''Tobacco Road'' is a 1941 American
comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
and starring
Charley Grapewin
Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville and circus performer, a writer, and a stage and film actor. He worked in over 100 motion pictures during the silent and sound eras, most notably port ...
,
Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Burnet Rambeau (July 15, 1889 – July 6, 1970) was an American film and stage actress. She began her stage career at age 12, and appeared in several silent films before debuting in her first sound film, '' Her Man'' (1930). She was t ...
,
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the ...
and
William Tracy
William Tracy (December 1, 1917 – June 18, 1967) was an American character actor.
Early life and career
Tracy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He is perhaps best known for the role of Pepi Katona, the delivery boy, in ''The Shop ...
. It was based on the 1932
novel of the same name by
Erskine Caldwell
Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (1 ...
and the
1933 Broadway play that
Jack Kirkland
Jack Kirkland (July 25, 1902 – February 22, 1969) was an American playwright, producer, director and screenwriter.
Kirkland's greatest success was the play '' Tobacco Road'', adapted from the Erskine Caldwell novel. His other plays included ...
adapted from the novel. The plot was rewritten for the film by
Nunnally Johnson
Nunnally Hunter Johnson (December 5, 1897 – March 25, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and playwright. As a filmmaker, he wrote the screenplays to more than fifty films in a career that spanned from 1927 to 1967. He ...
, who had worked with Ford on ''
The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
'' the previous year; the plot was altered to fit Production Code demands for a lighter tone while retaining plot elements.
[Crowther, Bosle]
"Tobacco Road (1941)"
''New York Times'', February 21, 1941
Plot synopsis
In Georgia is a place called Tobacco Road, where the Lester family resides. The family patriarch Jeeter lives with his wife Ada, his son Dude, and his single daughter Ellie May, but the Lesters are doomed to lose their land because the bank decides to take it over for more suitable farming. However, the bank is convinced by a friend in Capt. Tim Harmon (whose father had kept after the Lesters to grow crops) to potentially lease the land to Jeeter for $100 a year, provided he can get a loan. He plans to get a loan from the widow Sister Bessie Rice, who just received $800 from the life insurance company. However, Bessie decides to marry Dude and uses the money to buy a new car for Dude. Jeeter plans to find a way to get the money and also marry off Ellie May. His attempt at trying to sell Dude's car fails miserably, and it seems as though they will be forced to live in the poorhouse. It is Harmon who decides to give the Lesters a chance, lending them a stake for six months to try and grow a suitable crop, complete with $10 to get started.
Cast
*
Charley Grapewin
Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville and circus performer, a writer, and a stage and film actor. He worked in over 100 motion pictures during the silent and sound eras, most notably port ...
as Lester
*
Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Burnet Rambeau (July 15, 1889 – July 6, 1970) was an American film and stage actress. She began her stage career at age 12, and appeared in several silent films before debuting in her first sound film, '' Her Man'' (1930). She was t ...
as Sister Bessie
*
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the ...
as Ellie May
*
William Tracy
William Tracy (December 1, 1917 – June 18, 1967) was an American character actor.
Early life and career
Tracy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He is perhaps best known for the role of Pepi Katona, the delivery boy, in ''The Shop ...
as Dude Lester
*
Elizabeth Patterson as Ada Lester
*
Dana Andrews
Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts ...
as Captain Tim
*
Slim Summerville
Slim Summerville (born George Joseph Somerville; July 10, 1892 – January 5, 1946), was an American film actor and director best known for his work in comedies.
Early life
Summerville was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his mother d ...
as Peabody
*
Ward Bond as Lov Bensey
*
Grant Mitchell as George Payne
*
Zeffie Tilbury
Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury (20 November 1863 – 24 July 1950) was an English-American actress.
profile at Cinemorgue as Grandma
*
Russell Simpson as Chief of Police
*
Spencer Charters
Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles.
Biography
Charters was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Until ...
as County Clerk
*
Irving Bacon
Irving Bacon (born Irving Von Peters; September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films.
Early years
Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar Bacon and Myrtle Vane. He was born in St. Jose ...
as Teller
* Harry Tyler as Auto Dealer
*
Charles Halton
Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films.
Life and career
Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which he ...
as Mayor
*
George Chandler as Clerk
Production
Studios attempted to acquire the screen rights to the novel from 1933.
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
and
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
considered buying the rights, the first intending to assign
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...
in the lead role, but were discouraged from doing so.
In March 1940,
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
showed interest, but was informed that ''Tobacco Road'' was on the list of banned titles.
