Tale of two stars traveling in opposite directions | Cabin in the Cotton [VHS]

Bette Davis' Favorite Scripted Line's in this Film | Cabin in the Cotton [VHS] | Richard Barthelmess, Bette Davis

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	• Cabin in the Cotton [VHS] Richard Barthelmess, Bette Davis MGM / UA, 1998 average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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fine early Bette Davis flick

Bette Davis and Richard Barthelmess star in Cabin In The Cotton, a 1932 film that depicts the constant battle between cotton farmers (planters) and the cotton pickers (tenants) who pick the cotton in exchange for an extremely meager existence courtesy of the cotton farmers. The plot moves along well and the acting is rather convincing, too.

The action starts when Marvin Blake (Richard Barthelmess) gets an offer from the wealthy cotton farmer Norwood (Berton Churchill) to go to school and make something of himself instead of picking cotton. Trouble is, after Marvin gets his diploma Norwood insists that Marvin work for him in his store by keeping the crooked books. The books document that Norwood cheats the cotton pickers out of their money; and meanwhile the cotton pickers have figured out a way to steal cotton from Norwood so they can "get even with Norwood.

Marvin's problems heat up when he is pulled from both sides: Norwood wants Marvin's loyalty even though Norwood's crooked practices contributed to the early death of Marvin's father. At the same time the cotton pickers want Marvin to spy on Norwood for them and help them steal cotton. Marvin's problems only get worse when he is torn between his affection for a sweet country girl named Betty (Dorothy Jordan) and Norwood's daughter Madge (Bette Davis).

What's Marvin to do? How will he decide which side to pick? How will he avoid threats to his safety? No spoilers here--you'll just have to watch the movie to find out.

The choreography works well in Marvin's father's funeral procession scene and the cinematography offers great shots of Bette Davis leaning out of an upper floor window looking down at Betty who comes to talk with Marvin.

Overall, The Cabin In The Cotton gives us an early look at Bette Davis, who was then a mere 24 years old and fighting to be taken seriously as a Hollywood actress. This also marks the beginning of the end of Richard Barthelmess's career because parts for him were becoming fewer and fewer even if he did make the transition to sound movies. I highly recommend this film for Bette Davis fans; and fans of movies from the 1930s will also like this film which is replete with social commentary.

Enjoy!

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Tale of two stars traveling in opposite directions

This film is probably most important because it showcases two stars - Bette Davis and Richard Barthelmess - whose careers are traveling in opposite directions. Barthelmess actually headlines here, but he is a silent star whose career is on the decline, and he has a hard time getting parts after 1934. Bette Davis is a star on the rise, in only her first year of her contract with Warner Bros. where she will become a major star.

Unlike many silent era stars, Barthelmess' problem was not his voice but his acting style. He was just a little too wooden to turn in a truly dynamic performance, and this film is no exception. The story is pretty interesting - Barthelmess plays Marvin Blake, a sharecropper's son who is educated by the plantation landowner and ends up keeping his books. His loyalty is torn between the planter who is sponsoring him, and whose daughter attracts him, and the sharecropper families with whom he grew up. The planter owns everything and is always charging high fees and interest via the company store and thus cheating the sharecroppers out of what they need. The sharecroppers have cooked up a plan to short the planter some of their cotton and sell it themselves and reap the rewards.

It's really hard to take sides in this film because everyone seems so unsympathetic - both sides are stealing from the other without any remorse or much redeeming value for that matter. It is worth a look if you can find it, although it is not yet on DVD.

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Bette Davis' Favorite Scripted Line's in this Film

When, in 1977, The First Lady of American Cinema because the 1st woman & first actress to receive the AFI's Life Achievement award she was 69 yo & continued acting for the rest of her life (for another 12 years). During that amazingly historic & legend filled ceremony (which is on VHS, collectible & expensive), just about anyone who was a major figure in Hollywood during its Golden Era was there & participated in some way in honoring Davis' remarkable accomplishments for the motion picture industry.

Typical of Davis, after listening to everyone else speak to and about her and her work, when it came to the time for her acceptance speech, it was very brief & to the points she wanted to make. She closes her ever so famous speech by reciting a line from the script of this film that she had performed oh around 45 years or so previously: "I'd love to kiss you, but I just washed my hair." Then she blew a kiss to the her co-founders of Hollywood as we know it today.

If for not other reason that that line, owning this film is essential for a collector. Bette Davis is oh so very young in this film, cute as can be, already in stride as a great actor & quite capable delivered this line with a very convincing Southern accent to a boy she was flirting mercilessly with.

Of all the great lines Bette Davis had the golden opportunities to deliver, she picked the one from this very early film. Even way back then, Davis had chosen to be an actor in a film that had socio-political overtones about classism. She continued with that legacy of using her characters, the roles she agreed to play, to channel what she considered to be important enough socially meaningful messages.

The line I have just mentioned just happens to be purely cute and funny. That too was typical of Bette Davis: she liked being likable & oft times more than just a little bit funny; she had a terrific sense of humor which could really crack up her contemporaries. She often did so on set when things got a little too tense or serious. Nothing she said was accidental. Davis was iron-willed about protecting the treasure, as she viewed it, of her acting career. Contrary to what pundits have published about her, Bette Davis never had a cause to feel rivalrous with another actor of any gender.

Her self=confidence as an actor was very evident as early on as this film~

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"I'd love to kiss you but I just washed my hair"-Bette Davis

This was Bette's 11th film. She plays the daughter of a wealthy cropper. She falls for one of her poor workers which makes for scandalous headlines with terrible results. I dont want to spoil the story so go and watch it. You will love it.

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