God's Little Acre (1958)

A dirt poor farmer (Robert Ryan) lays his farmland to waste as he digs for the gold he’s obsessed with and he runs his family (sons Jack Lord and Vic Morrow, Lord’s wife Tina Louise, daughter Fay Spain) with a loving iron fist. His son in law (Aldo Ray) is a laid off factory worker organizing the unemployed workers to take back the factory. Based on the novel by Erskine Caldwell and directed by Anthony Mann. The 1933 novel was a scandalous world wide best seller. The novel combined Marxist themes with lots of sex. Its author Erskine Caldwell was even tried in court under obscenity charges. 25 years later, it finally reached the screen. Mann uses Ryan and his family initially as a source of amusement and Ryan is really good here in one of his most unusual roles but Mann skillfully turns the farce into tragedy. The novel really isn’t very good (I don’t think it’s even read much today) and with all the sex taken out for the film version, we’re left with nothing more than a mildly entertaining “white trash” dramedy. The wonderfully atmospheric score is by Elmer Bernstein and the strong B&W cinematography by Oscar winning Ernest Haller (GONE WITH THE WIND). Also starring Buddy Hackett, Michael Landon, Rex Ingram, Helen Westcott and Lance Fuller.