The Good Earth | |
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Directed by | Sidney Franklin Victor Fleming (uncredited) Gustav Machatý (uncredited) |
Screenplay by | Talbot Jennings Tess Slesinger and Claudine West |
Based on | The Good Earth 1931 novel by Pearl S. Buck adapted for the stage by Owen Davis and Donald Davis |
Produced by | Irving Thalberg Albert Lewin (associate producer) |
Starring | Paul Muni Luise Rainer |
Cinematography | Karl Freund, A.S.C. |
Edited by | Basil Wrangell |
Music by | Herbert Stothart Edward Ward (uncredited) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Loew's, Inc. |
Release date |
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Running time | 138 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2,816,000[2] |
Box office | $3,557,000[2] |
The Good Earth is a 1937 American drama film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the 1932 play by Owen Davis and Donald Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck.[citation needed] The film was directed by Sidney Franklin, with uncredited contributions by Victor Fleming and Gustav Machaty.
The film stars Paul Muni as Wang Lung. For her role as his wife O-Lan, Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for Best Actress. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Karl Freund. It was nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture. Its world premiere was at the elegant Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles.