Dragon Seed (film)
| Dragon Seed | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Harold S. Bucquet Jack Conway |
| Written by | Marguerite Roberts Jane Murfin |
| Based on | Dragon Seed 1943 novel by Pearl S. Buck |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Starring | Katharine Hepburn Aline MacMahon |
| Cinematography | Sidney Wagner |
| Edited by | Harold F. Kress |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Loew's |
Release date |
|
Running time | 147 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,070,000[1] |
| Box office | $4,627,000[1] |
Dragon Seed is a 1944 war drama film starring Katharine Hepburn. Based on a best-selling book by Pearl S. Buck, the film portrays a peaceful village in China that has been invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war. The men in the village choose to adopt a peaceful attitude toward their conquerors; but the headstrong Jade (Hepburn) stands up to the Japanese.
Aline MacMahon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Plot
A peaceful Chinese village is invaded by the Japanese prior to World War II. The men elect to adopt a peaceful attitude towards their conquerors and it is understood that the women will stoically acquiesce as well. But Jade (Katharine Hepburn), a headstrong young woman, intends to stand up to the Japanese whether her husband Lao Er (Turhan Bey) approves or not. She even goes so far as to learn to read and to handle a weapon, so that she may be properly equipped for both psychological and physical combat. Jade's attitude spreads to the rest of the village, convincing even the staunchest of male traditionalists that the Japanese can be defeated only by offering a strong united front; male and female.[2]
Cast
- Katharine Hepburn as Jade
- Walter Huston as Ling Tan
- Aline MacMahon as Ling Tan's Wife
- Akim Tamiroff as Wu Lien
- Turhan Bey as Lao Er Tan
- Hurd Hatfield as Lao San Tan
- J. Carrol Naish as Japanese Kitchen Overseer
- Agnes Moorehead as Third Cousin's Wife
- Henry Travers as Third Cousin
- Robert Bice as Lao Ta Tan
- Robert Lewis as Captain Sato
- Frances Rafferty as Orchid Tan
- Leonard Strong as a Japanese Official
- Jacqueline deWit as Wu Lien's Wife
- Clarence Lung as Fourth Cousin
- Paul E. Burns as Neighbor Shen
- Anna Demetrio as Wu Sao
Box office
According to MGM records, the film earned $3,033,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,594,000 elsewhere, but because of its high cost, incurred a loss to the studio of $281,000.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ "Dragon Seed (1944) - Harold S. Bucquet, Jack Conway - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
External links
- Dragon Seed at IMDb
- Dragon Seed at the TCM Movie Database
- Dragon Seed at AllMovie
- Dragon Seed at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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- 1944 films
- 1940s war drama films
- American war drama films
- English-language films
- Films based on American novels
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
- Second Sino-Japanese War films
- Films directed by Jack Conway
- Films directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- Films set in China
- World War II films made in wartime
- American films
- Films scored by Herbert Stothart
- American black-and-white films
- Films with screenplays by Jane Murfin
- Films based on works by Pearl S. Buck
- 1944 drama films
- War drama film stubs