Swamp Water

Last updated
Swamp Water
SwampWaterPoster.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Jean Renoir
Screenplay by Dudley Nichols
Based onSwamp Water by Vereen Bell
Produced by Irving Pichel
Starring Walter Brennan
Walter Huston
Anne Baxter
Dana Andrews
Cinematography J. Peverell Marley
Lucien Ballard
Edited by Walter Thompson
Music by David Buttolph
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • October 23, 1941 (1941-10-23)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$601,900 [1]

Swamp Water is a 1941 American film noir crime film directed by Jean Renoir and starring Walter Brennan and Walter Huston. Based on the novel by Vereen Bell, it was produced at 20th Century Fox. The film was shot on location at Okefenokee Swamp, Waycross, Georgia, USA. It was Renoir's first American film. The film was remade in 1952 as Lure of the Wilderness , directed by Jean Negulesco.

Contents

Plot

A local man, Ben (Dana Andrews) encounters a fugitive Tom Keefer (Walter Brennan) from a murder charge while hunting in the Okefenokee Swamp looking for his dog. The two form a partnership in which Ben sells the animals hunted and trapped by both until townsfolk become suspicious. Also, Ben helps Julie, Keefer's daughter, who is living in straitened circumstances clean up and look more decent. Keefer is accused of murdering Deputy Shep Collins, but it was really the Dorson brothers who did so and then perjured themselves in evidence against Tom Keefer, assisted by Jesse Wick. Ben makes Wick confess so that Keefer will not be blamed anymore. He tries to take Keefer back to town where he can live a normal life, but they are shot at by the Dorson brothers. One of them sinks in a mudhole, and Keefer talks to the other man, saying he wants a normal life, and lets him go into the swamp. Ben and Keefer are found by the townsfolk. Once back in town, Keefer cleans up, and goes to the dance, smiling.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location at Okefenokee Swamp, Waycross, Georgia, and was Renoir's first American film. Renoir found it difficult to adapt to efficient Hollywood shooting standards, insisting on allowing a large number of takes from the actors. Renoir claimed in his autobiography that due to overindulgence he was fired by Zanuck one morning and rehired the same evening. [2]

Reception

Virginia Gilmore and Dana Andrews in Renoir's Swamp Water Virginia Gilmore-Dana Andrews in Swamp Water.jpg
Virginia Gilmore and Dana Andrews in Renoir's Swamp Water

Although Renoir had difficulty adapting to Hollywood production methods, the film was popular at the box office and made a profit. [1] "Red River Valley" was the main theme song. [3]

Dave Kehr of The New York Times noted that the "crude wooden cross, planted in a shallow channel and topped with a human skull" in the film was a "strikingly morbid image for the usually warm and optimistic Renoir", and testament to it being a difficult time for him. He concluded that Swamp Water "may not represent the film that Renoir wanted to make", but is "no less fascinating as the film that Renoir was able to make — at that point in his life and at that point in history". [2] Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader concurred, commenting that despite the production setbacks, the film has "certain beauties and pleasures". [4] Time Out thought the film looked "a bit drab and unbelievable" despite the location filming, describing it as "a rather sullen affair set in a Georgia swamp which harbours snakes, alligators, mud, and Walter Brennan, a fugitive criminal with whom the hero (Andrews) becomes strangely and melodramatically involved." [5]

Film critic Raymond Durgnat wrote: "In certain aspects, Swamp Water compromises between a Western and Toni. It resembles the former in that violence is consistent and integral rather than spasmodic and, as it were, incidental. Yet the integration of violence and communal emotion is simpler than in the tortuous constructions of William Faulkner." Durgnat thought that Anne Baxter's character was reminiscent of Gene Tierney's in Tobacco Road . [3] Several critics, including Dennis Schwartz, noticed that the casting was typical of a John Ford western. Schwartz praised Andrews's performance, but wrote: "Even though it is only one of Renoir's lesser films, thanks to the interference by Zanuck, it still was one of Fox's highest grossing films of 1941. But if you ever wondered or cared why so many Hollywood films suck, this film should give you a strong hint why." He awarded it a B grade. [6]

Influence

The narrative elements of the 2012 coming-of-age film Mud , directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Matthew McConaughey, have been compared to those of Swamp Water.

Related Research Articles

<i>La Grande Illusion</i> 1937 war film directed by Jean Renoir

La Grande Illusion is a 1937 French war drama film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are German prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Vidor</span> American writer and director (1894–1982)

King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, humane, and sympathetic depiction of contemporary social issues. Considered an auteur director, Vidor approached multiple genres and allowed the subject matter to determine the style, often pressing the limits of film-making conventions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Renoir</span> French film director and screenwriter (1894–1979)

Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. His films La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greatest films ever made. He was ranked by the BFI's Sight & Sound poll of critics in 2002 as the fourth greatest director of all time. Among numerous honours accrued during his lifetime, he received a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1975 for his contribution to the motion picture industry. Renoir was the son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the uncle of the cinematographer Claude Renoir. He was one of the first filmmakers to be known as an auteur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Andrews</span> American actor (1909–1992)

