White Bondage

"White Bondage" is a reworking of the script for "Cabin in the Cotton" and it's most unusual because it's actually BETTER than the original film...even if the original starred Bette Davis!

As for the plot, it's a sort of film only Warner Brothers would have made, as they were a studio that favored making films about working class people and real world problems...something many other studios of the day (particularly MGM avoided). It fits in fine with other Warners products of the 30s such as "I Was a Fugitive From a Chain Gang", "Crime School" and "Wild Boys of the Road"...all films intended to address social issues of the day.

This story is set in the rural south and is all about how the local landowners are robbing the poor sharecroppers. Mis-weighing cotton, company stores that charge exorbitant prices and one-sided contracts are all being used in order to squeeze every dime from the sharecroppers...and a newspaper reporter is there undercover to expose the racket. The problem is that the land owner and his family are clever and evil...and most of the sharecroppers are ignorant and poor...and are easily manipulated. How does this happen? And, what becomes of this form of bondage?

I loved this film. It was very well made, the script was right on target and the film is among the best Bs I've ever seen. A very intelligent film that holds up amazingly well today.