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With: Charley Grapewin, Marjorie Rambeau, Gene Tierney, William Tracy, Elizabeth Patterson, Dana Andrews, Slim Summerville, Ward Bond, Grant Mitchell, Zeffie Tilbury
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Written by: Nunnally Johnson, based on a novel by Erskine Caldwell and a play by Jack Kirkland
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Directed by: John Ford
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MPAA Rating: Not Rated
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Running Time: 84
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Date: 02/19/1941
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Turnips
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
John Ford's weirdest film plays like a flip-side of -- or an alternate reality to -- The Grapes of Wrath. Based on a novel by Erskine Caldwell and a long-running play by Jack Kirkland (but reportedly gutted by screenwriter Nunnally Johnson), the film focuses on a group of hillbillies who still occupy their farmland, long after crops have ceased to grow. Charley Grapewin provides some balance as Jeeter Lester, a schemer with a good heart. But many other performances are shrill and agitating, such as William Tracy as Jeeter's son "Dude" and Marjorie Rambeau as the caterwauling Sister Bessie Rice.
Just wait till you witness the sight of sexy young Gene Tierney trying to seduce Ward Bond by lounging on the dirty ground, inching toward him and raising dust clouds as she goes. Even more bizarre is one of the movie's final exchanges ("where's grandma?"). Ford's penchant for broad comedy is at its worst here, but at the same time, he also manages some of his most beautiful lyrical passages.
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