Swamp Water

Having seen almost all Renoir's works, I was eager to see this one, the master's first film of his american stint. If you have seen Renoir's The River (1951), one of his loveliest masterpieces, the feeling cames to you, when you are watching this 1941 movie, that you are seeing just a preparatory exercise for that later piece of art. Just listen Walter Brennan's lines when he first meet Dana Andrews about how the death of an individual begets new life elsewhere.

Sometimes also in the movie I had the resemblance of watching a John Ford movie, specially in the town scenes, more obvious in the ball scenes, the guy with the girl chatting, the dancers background, and suddenly a huge thug coming out, and the fight therefore. More hints about this: the writer is Dudley Nichols, a Ford habitual collaborator, and among the cast, John Carradine and Ward Bond, also from Ford's troup. Anyway, it's a Renoir. Watch it (it's short and pleasant, and hide two or three great moments.)

Swamp Water (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Renoir's first American movie is quite impressive and if you viewed this thing without seeing the opening credits you'd swear it was made by someone like John Ford. The film takes place in the Georgia swamps where trapper Ben Ragan (Dana Andrews) gets lost in the swamp only to be rescued by fugitive Tom Keefer (Walter Brennan) who has been hiding there to avoid hanging. The two strike up a friendship but Ben must keep him secret while back at town all hell is breaking loose. I guess Fox respected the talent of Renoir enough to give him an all-star cast, something that not even John Ford would get at the studio. Sure, there are a few problems with this film but there's no denying it's technical beauty and the terrific cast makes it a must see. The cinematography is what really stands out here as the B&W footage is so beautiful that you can't help but get drawn into the atmosphere of this swampy land. A lot of the footage here was shot on location and you can't help but feel like the swamps is one of the main characters as you can just feel the dirtiness of the water and sense all the creatures living in it. There's some obvious back-projection but this doesn't take away from anything. As far as the cast goes we're in for a real treat. Andrews is very good in his role and Walter Huston is just as impressive as his father. Brennan gets top-billing but he's actually not in the film too much. There's some debate on his performance here but I thought it was a good one even if I didn't believe him in the role too much and I'm curious if it would have been better had Huston and Brennan switched roles. Ann Baxter, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine, Joe Sawyer, Mary Howard, Ward Bond, Russell Simpson and Eugene Palette round out the supporting players and all them fill their roles nicely. Even if the story is lacking in parts, you can't take your eyes off the screen because this wonderful cast takes up every inch of film so you've constantly got something fun to see. I think the mystery around the killing Brennan was accused for is too easy to figure out but this too is just a minor point. Considering the cast and terrific cinematography, I'm somewhat surprised this film isn't better know. It's certainly not a masterpiece by any standard but there's enough here to make it worth viewing to any film buff.

When Ben (Dana Andrews) heads into the dangerous Okefenokee Swamp to search for his missing hunting dog, he finds fugitive Tom Keefer (Walter Brennan) living like a wild man. After a rough beginning, Ben and Tom grow to trust each other, and Tom reveals that he was falsely convicted of murder, which is why he's hiding out. Ben promises to look in on Tom's daughter Julie (Anne Baxter), which leads to romance, but when townsfolk begin to suspect that Ben's frequent trips into the swamp may be connected to Keefer, everyone is put in jeopardy.

This was one of the few American films that French master Renoir worked on, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. He and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought over everything, particularly location shooting, which Renoir preferred, versus studio shooting, which the cost-conscious Zanuck wanted. Most of the film ended up being shot in the studio, but some location shots were done in the real Okefenokee by dialogue director Irving Pichel. The movie is okay as far as films about "backwoods simple folk" subgenre movies go.

The cast is good, especially Brennan, but Walter Huston is wasted as Andrews' disapproving father. Anne Baxter replaced the fired Linda Darnell, and while I normally prefer Darnell, I don't think she would have been right for this part. Baxter has a certain feral look to her eyes that fit the wild-child role, even if her perfectly drawn eye brows don't. As for director Renoir, he accused Zanuck of butchering the film in the editing process, and canceled his Fox contract as soon as he was able.

Only viewed this movie once,when as an eleven year old , it first opened. I still recall the scene where Julie scurried away through the barn to hide from Andrews. Clawing like a black cat (with her raven hair matted as if it were a Brillo Pad.) I instantly fell head over heels in love with that gruff looking girl.

The fight scene , the cottonmouth attack still looms large in my memory. I'm 76 now, but would love to see it twenty more times and hark back to those innocent days, when a nickle candy bar could be bought for five cents .

Excellent movie (Also loved The Southerner)

A swamp that is widely perceived by all the locals as impenetrable offers refuge to a convicted murderer who has been hiding out there for years and has learned its lessons well enough to actually get by quite well. Fear of the swamp and its cottonmouths and alligators is enough to keep any civilized person out, but when a hunter's dog jumps out of his canoe and gets lost in this swamp, its the love he (Dana Andrews) has for his dog that draws him deeper into the swamp and sets up the meeting with fugitive Walter Brennan. It turns out the swamp isn't so bad after all, as Andrews and Brennan team up to collect a valuable set of furs from the animals they've trapped. Back in the town the truth of the murder for which Brennan faces hanging emerges in a very well told story. Jean Renoir was able to bring the town into the swamp or vice versa in this beautifully filmed movie. For sure the best actor awards go to Walter Huston who plays Dana Andrews father, and whose second wife is being courted by another great, John Carradine. The primordial beauty of the swamp makes a nice contrast to the dramatic backwoods small town swamp of this slice of America.