| Academy Awards, USA | |||
| Year | Result | Award | Category/Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Nominated | Oscar | Best Director King Vidor |
MGM
Directed by King Vidor
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)
Moving account of a black family in the south who scrape out a living picking cotton. The oldest son takes the yearly crop to town but loses the money gambling. Even worse, his brother is shot and killed in the bar room argument which follows. The family's only solace is religion, and the son becomes a traveling preacher. However, he lusts after the same girl that got him in trouble gambling, abandoning his soon-to-be-wife and his family. He works for a time as a mill laborer, but the girl reverts to her old ways leading to more tragedy. Stunningly photographed on location in Arkansas and with a soundtrack that includes both raucous Dixieland and somber spirituals, the stereotypes may offend some modern viewers, but they are easy to overlook given the depth of the characters and breadth of the story.
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