Product Details

• Actors: Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Jordan, Bette Davis, Hardie Albright, David Landau
• Directors: Michael Curtiz
• Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM / UA
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 78 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630254839X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,589 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars CIRCA 1932 BETTE DAVIS AS A SOUTHERN VAMP ..., November 6, 2001

By	Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fine early Bette Davis flick, September 2, 2007

By	Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

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!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars INGENUE DAVIS IN HER FIRST VAMP ROLE!, December 8, 1999

By	Scott Barkley (Carmel,California) - See all my reviews

"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!"