man) all are less outspoken against capitalism as such.
As for Bette Davis and her lines - let's call them red herrings!