''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 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 include ...

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 Priz ...

'' 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

as Lester *

as Sister Bessie * Gene Tierney as Ellie May *

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 as Peabody *

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Be ...

as Lov Bensey * Grant Mitchell as George Payne * Zeffie Tilbury 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. Jos ...

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 George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the televi ...

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-Orph ...

and Warner Bros. 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 ...

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 Disn ...

gained the rights in August 1940, with RKO as its main competitor. It was believed that Fox won due to the success of ''

'' (1940). They were the main preference of the copyright holders

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 ra ...

. Much to the "immense satisfaction of the studio",

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'', 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 and director Ford deliberated for weeks.

and Gene Tierney were cast in November 1940. Most other cast members were signed on in the same month. Ford personally insisted that

be cast as Jeeter, because of their previous collaboration on ''The Grapes of Wrath''. To portray Dude,

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 The ''Spartanburg Herald-Journal'' is a daily newspaper, the primary newspaper for Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. History The origins of the paper lie with ''The Spartan'', a weekly paper reportedly first printed in about 1842� ...

'', 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 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. By extension, the term is fre ...

, and it had grossed up to $1.9 million by 1973.

References

External links