Which 1937 MGM film based on Pearl S. Buck's novel stars Paul Muni and Luise Rainer?
Answer
The Good Earth
Which 1937 MGM film based on Pearl S. Buck’s novel stars Paul Muni and Luise Rainer? The Good Earth is that film.
The drama adapts Pearl S. Buck’s 1931 novel about Chinese farmers facing poverty, famine, family pressures, and changing fortunes. Paul Muni plays Wang Lung, while Luise Rainer plays O-Lan, the enslaved woman who becomes his wife and helps sustain the family through hardship.
The story begins in northern China before World War I. Wang Lung gradually acquires land, but drought and famine drive the family south in search of food and work. The film was adapted through an earlier stage play, a detail that can make descriptions of its source material seem inconsistent; the ultimate literary source is Buck’s novel.
Sidney Franklin received the directing credit, with Victor Fleming and Gustav Machatý contributing without credit. Rainer won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and Karl Freund won for cinematography. The film was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.