It's a typically lumbering, cautious, overblown Thalberg project, saved by Rainer's genuinely moving, Oscar-winning portrayal of Chinese peasantry, and by an immensely spectacular storm of locusts.
Comment
02/09/06
The Good Earth (1937)
92
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:12
Fresh:11
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.3/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Excellent, painstaking adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's 1931 tome about a Chinese peasant family whose rise to wealth nearly destroys them, save for the saintly O-Lan. The special effects and the... [More]
Starring: Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Walter Connolly, Keye Luke
Director: Sidney Franklin
Reviews for The Good Earth
1 - 12 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Top CriticIt somehow worked, and was a remarkable tribute to MGM's dream factory.
05/24/03
Top CriticEarnest and solemn, The Good Erath, based on Pearl Buck's Pulitzer prize-winning best-seller, is a typical MGM "prestige" literary adaptation, honoring Luise Rainer with a second (undeserved) Best Actress Oscar.
01/31/09
No harmful false note is struck.
10/18/08
Top CriticNo review available.
11/16/07
more of a time capsule than a great piece of filmmaking
03/13/06
No review available.
04/02/04
No review available.
08/22/03
Once again Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has enriched the screen with a superb translation of a literary classic.
05/20/03
Top CriticGorgeously photographed, beautifully acted.
03/19/03
Classic melodrama.
01/01/00
Top CriticCritical opinion has not been kind, but studio excavators may find much to admire.
01/01/00
1 - 12 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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