The Good Earth (1937)

Academy Awards, USA 1938

Won Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Luise Rainer Luise Rainer became the first actress and first performer to win consecutive awards for lead roles.
	Best Cinematography Karl Freund
Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Director Sidney Franklin
	Best Film Editing Basil Wrangell

MGM
Directed by Sidney Franklin
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Poor Chinese farmer Paul Muni takes a wife and over the course of several years buys land and becomes wealthy. However, drought ruins his fields and the family is forced to flee to the city and beg for meals. They get caught up in a political revolution, where his wife stumbles on a bag full of jewels which they use to return to their farm and buy even more land. His wealth allows him to take a second wife, which ruins the family, and a locust plague almost wipes out the farm. Works best when it sticks to the universal themes of farming and family, but tends to bogged down in the second half when the "second wife" arrives. Muni is not a very convincing Asian, and neither is Luise Rainer as his wife for that matter, both in heavy makeup.