Eventually,
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
gained the rights in August 1940, with RKO as its main competitor.
It was believed that Fox won due to the success of ''
The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
'' (1940).
They were the main preference of the copyright holders
Erskine Caldwell
Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (1 ...
and Jack Kirkland, who were reluctant to sell the rights unless the film "would be picturized honestly and fearlessly."
["Sensational Screen Play Comes Thurs. To Fox California", ''San Jose Evening News'', March 12, 1941, p. 13]
Initially,
Henry Hull
Henry Watterson Hull (October 3, 1890 – March 8, 1977) was an American character actor perhaps best known for playing the lead in Universal Pictures's '' Werewolf of London'' (1935). For most of his career, he was a lead actor on stage and a c ...
was sought from
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
to reprise the main role previously portrayed on Broadway.
However, in October 1940 he was revealed to be only in consideration, along with
Walter Brennan
Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come and Get It'' (1936), ''Kentucky'' (1938), and '' The Westerner ...
and
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and rai ...
.
Much to the "immense satisfaction of the studio",
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
was signed on as the director as early as March 1940. On production, he commented in a December 1940 interview: "We have no dirt in the picture. We've eliminated the horrible details and what we've got left is a nice dramatic story. It's a tear-jerker, with some comedy relief. What we're aiming at is to have the customers sympathize with our people and not feel disgusted."
["'Tobacco Road' Cleaned Up For Production as Movie" by Frederick C. Othman, '']St. Petersburg Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'', December 15, 1940 The decision was most likely a result of a November 1940 warning that "many religious folk throughout the nation may be offended by the religious aspects."
Casting was a huge problem, and it was reported that producer
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...
and director Ford deliberated for weeks.
Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Burnet Rambeau (July 15, 1889 – July 6, 1970) was an American film and stage actress. She began her stage career at age 12, and appeared in several silent films before debuting in her first sound film, '' Her Man'' (1930). She was t ...
and
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the ...
were cast in November 1940. Most other cast members were signed on in the same month. Ford personally insisted that
Charley Grapewin
Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville and circus performer, a writer, and a stage and film actor. He worked in over 100 motion pictures during the silent and sound eras, most notably port ...
be cast as Jeeter, because of their previous collaboration on ''The Grapes of Wrath''. To portray Dude,
William Tracy
William Tracy (December 1, 1917 – June 18, 1967) was an American character actor.
Early life and career
Tracy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He is perhaps best known for the role of Pepi Katona, the delivery boy, in ''The Shop ...
had to diet and lose teeth.
On his role, Tracy commented in a December 1940 interview: "It's a swell part. It's one you can sink your teeth in, if you have your teeth."
While in production, ''Tobacco Road'' was thought to be received as even greater than ''The Grapes of Wrath''.
Filming was initially set on location in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, but to avoid any controversy, the studio decided in November 1940 that the film would be shot in the studio on closed sets.
["'Tobacco Road' Will Be Filmed On Closed Sets" by Cameron Shipp, '' Spartanburg Herald-Journal'', November 25, 1940, p. 5] To further prevent the film from being banned before its release, there was no publicity.
Reception
Many critics compared the film of ''Tobacco Road'' to the stage version, which was still running on Broadway at the time of the film's release. ''Variety'' wrote, "The slightest attempt to clean up Jeeter and his brood dooms the effort to failure... He's better entertainment--and box office--with rough edges."
Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described the film as a "leisurely picnic with a batch of moldy Georgia crackers."
Despite the studio's concerns over the censorship, the film was only banned in Australia.
Through Smith's Private Projector
Smith's Weekly. 1 November 1941. Although the film received mixed reviews, it became a success at the box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...
, and it had grossed up to $1.9 million by 1973.
See also
* List of American films of 1941
A list of American films released in 1941.
''How Green Was My Valley'' won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
A–B
C–D
E–H
I–N
O–S
T–Z
Documentaries
Serials
Shorts
See also
* 1941 in the United States
References ...
* Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of fiction, country music, film and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic elements and the American South. Common themes of Southern Gothic include storytelling of deeply flawed, disturbing or ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
New Georgia Encyclopedia article on ''Tobacco Road''
{{Darryl F. Zanuck
1941 films
1941 comedy films
20th Century Fox films
American comedy films
American black-and-white films
Films about farmers
Films based on American novels
Films directed by John Ford
Films produced by Darryl F. Zanuck
Films scored by David Buttolph
Films set in farms
Films set in Georgia (U.S. state)
Films with screenplays by Nunnally Johnson
Great Depression films
Southern Gothic films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films