The Cabin in the Cotton

Michael Curtiz was none too happy having Bette Davis thrusted upon him when he was directing October 1932 "The Cabin in the Cotton." Producer Darryl F. Zanuck saw some spunk in the young actress that the Hungarian director failed to see. Besides a lead in George Arliss' 1932 "The Man Who Played God," Davis' roles were minor playing mostly meek characters. Her part as Madge Norwood called for a head-strong, devious sexpot that the director felt demanded a more hardened, experienced actress.

"Are you kidding?" huffed Cortez to Zanuck when he was told Davis was going to be the lead in his film. "Who would want to go to bed with her?" Having no choice in the matter, the director expressed throughout the shoot his lack of confidence in her right to Davis' face. He described loudly so everyone could hear that she was a "lousy actress," and followed up under his breath that she was a "nothing, no good sexless son of a b" when filming her love scenes with actor Richard Barthelmess. Davis, though sensitive to his insults, let his comments slide off her. "Mr. Curtiz," said Davis years later, "was a monster as he was a great European moviemaker. He was not a performer's director. You had to be very strong with him. And he wasn't fun. Cruelest man I have ever known. But he knew how to shoot a film well." Hard to believe, but the two ended up making seven films together.

"The Cabin in the Cotton," focused on the confrontation between a plantation owner in the Deep South and his sharecroppers. The script was adapted from a 1931 Harry Kroll novel of the same name. Barthelmess stars as Marvin Blake, a sharecropper's son whose ambition is to get a school degree instead of remaining in the fields picking cotton all day. Davis is Madge, the plantation owner's daughter, a free spirit who sides with her father. To be fair, the book and the Warner Brothers' picture doesn't take sides; both are ripping each other off. The farmstead owners are more secretive and clever by cooking the books, while the sharecroppers are visibly stealing from the plantation owners.

In one sense, "The Cabin in the Cotton" is a transformative movie transitioning from Hollywood's silent era to sound films. Davis in later years talked frankly about one of silent movie's greatest actors, Richard Barthelmess, and his acting style. "He did absolutely nothing in the long shots, followed basic stage directions for medium shots, and reserved his talent for the close-ups," noted the actress. "In that way it was necessary to use his close-ups almost entirely." Meanwhile, Barthelmess, 37, said of the 24-year-old Davis, "There was a lot of passion in her, and it was impossible not to sense that. One got the sense of a lot of feeling dammed up in her, a lot of electricity that had not yet found its outlet. In a way it was rather disconcerting - yes, I admit it, frightening."

Modern film reviewer Stacia Jones wrote, "Bette Davis' Madge is one of the few reasons to watch this film. Highly sexual and confident, Madge smokes, parties, and when leaving the car of a rich boyfriend, breezily tells him, 'Better luck next time!' She's modern in both style and acting. Her appearance is in stark contrast to Barthelmess' aged silent movie star look."

Davis, quoting directly from Kroll's novel, said one of the more famous lines comedian impersonators of hers loved to mimic. Madge, leaving her father's store, says energetically in her Southern drawl to Marvin, who works there and whom she is attracted to, "I'ld like ta kiss ya, but I just washed my hair."

The problems of Capital and Labor are well explored in this tight little drama set amongst cotton tenant farmers and their landlords. Striking cinematography and excellent direction, from Michael Curtiz, combine with a first-rate and intelligent screenplay to create a memorable film. The two sides are well presented, both good and bad, and, although the solution for reconciliation is never really explained, the result opens up areas for debate that are still relevant today.

The performances from everyone are very fine - the supporting cast is an extraordinary group of unique faces and personalities. And then there is Bette Davis, in one of her first roles, looking sensational (platinum blonde) and being very naughty - an implied nude seduction is a highlight - as is that famous line. She eats poor Richard Barthelmess for breakfast, spits him out at lunch, and devours his remains for dinner. Barthelmess' performance is wonderful - he was one of the best actors of the silent era and here is strong in one of his rare talkies. He is so good that he almost makes you forget that he is far too old for the idealistic boy straight out of school that he is supposed to be playing. Great film - see it.

The workingman's studio, better known as Warner Brothers, did most of its social commentary films with an urban setting. Which in itself makes The Cabin In The Cotton a very unique product to come out of this studio. It's not a bad film, could have been better in delivering its message with a lighter hand. But what the Brothers Warner did was go back on an old standby.

Watching The Cabin In The Cotton this morning put me in mind of a much better film in which Preston Sturges satirized the making of films like these. If you remember in Sullivan's Travels, director John L. Sullivan played by Joel McCrea wants to make films like these, the epic he wants to do is entitled Oh Brother Where Art Thou. But in order to sell it he's advised to make sure it has 'a little sex'.

Which brings me to why The Cabin In The Cotton is remembered today at all. It's because of what Bette Davis brings to the film, a little sex. This film was a big milestone in her career as she plays the hedonistic daughter of that old southern planter Berton Churchill who keeps his sharecroppers, black and white, in virtual peonage.

The lead Richard Barthelmess plays a bright young sharecropper's son and Churchill takes an interest in him, sending him to school to be educated because he has no son to help run the old plantation. What he does have is one sexpot of a daughter to keep Barthelmess on the side of the rich and privileged instead of finding true love with one of his own class in Dorothy Jordan.

Churchill has been systematically exploiting the sharecroppers with high interest and cheating them on price. They in turn have been stealing cotton and selling bits of it on the black market. Henry B. Walthall and Russell Simpson have been leading the quiet peasant's revolt which threatens to get open and nasty. I'd have to say that the ending of the film has a forced and obvious conclusion both romantically and socially, but you'll have to see it for yourselves to find out.

The Cabin In The Cotton is a dated, but historically valid film about conditions in the old Confederacy before the New Deal. But the sex that Bette Davis brings to her role is timeless.

For those who are looking for a thoughtful and socially relevant Hollywood film, Cabin In The Cotton is it. The movie is rather quaint, even compared to other films of its time, but that's part of its charm.

The subject matter is unusual, in that both the struggling sharecroppers, and the wealthy land owners are portrayed as flawed individuals. Bette Davis performance as Madge gave her an early career opportunity to impress critics. Unlike her future roles, though, it isn't large or challenging. There is enough there to allow her to be a vulnerable,spoiled, and sexy minx. She also has eccentric dialogue and a glamorous wardrobe. Richard Barthelmess, in the lead role, as well as the supporting players, give very authentic performances. The cinematography is striking,giving the film a realistic rural atmosphere. A powerful and intelligent scene near the end reminds us that, in any profession, the necessary relationship between labor and management will always be a difficult battle.

Interesting film about the plight of planters vs. share croppers in 1930s South. Richard Barthelmess plays a share cropper's son who is good at school and is sponsored by a planter (Berton Churchill). Although the boy becomes a bookkeeper for him he 's caught between the two worlds and the two girls from each side of town: the planter's daughter (Bette Davis) and a share cropper's neighbor (Dorothy Jordan).

As the war between the planters and croppers increases, Barthelmess is caught in a moral dilemma. He knows the croppers are stealing cotton and he knows they burned down the local mercantile (owned by the planter) because they think they've destroyed the the records. But Barthelmess has an extra set.

The film is a little slow and maybe too old fashioned but the subject matter is interesting and of course the film features Davis' famous line, "I'd like to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair. Bye!" Aside from that the film offers Barthelmess in his last starring role and good performances by Churchill and Henry B. Walthall as a crippled cropper.

Also co-stars David Landau, Virginia Hammond, Russell Simpson, Tully Marshall, Dorothy Peterson, Hardie Albright, and Clarence Muse.

Worth a look