Carver Dana Andrews was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts into the 1980s. He is best known for his portrayal of obsessed police detective Mark McPherson in the noir Laura (1944) and his critically acclaimed performance as World War II veteran Fred Derry in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Kelly</span> American animator and cartoonist

Walter Crawford Kelly Jr., commonly known as Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. In 1941, at the age of 28, Kelly transferred to work at Dell Comics, where he created Pogo, which eventually became his platform for political and philosophical commentary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okefenokee Swamp</span> Wetlands in Florida and Georgia, USA

The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre (177,000 ha), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness. The Okefenokee Swamp is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia and is the largest "blackwater" swamp in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anjelica Huston</span> American actress (born 1951)

Anjelica Huston is an American actress and director known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Brennan</span> American actor (1894–1974)

Walter Andrew Brennan was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in Come and Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938) and The Westerner (1940), making him one of only three male actors to win three Academy Awards, and the only male or female actor to win three awards in the supporting actor category. Brennan was also nominated for his performance in Sergeant York (1941). Other noteworthy performances were in To Have and Have Not (1944), My Darling Clementine (1946), Red River (1948) and Rio Bravo (1959).

Vereen M. Bell was an American novelist and naval officer, who was killed in action during World War II.

The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America (PGA) as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor the visionaries who produce and execute motion picture and television product. The ceremony has been hosted each year by celebrity host/presenters, including Nick Clooney, Michael Douglas, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Garry Marshall, Walter Matthau, Ronald Reagan, Marlo Thomas, Grant Tinker, Ted Turner, and Karen S. Kramer among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinn "Big Boy" Williams</span> American actor (1899–1962)

Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. was an American actor who appeared in memorable westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and The Comancheros (1961). He was nicknamed "Big Boy" as he was 6' 2" and had a muscular build from years of working on ranches and playing semi-pro and professional baseball, and at the height of his movie career was frequently billed above the title simply as Big Boy Williams or as "Big Boy" Guinn Williams on posters and in the film itself.

<i>The Southerner</i> (film) 1945 film by Jean Renoir

The Southerner is a 1945 American drama film directed by Jean Renoir and based on the 1941 novel Hold Autumn in Your Hand by George Sessions Perry. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Director, Original Music Score, and Sound. Renoir was named Best Director by the National Board of Review, which also named the film the third best of 1945. The film portrays the hardships of a poor family struggling to establish a cotton farm in Texas in the early 1940s.

<i>Sarracenia minor</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Sarracenia minor, also known as the hooded pitcherplant, is a perennial, terrestrial, rhizomatous, herbaceous, carnivorous plant in the genus Sarracenia. Like all the Sarracenia, it is native to North America.

<i>The Buccaneer</i> (1938 film) 1938 film by Cecil B. DeMille

The Buccaneer is a 1938 American adventure film made by Paramount Pictures starring Fredric March and based on Jean Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. The picture was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille from a screenplay by Harold Lamb, Edwin Justus Mayer and C. Gardner Sullivan adapted by Jeanie MacPherson from the 1930 novel Lafitte the Pirate by Lyle Saxon. The music score was by George Antheil and the cinematography by Victor Milner.

The Big Satilla River is a river in South Georgia. It rises in Ben Hill and Coffee counties and flows southeast for 260 miles (420 km). It is one of Georgia's 14 major watersheds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rodney</span> American actor

Raymond John Flynn, known professionally as John Rodney, was an American actor, who worked in film and television. He also used the name John Flynn.

<i>Lure of the Wilderness</i> 1952 film by Jean Negulesco

Lure of the Wilderness is a 1952 American Technicolor romantic adventure film directed by Jean Negulesco and based on the 1941 novel Swamp Water by Vereen Bell. The film is a remake of Jean Renoir's 1941 adaption of the novel. Walter Brennan appears in both films, although in a smaller version of his leading role in the earlier version.

Pierre Olaf was a French actor, cabaret artist, and clown. He first achieved success as a stage actor in Paris in the musical revues of Robert Dhéry. He achieved particular acclaim in Dhéry's Jupon Volé (1954) and La Plume de Ma Tante (1955); the latter of which served as an international vehicle for him with productions in Paris, London's West End (1955-1958), and in New York City on Broadway (1958-1960). In 1959 he and the rest of the cast of La Plume de Ma Tante were awarded a non-competitive Special Tony Award. In 1962 he was nominated for a competitive Tony Award for his portrayal of Jacquot in the original Broadway production of Bob Merrill's Carnival! (1961).

References

  1. 1 2 Rudy Behlmer, Ed, Memo from Darryl F. Zanuck, Grove Press, 1993 p54
  2. 1 2 Kerr, David (18 March 2012). "Jean Renoir's Plunge Into the American Mire". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 Durgnat, Raymond (1974). Jean Renoir: Raymond Durgnat. University of California Press. pp. 224–8. ISBN   978-0-520-02283-6.
  4. Swamp Water, Chicago Reader, retrieved 12 May 2017
  5. "Swamp Water". TimeOut. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  6. Schwartz, Dennis. "Swamp Water". Ozus' World Movie Reviews. Retrieved 12 May 2017.