Raintree County 1957

      This film is based on a 1948 novel by Ross Lockridge, Jr.  Nell Gaither and John Shawnessy have just graduated and they are sweethearts.  John is adventuresome and he searches in the swamp for the legendary raintree that can change your life.  Nell feels this legend is ridiculous and not believable.  John meets Susanna Drake and she is from New Orleans.  She has come to Raintree County to sell a house she has inherited from a relative.  After she meets John, she decides to keep the property but tells him she must return to New Orleans.  Just as quickly, she decides to return and she tells John she is going to have a baby.  Of course, John can only do the honorable thing and they marry.  Nell doesn’t know what to think and she believes there isn’t any baby.  She feels crushed that John has been trapped into a marriage to someone else.  Later, Susanna tells John she lied about the baby but they do have a son a little bit later in their marriage.  Susanna has a lot of mental issues relating to an incident in the past with her parents and her nanny Henrietta.

     The setting of this film is just before the Civil War and then during the war.  I’ve seen this before but I always found this enjoyable and it is interesting enough to watch again.  I think the scenery, themes of the period, the acting and the characters are very good.  I didn’t remember some of the background story and the ending.  4* (I really liked this movie)

160 min, Drama directed by Edward Dmytryk with Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor Eva Marie Saint, Nigel Patrick Lee Marvin, Rod Taylor, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Abel, Jarma Lewis, Tom Drake, Rhys Williams.

Note:  Imdb 6.4 out of 10, 11% critic 54% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.2* out of 5* with 99 reviews.

Special Note:  I’m surprised by the low reviews on Rotten Tomatoes?  This film was an attempt by MGM to have the same success as Gone with the Wind.  I did find the fact that the DVD was an Asian version to be an interesting twist?  It has their writing on the cover but the movie is in English.  Supposedly, this is a 'bootleg' copy?