Tobacco Road (1941)

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  • TOBACCO ROAD


    DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD
    PRODUCED BY DARRYL F. ZANUCK
    TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION



    Information from IMDb


    Plot Summary
    Shiftless Jeeter Lester and his family of hillbilly stereotypes live in a rural backwater where their ancestors were once wealthy planters. Their slapstick existence is threatened by a bank's plans to take over the land for more profitable farming; subplots involve the affairs and marriages of son Dude and daughter Ellie May.
    Written by Rod Crawford


    Full Cast
    Charley Grapewin ... Jeeter Lester
    Marjorie Rambeau ... Sister Bessie Rice
    Gene Tierney ... Ellie May Lester
    William Tracy ... Dude Lester
    Elizabeth Patterson ... Ada Lester
    Dana Andrews ... Capt. Tim Harmon
    Slim Summerville ... Henry Peabody
    Ward Bond ... Lov Bensey
    Grant Mitchell ... George Payne
    Zeffie Tilbury ... Grandma Lester
    Russell Simpson ... Chief of Police
    Spencer Charters ... County Clerk
    Irving Bacon ... Teller
    Harry Tyler ... Auto Dealer
    Charles Halton ... Mayor
    George Chandler ... Clerk
    Robert Shaw ... Hillbilly
    Charles Trowbridge ... Rector (scenes deleted)
    Charles Waldron ... Mr. Lester (scenes deleted)
    Dorothy Adams ... Payne's Secretary (uncredited)
    Erville Alderson ... Driver of Car Almost Hit by Dude Lester (uncredited)
    Luke Cosgrave ... Undetermined Role (uncredited)
    Francis Ford ... Vagabond on Road (uncredited)
    David Hughes ... Coroner (uncredited)
    Mae Marsh ... County Clerk's Assistant (uncredited)
    John 'Skins' Miller ... Auto Dealer's Mechanic (uncredited)
    Jack Pennick ... Deputy Sheriff (uncredited)


    Writing Credits
    Erskine Caldwell (novel)
    Jack Kirkland (play)
    Nunnally Johnson (screenplay)


    Original Music
    David Buttolph


    Cinematography
    Arthur C. Miller


    Trivia
    The movie was banned in Australia for unspecified reasons, but generally had few censorship problems.


    The Broadway play by Jack Kirkland based on Erskine Caldwell's novel opened 4 December 1933 and set a record for longevity on Broadway when it closed on 31 May 1941 after 3,281 performances. It was revived on Broadway twice in the next two years, bring its total running time there to nearly ten years (1933-1943). Opened at the Theatre Masque and then moved to the 48th Street Theatre followed by the Forrest Theatre for the original production. The play was revived in 1942, 1943 and 1950. The original Broadway production is the sixteenth longest running show ever.


    The early-1941 Ford Super De Luxe Convertible Club Coupe, driven by Harvey Parry, survived its ordeal. During filming it had been crashed into a 100-year-old sycamore tree, then backed out of the debris and driven fast to jump over a 20-foot stream (with the aid of a ramp), and thereafter smashed through several fences, sideswiped a two-ton truck (forcing the truck off the road), rammed through a tool shed (cut from final release), jumped a curb, splintered a park bench, rammed a station wagon, ran into two other trees and skidded until finally overturning. Following this, the car was set right by the crew and driven back to the studio by Parry. A studio employee, Arthur Webb, purchased the badly-damaged convertible from 20th Century-Fox and, with his brother Don, commenced to repair it with hundreds of hours of personal labor and $125 in new parts from a Beverly Hills dealership.


    Goofs
    The morning following a torrential rain storm, dirt roads are absolutely dry.


    When Dude angrily pushes Jeter out of the way from his new car, the hood is up. When he drives away, the hood is down


    Memorable Quotes


    Filming Locations
    Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA (poor farm sequence)
    Sherwood Forest, California, USA

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited once, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Tobacco Road is a 1941 film directed by John Ford starring
    Charley Grapewin, Marjorie Rambeau, Gene Tierney, William Tracy and Dana Andrews.
    It was based on the novel of the same name by Erskine Caldwell,
    but the plot was rewritten for the film.
    Look out for a few of the emerging John Ford Stock Company,
    Ward Bond, Mae Marsh, Jack Pennick, Ford's brother Francis Ford
    Also look out for young Robert Shaw



    User Review


    Quote

    A Dated Dud
    7 March 2010 | by Hunters_Souffle (New Jersey)
    A family of backwood idiots in South Carolina are evicted from their property by the bank, and do very little to help themselves. Soon the moronic son is married to the local religious zealot and they buy a car and drive around reeking havoc, crashing into almost everything and abusing the car like it's a toy. The patriarch of the family wants to get a loan from the bank so he can plant some crops again, but he's too lazy and shiftless to actually do anything. There's a bunch of weird slapstick and overacting that could put post-Scarface Pacino to shame, mixed with awful maudlin scenes of desperation.


    This kind of film is typical of that era in American history, where rich, 'enlightened' people gathered to laugh at those less fortunate, be it blacks, Latinos or hicks, in movies filled with stereotypes and cruelty. It's a dated dud that is better off forgotten.

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited once, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Quote"This kind of film is typical of that era in American history, where rich, 'enlightened' people gathered to laugh at those less fortunate, be it blacks, Latinos or hicks, in movies filled with stereotypes and cruelty. It's a dated dud that is better off forgotten."


    Seems as though this reviewer has filled his review with stereotypes and cruelty towards the characters.
    Sadly, there are plenty of folks living in this type of setting today, and more a'coming !


    Chester :newyear: