The Southerner (1945)

Tired of picking cotton for other people, a man (Zachary Scott) leases a piece of land to farm with the option of buying it. But it isn't easy as poverty, jealous neighbors and mother nature conspire to defeat him. The great French director Jean Renoir made only five films in Hollywood during his stay there in the 1940s. Based on the novel HOLD AUTUMN IN YOUR HAND by George Sessions Perry, THE SOUTHERNER is probably the best of the bunch. It's an imperfect film but there are moments of such great beauty and power that pointing out its minor deficiencies seems petty. The film is perhaps slightly romanticized but Lucien Andriot's exquisite location lensing gives the movie an almost poetic feel. With one exception, the acting is strong particularly Zachary Scott in a role far removed from the playboys he usually did at Warners. The one exception is Beulah Bondi who goes overboard as the cantankerous grandmother. A sensitive film without being overly sentimental. The Oscar nominated score is by Werner Janssen. With Betty Field, J. Carrol Naish, Norman Lloyd, Percy Kilbride, Blanche Yurka and Noreen Nash.