So Red the Rose (film)

So Red the Rose
Directed by	King Vidor
Written by	Maxwell Anderson Edwin Justus Mayer Laurence Stallings Stark Young (novel)
Produced by	Douglas MacLean
Starring	Margaret Sullavan Walter Connolly Randolph Scott
Cinematography	Victor Milner
Edited by	Eda Warren
Music by	W. Franke Harling
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	November 9, 1935
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

So Red the Rose is a 1935 American drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Margaret Sullavan, Walter Connolly, and Randolph Scott. The Civil War-era romance is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Stark Young.

The film did not enjoy great popularity at the box office. After this film, Civil War films were considered box office poison in Hollywood until Bette Davis and Henry Fonda's performance in 1938's Jezebel, which was a success. This was followed by the overwhelming popularity of Gone with the Wind in 1939, an adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's bestseller of the same name. In February 2020, the film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.

Plot

During the American Civil War, Valette Bedford (Margaret Sullavan) waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford (Randolph Scott), to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.

Cast

• Margaret Sullavan as Valette Bedford
• Walter Connolly as Malcolm Bedford
• Randolph Scott as Duncan Bedford
• Janet Beecher as Sally Bedford
• Elizabeth Patterson as Mary
• Robert Cummings as Archie Pendleton
• Harry Ellerbe as Edward Bedford
• Dickie Moore as Middleton Bedford
• Charles Starrett as George McGehee
• Johnny Downs as Wounded Yankee Corporal
• Daniel L. Haynes as William Veal
• Clarence Muse as Cato
• James Burke as Major Rushton
• Warner Richmond as Confederate Sergeant
• Alfred Delcambre as Charles Tolliver
• Stanley Andrews as Cavalry Captain (uncredited)
• Suzette Harbin as Belle (uncredited)
• John Larkin as Cato's Companion (uncredited)
• Lloyd Ingraham as Officer (uncredited)
• Madame Sul-Te-Wan as Slave (uncredited)

Sources

• Andre Sennwald, "King Vidor's Screen Version of the Stark Young Novel 'So Red the Rose' at the Paramount," The New York Times, November 28, 1935.
• Rodriguez, Junius P. Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion. Greenwood milestones in African American history. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2007. ISBN 0-313-33271-1

External links

• So Red the Rose at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• So Red the Rose at IMDb
• So Red the Rose at AllMovie
• So Red the Rose at Turner Classic Movies
• a discussion with Charles Woods - Slave Rebellion in the Movies