Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
| Our Vines Have Tender Grapes | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Roy Rowland |
| Produced by | Robert Sisk |
| Written by | George Victor Martin (original) Dalton Trumbo |
| Starring | Edward G. Robinson Margaret O'Brien |
| Music by | Bronislau Kaper |
| Cinematography | Robert Surtees |
| Editing by | Ralph E. Winters |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | 1945 |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes is an American drama film released in 1945, directed by Roy Rowland and starring Edward G. Robinson and Margaret O'Brien.[1][2]
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[edit] Background
The movie is based on the novel by George Victor Martin, about the Norwegian-descended residents of a small Wisconsin farming community. The screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo, his last before being blacklisted for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Told from the viewpoint of little Selma (Margaret O’Brien), the film explores grand childhood adventures: making friends, a pet calf, Christmas, a terrifying trip down a flood-swollen river, a barn fire and a ride on a circus elephant’s trunk. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 in the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
[edit] Plot
The story is about a Norwegian immigrant farmer in Wisconsin, Martinius Jacobson (Edward G. Robinson), his wife Bruna (Agnes Moorehead) and their seven-year-old daughter Selma (Margaret O'Brien), who is often bedeviled by her playmate and five-year-old cousin, Arnold (Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins). Martinius simply wants to work his land and be a loving farmer to his family. The one great ambition in the life of Martinius is to build a new barn, but tragedy strikes. How the family copes with that is the core and the charm of the film
Selma lives a carefree, joyous life, which is only temporarily clouded by the sudden death of Ingeborg Jensen (Dorothy Morris), an emotionally disturbed young woman whose stern father (Charles B. Middleton) had refused to let her attend school despite the pleas of newly arrived schoolmarm Viola Johnson (Frances Gifford).
Inspired by young Selma, the entire town of Fuller Junction come to the aid of proud Bjorn Bjornson (Morris Carnovsky), who has lost his livestock when lightning struck and burned down his newly erected—but uninsured—barn. When Selma generously donates her pet calf to the impoverished farmer, the townspeople in general, and Martinius in particular, follow suit, prompting Viola to reconsider her harsh views of country life and retract her letter of resignation to the school board.[3]
[edit] Cast
- Edward G. Robinson as Martinius Jacobson
- Margaret O'Brien as Selma Jacobson
- James Craig as Nels 'Editor' Halverson
- Frances Gifford as Viola Johnson
- Agnes Moorehead as Bruna Jacobson
- Morris Carnovsky as Bjorn Bjornson
- Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins as Arnold Hanson
- Sara Haden as Mrs. Bjorn Bjornson
- Greta Granstedt as Mrs. Lars Faraassen
- Dorothy Morris as Ingeborg Jensen
- Arthur Space as Pete Hanson
- Elizabeth Russell as Mrs. Kola Hanson
- Louis Jean Heydt as Lars Faraassen
- Charles B. Middleton as Kurt Jensen
- Francis Pierlot as Fuller Junction's Minister
[edit] References
- ^ Variety film review; July 18, 1945, page 34.
- ^ Harrison's Reports film review; July 21, 1945, page 114.
- ^ Our Vines Have Tender Grapes at Allmovie
[edit] External links
- Our Vines Have Tender Grapes at the Internet Movie Database
- Our Vines Have Tender Grapes at the TCM Movie Database
- Our Vines Have Tender Grapes at AllRovi
- Solomon's Song of Songs, Book 2
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