Strong and Moving!

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Director: HENRY KING; based on the play The House of Connelly by Paul Green. Screenplay: Reginald Berkeley. Camera: Hal Mohr. Film editor: Robert Bassler. Music director: Louis E. de Francesco. Songs: Lew Brown, Jay Gorney, L.E. de Francesco, Frederick Hollander, William Kernell. Sound recording: Joseph Aiken. Producer: William Fox.Copyright 2 February 1934 by Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 15 February 1934 (ran one week). 7,600 feet. 83 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Conflict in an old Southern family after the Civil War when the heir to an impoverished plantation marries an equally poor tenant farmer.NOTES: The play opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck on 28 September 1931 and ran a satisfactory 83 performances. Franchot Tone, Morris Carnovsky, Art Smith, Mary Morris, Stella Adler, J. Edward Bromberg, Robert Lewis and Clifford Odets and others were directed by Lee Strasberg and Cheryl Crawford. The play was the first production of The Group Theatre.COMMENT: Well acted but somewhat dated melodrama with an over-talkative script that betrays its stage origins. Mostly of curiosity interest, particularly for fans of Janet Gaynor and Lionel Barrymore. The eagle-eyed will spot young Shirley Temple in a bit role.

Went to the Eastman Film Museum in Rochester, NY and viewed this film a few years ago and was an amazing experience. The film is in pristine condition and I had my own viewing room where I could watch it (with amazement) by the acting, performances as well as the storyline. The storyline follows a young woman's attempt to restore a southern plantation back to its pre-Civil War glory. Joanna Tate (Janet Gaynor), originally travels from her home in Pennsylvania to the plantation in order to collect her deceased father's belongings. Though he didn't own the plantation himself, he had worked there as a farmer for a number of years. Once she arrives, Joanna (Gaynor) finds that the actual plantation owner, Bob Connelly (Lionel Barrymore), is a Civil War veteran who, despite his dogged determination to return his farmland to what it was before the war, has fallen to alcoholism. Least expected, however, was the love that would develop between Joanna and the plantation's handsome young heir, Will Connelly (Robert Young). Joanna and Connelly (Young) eventually marry, and the farm is successfully restored through their dedication and hard work. At the end of the movie, they have two children (one of whom is Shirley Temple) and it is a very sweet ending.