The Cabin in the Cotton

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The Cabin in the Cotton is a 1932 American drama film directed by Michael Curtiz. The screenplay by Paul Green was based on a novel by Harry Harrison Kroll. The Warner Brothers film perhaps is best known for a line of dialogue spoken by a platinum-blonde Bette Davis in a syrupy Southern drawl - "Ah'd like to kiss ya, but ah jest washed ma hair" - immortalized by Davis impersonators and quoted in the 1995 film Get Shorty.

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[edit] Plot synopsis

Marvin Blake is a sharecropper's son who wants to better himself by getting a college education. Initially plantation owner Lane Norwood is opposed to the idea, but he grudglingly helps Blake achieve his goal and gives the young man a job as a bookkeeper when his vampish daughter Madge intercedes on his behalf. Blake uncovers irregularities in Norwood's accounts and soon finds himself embroiled in a battle between management and workers and torn between the seductive Madge and his longtime sweetheart Betty Wright.

[edit] Principal cast

[edit] Principal production credits

[edit] Critical reception

In his review in the New York Times, Mordaunt Hall described it as "a film which seldom awakens any keen interest . . Richard Barthelmess gives a careful but hardly an inspired performance. His general demeanor lacks the desired spontaneity and often he speaks his lines in a monotone . . . Michael Curtiz is responsible for the direction, which is uneven, and sections of the narrative are rather muddled." [1]

The Cabin in the Cotton was one of nine 1932 releases in which Davis appeared. Still relatively unknown, she managed to draw the attention of many critics with her performance. In the New York American, Regina Crewe described her as "superb." Richard Watts, Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune stated, "Miss Davis shows a surprising vivacity as the seductive rich girl." And Variety declared that her "rising popularity is the film's best chance for business." Davis also caught the eye of director John Cromwell, who was impressed enough to cast her as the slutty waitress Mildred in his 1934 film Of Human Bondage, which went on to cement Davis' reputation as one of the best actresses of the era [2].

[edit] References

  1. ^ New York Times review
  2. ^ The Cabin in the Cotton at Turner Classic Movies

[edit] External link

The Cabin in the Cotton at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e
The films of Michael Curtiz
1910s
The Last Bohemian • Today and Tomorrow • Captive Souls • My Husband's Getting Married • The Exile • The Borrowed Babies The Princess in a Nightrobe • Prisoner of the Night • Bánk Bán • Golddigger • One Who Is Loved By Two • Seven of Spades • The Strength of the Fatherland • The Karthauzer The Black Rainbow • The Wolf • The Medic • Mr. Doctor • Master Zoard • The Red Samson • The Last Dawn • Spring in Winter • Tartar Invasion Secret of St. Job Forest • Nobody's Son • The Charlatan • A Penny's History • The Fishing Bell • Earth's Man • The Colonel • Peace's Road Jean the Tenant • The Merry Widow • Magic Waltz • A Skorpió I. • The Devil • Lulu • Lu, the Coquette • Júdás • The Ugly Boy • Alraune (with Edmund Fritz) • 99 • The Sunflower Woman • Liliom • The Lady with the Black Gloves
1920s
Boccaccio • The Star of Damascus • The Scourge of God • Miss Tutti Frutti • Good and Evil • Mrs. Dane's Confession • Labyrinth of Horror Sodom and Gomorrah • Young Medardus • Avalanche • Nameless • A Deadly Game • General Babka Harun al Raschid • Moon of Israel • Red Heels • Cab No. 13 • The Golden Butterfly • The Third Degree • A Million Bid • The Desired Woman Good Time Charley • Tenderloin • Noah's Ark • Glad Rag Doll • Madonna of Avenue A • The Gamblers • Hearts in Exile
1930s
Mammy • Under a Texas Moon • The Matrimonial Bed • Bright Lights • A Soldier's Plaything • River's End • Demon of the Sea God's Gift to Women • The Mad Genius • The Woman from Monte Carlo • The Strange Love of Molly Louvain • Doctor X • The Cabin in the Cotton • 20,000 Years in Sing Sing • Mystery of the Wax Museum • The Keyhole • Private Detective 62 • Goodbye Again • The Kennel Murder Case • Female • Mandalay • Jimmy the Gent • The Key • British Agent • The Case of the Curious Bride • Black Fury • Front Page Woman • Little Big Shot • Captain Blood • The Walking Dead • The Charge of the Light Brigade • Stolen Holiday • Mountain Justice • Kid Galahad • The Perfect Specimen • Gold Is Where You Find It • The Adventures of Robin Hood (with William Keighley) • Four's a Crowd • Four Daughters • Angels with Dirty Faces • Dodge City • Daughters Courageous • The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex • Four Wives
1940s
1950s
Young Man with a Horn • Bright Leaf • The Breaking Point • Force of Arms • Jim Thorpe -- All-American • I'll See You in My Dreams The Story of Will Rogers • The Jazz Singer Trouble Along the Way • The Boy from Oklahoma • The Egyptian • White Christmas • We're No Angels The Scarlet Hour • The Vagabond King • The Best Things in Life Are Free • The Helen Morgan Story • The Proud Rebel • King Creole • The Hangman • The Man in the Net
1960s
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • A Breath of Scandal • Francis of Assisi • The Comancheros
Short films
Productions
Bright Lights (1935)
v • d • e
American films of the 1930s
1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939