Cabin In The Cotton (1932)

After his father (David Landau) dies, a sharecropper's son (Richard Barthelmess) is educated by the plantation owner (Berton Churchill) who hires him to work for him. The young man is torn between loyalty to the employer who educated him and the sharecroppers who are being exploited by the plantation owner. This extends to the two women in his life: the poor cotton picking good girl (Dorothy Jordan) and the plantation owner's flamboyant daughter (Bette Davis). Based on the novel by Harry Harrison Kroll and directed by Michael Curtiz (CASABLANCA). In the 1930s, Warners was the studio that wasn't afraid to tackle social issues and here, it focuses on the disparity between the wealthy plantation owners and the poor "white trash" sharecroppers. Unfortunately, Barthelmess can't seem to ignite any sparks and he comes across as a wimpy protagonist which I'm sure wasn't intended. Still a few years away from stardom, this is the first movie where Bette Davis gave signs that she was no ordinary starlet and that there was something special simmering there. With John Marston and Russell Simpson.