The Southerner

"The picture that never lets go of your heart!"

1945 1h 32m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 71

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Sam Tucker, a cotton picker, in search of a better future for his family, decides to grow his own cotton crop. In the first year, the Tuckers battle disease, a flood, and a jealous neighbor. Can they make it as farmers?

“The picture that never lets go of your heart!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Zachary Scott
Sam Tucker
Betty Field
Nona Tucker
J. Carrol Naish
Devers
Beulah Bondi
Granny Tucker
Percy Kilbride
W. Harmie
Charles Kemper
Tim
Blanche Yurka
Mama Tucker
Norman Lloyd
Finlay

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jean Renoir
Writers: Jean Renoir, Nunnally Johnson, William Faulkner
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

81 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jean Renoir, shot by Lucien N. Andriot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Werner Janssen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Gregg Tallas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Zachary Scott and Betty Field and J. Carrol Naish carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The picture that never lets go of your heart!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0038107 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 71 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean Renoir directs. Lucien N. Andriot behind the camera. Werner Janssen scores. Gregg Tallas cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

181 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Jean Renoir, shot by Lucien N. Andriot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Werner Janssen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Gregg Tallas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Zachary Scott and Betty Field and J. Carrol Naish carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The picture that never lets go of your heart!".
7IMDB entry: tt0038107 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 71 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Lucien N. Andriot
Original score: Werner Janssen
Editing: Gregg Tallas
Production design: Eugène Lourié
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Southerner (1945)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Jean Renoir

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Wallpaper

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-12-18
★ 7/10
A family are quite literally tuckered out trying to farm for cotton when husband "Sam" (Zachary Scott) and his wife "Nona" (Betty Field) decide it's time to move with their two young children and start a life for themselves somewhere else. They alight on a rocky farmstead that centres on a ramshackle old house and decide that they are going to see if they can grow cotton there. Thing is, the terrain isn't ideal and their neighbour (J. Carrol Naish) is not the friendliest, so their travails are never going to be easy. Things are not helped when their young son "Jot" (Jay Gilpin) starts to suffer from the effects of malnutrition, and the doctor prescribes the ultimate in luxuries - a cow and some vegetables! Their work is all manual, they have none of the modern day tractors and seeding equipment and so, coupled with disease and a storm of almost biblical proportions, they don't have their problems to seek. Can they overcome these challenges, though? This is one of those stories about the human spirit. The couple are determined to face down the hardships and they get help and hindrance from those nearby as they struggle to fit into their new surroundings. It's probably Beulah Bondi's old "Granny' who steals the acting plaudits as she hitches up her skirts and rules the roost grumpily whilst the family wrestle with the rocks and the roof. Scott and Field gel quite well, too, as their work puts quite a strain on their family with no end in sight. It's perhaps his friend "Tim" (Charles Kemper) who best sums up their chosen lifestyle as something akin to: work yourself to the bone, year after year, then die! The production is quickly paced and effective at showing us just how tough subsistence farming was for the cotton picking population of hardy folks, and this has an authenticity to it that's worth a watch.

Production companies