The Good Earth

Classic melodrama. Muni, in a powerful role--another marvelous offbeat characterization--is a simple rice farmer who weds Rainer, a kitchen slave, in an arranged marriage. Through incredible labor, Muni and Rainer make their little farm into a success, allowing Muni to buy many more rice fields and to prosper. They produce three children, and all seems promising until severe drought turns the land into an unyielding crust. When famine sets in, the family begins to starve, forcing Rainer to feed her children cooked earth. Through a stroke of Rainer's good luck, the family's fortunes are turned around, but their lives are ruined by Muni's greed. Too late, the stoic M...